Tua Tagovailoa accounted for 239 yards and four touchdowns, including an 80-yard run to paydirt, as Saint Louis overwhelmed Waianae 42-7 on Friday night at Aloha Stadium.
Saint Louis, the No. 2 seed, advanced to the championship game of the Open Division in the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Football State Championships. Tagovailoa, a commit to Alabama, was virtually flawless for Saint Louis (10-1), which showed no rust after a three-week hiatus.
Tagovailoa was 13-for-15 through the air for 162 yards and three TDs, all to running back Ronson Young. He rushed for 67 yards, including the breathtaking 80-yard jaunt through the middle of the field and then to the left pylon against a normally fast and physical Waianae defense.
By halftime, Saint Louis was ahead 42-0 and Tagovailoa’s night was done, along with several other starters.
“Tua is Tua for a reason,” Seariders coach Walter Young said. “He’s done it all year and he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the country. It’s a good learning experience for us. That’s a great team.”
Coach Cal Lee, who had surgery to remove a kidney stone just two weeks ago, is in position to guide his Crusaders to their first state title since 2010. He last won a title at Saint Louis in 1999 before coaching at Hawaii.
Waianae, the OIA’s fourth-place team, closed its season at 9-5, rising into the semifinal round after upsetting Farrington last week.
It was not a simple task for the Crusaders, who hadn’t seen a heavy run-first, wing-T offense like Waianae’s all season. They limited Waianae to 185 yards of total offense, an average of 3 yards per play. Linebackers Isaac Slade-Matautia (four tackles, two sacks), Noa Purcell (team-high six tackles and Dylan Toilolo (four tackles, one sack) were highly active. Safety Isaiah Tufaga had five stops to supplement a solid effort. Waianae finished with 66 rushing yards on 38 carries. Thousand-yard rusher Rico Rosario, playing with an injured shoulder, mustered a hard-earned 67 yards on 19 carries.
“Waianae is a powerhouse,” Toilolo said. “We had to stop the run.”
The Crusaders also kept a lid on Waianae’s air attack. QB Jaren Ulu split time with Jorell Pontes-Borje; both took a number of hits in the pocket from a relentless pass rush.
“We worked hard to prepare, but at the same time we can always get better,” Slade-Matautia said. “Props to Waianae — they came out and played hard. We studied hard for this.”
Chavis Kalamau led Waianae with seven tackles and forced a fumble. Linebacker Jaylen Gonzales had five tackles.
The Seariders got an early break, then a bad break within the first few minutes of play.
Kana‘i Mauga (three tackles, sack) recovered a fumble by Crusaders RB Dylan Silva at the Waianae 35-yard line to end Saint Louis’ first series. However, Waianae’s drive stalled five plays later, and the punt snap bounced to Lanaki Renon, who couldn’t pick the ball up cleanly and was sacked by three Crusaders.
After Tagovailoa connected with Chandler Washington-Villanueva for a diving 31-yard catch down the left sideline on the next play, he fired a pass to Young out of the backfield for a 5-yard TD.
Waianae committed another turnover moments later. With starting QB Jaren Ulu re-injuring his left shoulder while throwing a pass, backup Pontes-Borje was picked off by Purcell near the left sideline, and Purcell ran it back 36 yards for a touchdown. Saint Louis led 14-0 with 7:08 remaining in the first quarter.
The Seariders got the chains moving with their fourth possession, relying heavily on the ground with Rosario, but the march stalled at the Saint Louis 16. On fourth-and-4, Slade-Matautia was a blur on the blitz and sacked Pontes-Borje before he had time to set his feet in the pocket.
Mauga came up with another big play, sacking Tagovailoa for a 16-yard loss late in the first quarter. Tagovailoa was undeterred, leading the next Crusaders drive, a seven-play, 60-yard march. He completed all five pass attempts for 51 yards, including a 4-yard pass to Young that was almost identical to their earlier connection. The Crusaders led 21-0 with 10:09 to go in the second quarter.
Slade-Matautia had no resistance at times, recording his second sack on Waianae’s next play from scrimmage. After the Seariders’ third punt, Saint Louis needed only one play to score again. Waianae brought a heavy pass rush, and Tagovailoa sidestepped his way into an open field up the middle, racing to the pylon for an 80-yard TD. It was 28-0 with 6:35 left in the first half.
A third Saint Louis sack, this time by Toilolo, stymied Waianae’s next series. The Crusaders then drove 50 yards in five plays, scoring on Silva’s 3-yard run. They led 35-0 with 2:20 remaining in the first half.
The Crusaders got a major scare shortly after that when wide receiver Noah Alejado was leveled on a pass play by a Waianae defender. He managed to get up a few minutes later and jog off the field. The Waianae player was whistled for a personal foul and was ejected from the game.
Saint Louis then finished its scoring drive on Tagovailoa’s third TD pass to Young on the same route, a 9-yard completion that gave the ILH champions a 42-0 lead with 24 seconds to go in the first half.
The Seariders, the OIA’s fourth-place team, got on the scoreboard with 9:15 remaining in the contest when Rosario leaned over the goal line for a 1-yard touchdown.
