Saint Louis holds off Kahuku, 17-10, to win state title

By Wes Nakama

Riding a stalwart defense and workhorse running back Titan Lacaden, Saint Louis held off Kahuku, 17-10, Friday night to win the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Open Division championship.

A vocal crowd of 8,556 at Clarence T.C. Ching Stadium watched the Crusaders limit the Red Raiders to just 51 yards rushing and Lacaden gain 155 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries as Saint Louis finished the season at 9-3. Kahuku, the three-time defending champ, ended at 9-5.

The Red Raiders had a chance to eventually tie or win late, but a pass to the end zone on fourth-and-7 from the Crusaders’ 8-yard line fell incomplete with 32 seconds remaining. With Kahuku out of timeouts, Saint Louis then took a knee to run out the clock.

“Anybody could have won tonight,” said Tupu Alualu, the Crusaders’ first-year coach. “But we believed, we were disciplined, we had effort … Give God all the glory.”

Saint Louis dominated the first half on the field and in the stat charts, and took a 7-0 lead after Lacaden capped a 10-play, 99-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge with 1:38 remaining in the second quarter. But Kahuku came right back with a seven-play, 62-yard scoring drive culminating in Matai Fuiava’s 34-yard TD pass to Mana Carvalho. Manoa Kahalepuna’s extra point tied it at 7-7 just eight seconds before halftime.

The Crusaders held the ball for 17 and one-half minutes in the first two quarters, compared to just 6:30 of time on offense for the Red Raiders, who ran only three plays in the first period.

“We just had to take our chances, we were put in bad spots and just couldn’t get them off the field,” Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho said. “Our defense was on the field for a long time, and we just couldn’t stop Titan, that’s the bottom line tonight.”

After the Red Raiders lost the ball on downs on the first possession of the third quarter, Saint Louis capitalized with a nine-play, 42-yard drive ending in Lacaden’s 3-yard run over right tackle, with Stytyn Lasconia converting the extra point for a 14-7 lead with 3:03 remaining in the third quarter.

Makena Kauai added a 22-yard field goal with 8:39 remaining in the game for a 17-7 lead, but Kahalepuna answered with a 3-pointer from 37 out to close it to 17-10 with 7:04 left.

Kahuku then forced a punt on the ensuing possession, but was pinned on its own 5-yard line with 2:30 showing on the clock. The Red Raiders eventually marched 87 yards to the Crusaders’ 8, but three straight incompletions sealed their fate.

“We just didn’t execute when we needed to, and we just fell short,” Carvalho said. “That’s something that we gotta get better at — no excuses, Saint Louis played a great game, and tonight was their night.”

Fuiava finished 17 of 34 for 206 yards and one touchdown, with one late third-quarter interception near midfield.

Overall, the Crusaders won in time of possession, 31 minutes, 42 seconds, compared to just 16:18 for Kahuku.

“Our objective was to get points on the board and run the clock,” said Lacaden, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound senior. “So each run, I was trying to take my time, making sure the game clock was running. Our plan worked, as you can see — we were able to close out the game, and I’m just so thankful for what happened tonight.”

Alualu said he credited defensive coordinator Thom Kaumeyer and his staff with guiding the Saint Louis’ effort to stop the Red Raiders’ vaunted running game.

“The word is ‘manifest’ … I told him, ‘When I get this job, you’re my D.C.,’ ” Alualu said. “Thom is amazing, with his assistant coaches and the players that we have … I’m so thankful, give God all the glory. My happiness is for everybody being happy, at where we’re at right now. For the parents, and the kids.”