Saint Louis struck early and quickly to knock off Wai’anae, 36-13, Friday night to capture the First Hawaiian Bank Division I state football championship. Senior quarterback Marcus Mariota passed for 230 yards and three touchdowns to guide the Crusaders (11-1)
Saint Louis struck early and quickly to knock off Wai’anae, 36-13, Friday night to capture the First Hawaiian Bank Division I state football championship.
Senior quarterback Marcus Mariota passed for 230 yards and three touchdowns to guide the Crusaders (11-1) to their first state crown since 2002 before 12,309 at Aloha Stadium, reports Stacy Kaneshiro of ScoringLive.
For the Seariders (6-8), it was yet another setback against their nemesis of the O’ahu Prep Bowl years, when Saint Louis won 7 of 8 meetings, most by lopsided scores. But this was the first time they met for the state title.
“It’s amazing,” Mariota said. “It’s indescribable. We worked so hard for this. It gets really emotional because we’ve come a long way.”
It was Saint Louis’ ninth consecutive win after a 49-27 thrashing by Kahuku in a non-league game at Carleton Weimer Athletic Field on Aug. 27. But there would be no rematch to atone for that defeat, as the Red Raiders were disqualified from their state berth after having to forfeit their O’ahu Interscholastic Association Red playoff wins for using an ineligible player.
It wasn’t easy for Wai’anae, too, which had to answer critics for being the only team to reach a state final with a losing record. Moreover, it benefited from Kahuku’s forfeiture. But the Seariders have nothing to apologize about.
“Out of all the teams that could’ve been here, we were the ones here,” Wai’anae QB Puletua Wilson said. “We’re just blessed to be out here. Every game we had to win to be in here, we won.” Wilson accounted for 222 yards in total offense, passing for 112 with a 14-yard TD pass to twin brother James, and rushing for 90 more.
But Saint Louis’ quick-striking offense and high-pressure defense made it difficult on Wai’anae most of the night.
Saint Louis scored on its first four series of the game. Its first three TDs were scored in drives not longer than one minute, 25 seconds. A 40-yard field goal by Aaron Goo took the longest, needing 13 plays to move 39 yards in 4:22. But scoring quickly was the plan for the Crusaders, as they tried to do what college’s No. 1 team, Oregon, has been doing. Of course, Oregon is where Mariota has verbally committed.
“We try to emulate Oregon,” Arceneaux said. “We have a guy who’s going to Oregon. We wanted to use his talent and tried to play as fast as we could. We did. It’s a credit to these guys for picking up (the plays). We have 18 different formations, a hundred or so running plays. It’s a tribute to a lot of people, not just myself.”
Mariota was his usual efficient self, completing 17 of 23 passes for 230 yards. He had TD passes of 13 yards to Joshua Tupua, 79 yards to Jeremy Tabuyo and 2 yards to Dallas Tuumalo.
His first two TD strikes put the Saints up 13-0 after the first quarter.
The Seariders struck back early in the second quarter, using a time-consuming 11-play, 80-yard drive that lasted 6:44 with James Wilson consummating a 14-yard TD pass from Puletua to make it 13-7.
But Saint Louis scored on its next series with RB Keanu Mook-Garcia capping a six-play, 73-yard, 1:25 drive with a one-yard TD dive to make it 20-7.
With 30 seconds left in the first half, Aaron Goo drilled a 40-yard field goal to make it 23-7. But Jaylen Mitchell returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a TD to bring the Seariders to 23-13 before the half.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Crusaders cashed in on interceptions by Leland Gomez and Lee-Jun Kalawaia with TDs on a four-yard run by Elijah McShane and Tuumalos’ two-yard TD catch to make it 36-13.
The Seariders rolled up 308 yards in offense, but three interceptions and two fumbles stalled drives. The Seariders had a bad break to start the third quarter when Puletua Wilson left the game with an injury for one play and backup Devon Seabrooks fumbled at the Saint Louis 17.
“I don’t believe it’s the quarterback’s fault,” Wai’anae coach Dan Matsumoto said. “It was a good exchange; they just hit us hard on that. That’s what I thought would happen (we could score). We had the momentum going.”
Game story and quotes provided by ScoringLive reporter Stacy Kaneshiro.
