Wayne Taulapapa’s 2-yard touchdown run in the second overtime gave No. 2 Punahou a wild and crazy 51-45 victory over No. 1 Saint Louis on Friday night at Aloha Stadium.
The Buffanblu (6-0, 3-0 ILH Division I) never led until Taulapapa ended the game on his 32nd carry after Saint Louis (4-1, 2-1) was intercepted to kick off the second overtime period.
Taulapapa finished with four touchdowns and 159 rushing yards for the four-time defending ILH champion Buffanblu, who are all alone in first place again this year.
Quarterback Nick Kapule, subbing for injured starter Ephraim Tuliloa, was 26-for-36 for 331 yards and three touchdowns.
Saint Louis quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who missed the end of the second quarter after going down with an injury, was 21-for-38 for 346 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted once in the fourth quarter and again in the second overtime period.
Saint Louis was given the ball to start both overtime periods but had to start from the 35 after roughing Punahou kicker Jet Toner on the extra-point kick at the end of the first OT period that made it 45-45.
Tagovailoa was sacked and fumbled, but Saint Louis recovered for a 15-yard loss. He then hit Lanakila Wilson for 35 yards to the 15 before getting pressured on the next play. Just before going to the ground he tried to flip a pass forward but it bounced off a player into the hands of Laakea Look for an interception.
Punahou then finished off the win.
Wilson had 141 yards on five catches for the Crusaders, with a disputed call leading to Saint Louis’ go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.
Tagovailoa unleashed a long pass down the sideline that Wilson had to wait for. He was credited with a 53-yard reception despite clearly dropping the ball on replays. Tagovailoa then scored on the next play on an 8-yard run and finished with 72 rushing yards and two scores.
Punahou sent the game into overtime on Taulapapa’s 1-yard TD run with 2:40 remaining in regulation.
Both offenses got untracked in the second quarter after an ugly first 12 minutes. Saint Louis lost defensive lineman Tristan Nichols, who was ejected after a personal foul call.
After trading field goals with the Buffanblu, Saint Louis hit two big plays when Tagovailoa found Leelan Oasay for gains of 49 and 28 yards to set up a 1-yard score by fullback Austin Tuisano.
Punahou answered with a nine-play, 82-yard drive capped by Taulapapa’s 4-yard TD run.
Saint Louis seized the momentum when Tagovailoa ran 34 yards and bowled over a Punahou defensive back at the end to put the ball inside the 10.
That set up a 7-yard touchdown run by Jahred Silofau on his only carry of the first half.
Saint Louis got the ball back after linebacker Isaac Slade-Matautia blocked a punt and had it third-and-7 from the 16 when Tagovailoa went down to injury.
Backup Chevan Cordeiros came in and scrambled long enough before his first pass to find Drew Kobayashi for a 17-yard touchdown.
Punahou marched 70 yards in seven plays over the final 1:26 of the half as Keala Martinson made a leaping grab in the back of the end zone and got a foot down before falling out of bounds for the 15-yard touchdown pass from Kapule to make it 24-17 at the break.
Tagovailoa hit Oasay for a 7-yard touchdown on the first drive of the second half, but Punahou answered on a 2-yard run by Taulapapa to make it 31-24 through three quarters.
Damien 6, Pac-Five 3
The Monarchs are 5-0 for the first time in school history thanks to junior linebacker Shawn Borges, who blocked three field goals and had the game-sealing interception in the end zone with a minute remaining.
Bransen Apao started at quarterback for Damien (5-0, 2-0) and scored the game’s only touchdown on a 7-yard run following Dylan Tapat’s interception on defense.
Neither team scored over the final three quarters.
Tyler Fukuroda made a 28-yard field goal for the Wolfpack (3-1, 1-1) in the first quarter but had his next three kicks blocked by Borges.
Pac-Five quarterback Kainoa Ferreira finished 20-for-48 for 181 yards. Apao rushed for 74 yards on 17 carries for Damien.
