Saint Louis wins the HHSAA Open Division football championship

Kahuku and Saint Louis battled for the HHSAA Open Division football championship Friday at the University of Hawaii’s Clarence TC Ching Athletics Complex, with the Crusaders taking first place 17-10 in front of 8,566 spectators.

Saint Louis finishes Tupu Alualu’s first year 9-3 overall and wins its first state title since 2019.

Meanwhile, Kahuku’s season ended 9-5 overall, failing in its quest for four straight state titles.

The first quarter was a scoreless defensive battle between both teams. Saint Louis turned the ball over on downs in the first drive of the game at the Kahuku 2 in a drive that lasted eight minutes.

The Crusaders got the game going with a 1-yard rushing score from Titan Lacaden with 1:38 left in the first half. Kahuku tied the score 90 seconds later on a 34-yard reception from Mana Carvalho by Matai Fuiava in the fourth.

Saint Louis jumped back into the lead with a 3-yard Lacaden score with 3:43 left in the third.

After Stone Ah Quin intercepted a pass from Fuiava late in the third quarter, the Crusaders pushed deep into Kahuku territory and took a 17-7 lead on a 22-yard field goal from Makena Kauai with 8:39 left Guide.

Manoa Kahalepuna kept Kahuku in the game with a 36-yard field goal with 7:04 left, cutting the deficit to 17-10.

Kahuku forced a Saint Louis punt and got it to the Saint Louis 11. After both teams exhausted all of their timeouts, the Red Raiders turned the ball over on downs at the Saint Louis 8 with 32 seconds left, allowing the Crusaders to run out the clock.

Lacaden ran for 155 yards on 31 carries and also caught one pass for 11 yards.

Defensively, Mana Carvalho and Malaki Soliai-Tui each had 11 tackles and one tackle for loss each for the Red Raiders.

For Saint Louis, Dallas Pelen-Talalotu had a team-high 10 tackles, with one tackle being a loss.

Friday’s game was a battle between two of Hawaii’s biggest high school football powers, as well as the only two winners of the HHSAA’s Open Division since its inception in 2016. The Crusaders won four straight from 2016 to 2019, while Kahuku won three straight from 2021 through 2023. No state football tournament was held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.