Those who know football like to say that if you have two quarterbacks, you have none.
But they never said anything about having more than two of them.
Saint Louis rotated three quarterbacks and blew out Damien 40-7 at Aloha Stadium on Friday night. Those three quarterbacks combined to go 18-for-24 for 297 yards and two touchdowns. For good measure, Nick Paio closed it out at QB for the Crusaders but did not throw a pass.
“We think we’ve got some good depth at quarterback and we wanted to see how it went,” Saint Louis coach Matt Wright said. “They looked good. It was good to see (Kawai Mook-Garcia) back in there.”
Ryder Kuhns, who took over for Mook-Garcia at quarterback after Mook-Garcia sprained an ankle in the second game of the season, started the game for Saint Louis and took the Crusaders 80 yards on nine plays for the first score.
He had plenty of time to bask in the glory of his 27-yard strike to Ricky Ahlo-Pinera because Mook-Garcia took over for the second series and moved the team 75 yards for another score, this one a 2-yard run by Kaulana Vinoya. Like Kuhns before him, Mook-Garcia then took a seat in favor of Robert Faleafine.
The third-string quarterback couldn’t quite match the first two quarterbacks, getting a first down then being stopped by Damien for a three and out. Faleafine failed to score on all three of his drives, but moved the ball well enough with 81 yards, 43 of them coming on a Hail Mary to Devan Stubblefield that came up short of the end zone at the end of the first half.
Kuhns finished 9-for-10 for 140 yards, while Mook-Garcia was 4-for-5 for 76 yards. Both quarterbacks engineered touchdown drives in each of their three shifts.
Saint Louis needed its leaders to step up because it was without five starters, the most important being leading rusher Adam Noga.
No worries, though, as Vinoya stepped up with 101 yards on six carries, 90 of them on one play. Vinoya turned the corner on Damien’s defense in the third quarter and took off for the score. Saint Louis had 164 yards rushing on 17 carries.
“Adam is a special type of player,” Wright said. “I think we all know that. But it was time for our boys who people don’t normally get to see to show what they’ve got. (Vinoya’s) got some wheels. I don’t think too many people know about him; you will be seeing him again.”
The Crusaders have beaten Damien by at least 27 points every year since 2005. But they hope to get healthy before meeting Kamehameha at the Stadium on Friday. Damien plays ‘Iolani on the undercard at 5 p.m.
| At Aloha Stadium |
SAINT LOUIS (2-1, 3-3) 6 21 13 0 — 49
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| DAMIEN (0-3, 3-3) 0 0 0 7 — 7 |
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| StL—Ricky Ahlo-Pinera 27 pass from Ryder Kuhns (kick failed) |
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| StL—Kaulana Vinoya 2 run (Ihaka Johnson kick) |
| StL—Kuhns 9 rush (87 Johnson kick) |
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| StL—Allan Cui 7 rush (Johnson kick) |
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| StL—Jerrick Taboada 53 pass from Kuhns (87 kick good) |
| StL—Vinoya 90 rush (kick failed) |
| DMS—Dustin Munar 61 pass from Syles Choy (Lyle Alloy-Glover kick) |
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| RUSHING—Saint Louis: Vinoya 6-101, Cui 5-42, Jonah Reyes 2-14, Kuhns 1-9, Nick Paio 1-4, Brandon Saiki 1-3, Robert Faleafine 1-(-9). Damien: Kyle Sato 10-33, Dallas Labanon 2-23, Bryson Dalmacio 2-16, Edwin Aumua 4-15, Trevor Caspillo 2-11, Syles Choy 4-4, Dylan Flores 1-0. |
| PASSING—Saint Louis: Kuhns 9-10-0-140, Kawai Mook-Garcia 4-5-0-76, Faleafine 5-9-1-81. Damien: Choy 16-23-0-160, Labanon 2-9-1-29. |
| RECEIVING—Saint Louis: Jeremy Tabuyo 5-52, Jerrick Taboada 4-92, Ahlo-Pinera 3-50, Jordan Eugenio 2-34, Devan Stubblefield 1-43, Cui 1-32, Kaleo Hookano 1-1, Vinoya 1-(-7). Damien: Kealii Kaanapu 5-40, Flores 4-20, Trevor Caspillo 3-23, Sato 2-11, Aumua 2-10, Munar 1-61, Cullen Forburger 1-24. |
No. 2 Punahou 42, Pac-Five 7
Larry Tuileta hooked up with Kanawai Noa for a 69-yard touchdown pass on the Buffanblu’s first play from scrimmage, and Punahou cruised from there to beat the Wolfpack at Aloha Stadium.
Tuileta hit Noa three times for scores in the first half, and threw for four touchdowns overall.
“They work hard together,” Punahou coach Kale Ane said. “They have good chemistry and get better every time out. It depends on our running game. We really have to establish our running game and I think Pac-Five probably knew it and tried to shut it down.”
Ryan Tuiasoa handled that part of the game for the Buffanblu, rushing for 63 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. Tuileta threw for 192 yards, 155 of them to Noa, who had half of his team’s receptions.
Both Punahou and Pac-Five have a bye next week, with the Buffanblu playing ‘Iolani on Oct. 5 and the Wolfpack playing Saint Louis Oct. 6.
| At Aloha Stadium |
PUNAHOU (4-0, 5-1) 21 21 0 0 — 42
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| PAC-FIVE (1-3, 2-5) 0 7 0 0 — 7 |
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| Pun—Kanawai Noa 69 pass from Larry Tuileta (Charles McDonald kick) |
| Pun—Nikolai Bulanow 26 return (Mcdonald kick) |
| Pun—Noa 14 pass from Tuileta (McDonald kick) |
| Pun—Ryan Tuasoa 6 rush (McDonald kick) |
| P5—Keoni Tom-Millare 6 rush (Gabriel Shimazu kick) |
| Pun—Noa 35 pass from Tuileta (McDonald kick) |
| Pun-Noah Willey 19 pass from Tuileta (David Trifonovich kick) |
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| RUSHING—Punahou: Ryan Tuiasoa 10-63, Darreon Schwarts 4-13, Maaveave Petia 1-4. Pac-Five: Tom-Millare 11-39, Cody Kim 2-7, Justin Layco 1-6, Kekoa Blaisdell 1-(-6). |
| PASSING—Punahou: Larry Tuileta 10-17-0-192, Morris 1-3-0-7. Pac-Five: Keoni Tom-Millare 6-15-2-90, Kekoa Blaisdell 3-8-0-43, Cody Kim 4-16-1-9. |
| RECEIVING—Punahou: Kanawai Noa 5-155, Noah Willey 3-29, K. Chee 2-8, T. Sitar 1-7. Pac-Five: Roycen Routt 3-57, Brennen Tsubasa 4-32, Ian Schumaker 1-9, Kaupena McKee 2-1, Justin Layco 1-10, Dayne Ramos 2-33. |
