Kamehameha RB Brandon Kahookele carries the ball against Saint Louis. Evan Asato | SL

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Kamehameha's Kaulana Werner looks for running room against Saint Louis. Keita Funakawa | Special to SL

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St. Louis DB Todd Micah, leaps up to make an interception in the third quarter. Evan Asato | SL

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Saint Louis WR Devan Stubblefield attempts to make a leaping catch against Kamehameha. Keita Funakawa | Special to SL

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The Crusader offense pushed their way through a tough Kamehameha defense in the first half. Celine Truong | Special to SL

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Saint Louis QB Ryder Kuhns gets a pass attempt off as Kamehameha's Kalen Lyman-Risso applies pressure. Amber Popovich | Special to SL

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Kamehameha fans celebrate their fourth victory of the season. Celine Truong | Special to SL

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Kamehameha's Kainoa Simao, ran for 87 yards against the Crusaders. Evan Asato | SL

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Fri, Aug 30, 2013 @ Aloha Stadium [ 7:30 pm ]

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Kamehameha

38

Saint Louis

17

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Kamehameha (9-2-0)	0	7	3	28	38
Saint Louis (6-3-0)	0	10	7	0	17

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Ryder Kuhns 260 yd 2 TD

Noah Sua-Godinet 108 yd 1 TD

Allan Cui III 32 yd

Brandon Kahookele 61 yd 2 TD

Drew Kobayashi 129 yd 1 TD

Brandon Kahookele 24 yd 1 TD

HALAWA — Kamehameha and Saint Louis battled back-and-forth for three quarters in their Interscholastic League of Honolulu-opener Friday night, but the final 12 minutes belonged solely to the Warriors.

A crowd of about 5,000 at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium saw Kamehameha, ranked third in this week's ScoringLive/OC16 Division I Power Rankings, rally from a 17-10 third-quarter deficit with 28 unanswered points — all in the fourth quarter — to remain undefeated at 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the ILH. The second-ranked Crusaders fell to 2-1 and 0-1.

"We've just got a bunch of really good, tough football players and they competed for four quarters and made plays when we needed them," Warriors' coach Doug Cosbie said.

Kamehameha's vaunted defense came through in the clutch once again. The Warriors recorded three interceptions of Saint Louis quarterback Ryder Kuhns in the game's final five minutes and 54 seconds — including a pair of pick-6's by Gavin Panui and Josiah Lucas.

"We work hard, play hard and we live by the slogan 'Not dead, can't quit,' and just do our best," said Panui, whose 37-yard return to pay dirt gave the Warriors a 22-17 lead with 5:46 to play. Kamehameha went for two and quarterback Noah Sua-Godinet found Kaulana Werner on a pass to make it 24-17.

Kuhns was intercepted on his next pass attempt — just two plays later — by Chad Souza, who returned it 10 yards to set-up Brandon Kahookele's 2-yard touchdown run with 3:12 remaining. Following the Noah Crabbe extra point, Kamehameha extended its lead to 31-17.

Saint Louis got the ball back, only to turn it over three plays later on Kuhns' third interception. Lucas returned the pick 70 yards up the middle of the field to close out the scoring with 2:20 to play.

"Three interceptions in the row, there's nothing you can do about that," Crusaders' coach Matt Wright said. "(Kamehameha wasn't) doing anything special other than we made bad passes and that's what it came down to and at a crucial time that like, you can't afford to make bad passes against a good defense in a hard-fought close battle. In the end, once you throw three (picks) in a row, you know, what are you going to do?"

The Warriors pressured Kuhns all night and put him on the turf numerous times, including two roughing-the-passer penalties that came after a pair of earlier Saint Louis touchdown passes.

"When you give them two personal fouls because of late hits on the quarterback, yeah it shakes you up a little bit, but at the same time, Ryder's got great composure," Wright said. "I think that at the end, he was trying to press and hurry things a bit too much, but once again it goes back to when you got two personal fouls because of two late hits, then yeah, you're going to throw the ball a little earlier than you think."

Cosbie offered no excuse for his hard-hitting defense.

"Did it affect him? I don't know, you'd have to ask him that," Cosbie said of Kuhns. "He's a good football player. I mean, it's a part of playing the position. We have a really good, aggressive defense and you know, when you play quarterback, you get hit."

Panui said it was all part of the Warriors' defensive strategy.

"The D-line and linebackers got to Kuhns and he didn't look to comfortable in the pocket, which was our whole game plan," Panui said. "That was a big part of our success. We were able to get to the quarterback and get in his head early."

The Warrior defense allowed just 14 rushing yards and held Crusaders' running back Adam Noga to just four yards on seven carries. Saint Louis, which averaged over 500 yards and 50 points in its previous two games, picked up just one of its 13 first downs by rush.

"We knew that they have a good defense and you know, they held us to 14 rushing yards, they took away some of the things that we were trying to do, but the opportunities were still there and we couldn't execute when they were there," Wright said.

After a scoreless first quarter, it was Saint Louis which got on the board first with a 21-yard field goal by Christopher Quinn midway through the second. It was the first time that Kamehameha trailed in any game this season.

The Warriors took its first lead at 7-3 on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Sua-Godinet to Kahookele. However, the Crusaders reclaimed the lead on a 63-yard scoring strike from Kuhns to Drew Kobayashi with 28 seconds left in the first half. Following the PAT by Quinn, Saint Louis took a 10-7 into halftime.

TJ Fitzsimmons booted a 44-yard field goal with 7:28 left in the third quarter to tie it at 10 before Kuhns hooked up with Devon Stubblefield for a 4-yard touchdown pass just 46 seconds later.

The Warriors inched to within a point on a 2-yard Kahookele touchdown run four plays into the fourth quarter. The hold on the ensuing PAT was botched and the Crusaders clung to a 17-16 lead. Following a missed 46-yard field goal try by Kamehameha, Saint Louis got the ball back at its own 20-yard line with 6:19 to play, but Panui's pick-6 came on the very next play.

"It's just the beginning," Panui said of the win. "We have a long road in front of us and we just have to get ready for the next game."

Kamehameha plays six-time Division II state champion Iolani Friday, the nightcap of a ILH doubleheader at Aloha Stadium. Saint Louis takes on Pac-Five in the early game.

It was the second straight win for the Warriors over the Crusaders. Kamehameha beat Saint Louis, 43-19, in their previous meeting on Oct. 12 of last year. The teams split their two games last season.