Chase for the Championship
Old postseason foes - Saint Louis, Waianae - meet in semifinals




After a little more than half a decade, familiar postseason foes will meet in Friday's 4:30 p.m. semifinal of the First Hawaiian Bank Open Division state football tournament at Aloha Stadium.

Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I champion Saint Louis will play Oahu Interscholastic Association fourth-place entrant Waianae for the first time since the 2010 Division I state championship. The Crusaders won that meeting, 36-13, to improve their series lead on the Seariders, 24-5. They also met in nine Oahu Prep Bowls with Waianae's only win coming in the inaugural game in 1973 (6-0).

Not much has changed between the teams, as far as schemes, over the years. No. 2 Saint Louis still passes the ball effectively; No. 6 Waianae continues to pound the ball on the ground with fervor.

"I think it will be a good game," said Saint Louis' Cal Lee, who coached 14 Prep Bowl titles and one state crown in its inaugural year of 1999.

Saint Louis will be facing one of the most prolific rushing teams in the state in Waianae, which averaged 203.1 yards per game and scored 38 touchdowns, second to Kahuku's staggering 48.

Running back Javen Towne picked up the slack nicely when Rico Rosario went down with a shoulder injury in last week's opening-round win against Farrington. Towne had season highs of 24 carries for 148 yards, including a TD. Rosario is expected to play

Rosario, who appeared to be on his way to another big game, had 35 yards on five carries before leaving the game. Rosario is second among D1 rushers with 1,183 yards rushing (7.4 per carry) and 14 TDs. The Seariders show defenses a lot of misdirection with traps and counters. It's up to the defenses to play their assigned areas to not get burned.

"We're not really big up front," Lee said, "but the kids play hard. They execute their assignments very well. That's what makes us pretty good."

Quarterback Jaren Ulu returned from injury he sustained from the Kailua game on Oct. 7. He was replaced by Jorell Pontes-Borje, who also plays RB. Ulu is the more effective passer with 1,057 yards and 12 TDs to 5 INTS. Both shared time at QB last week and are expected to do so again.

When Waianae does throw the ball, Isaiah Freeney is usually the favorite target. He has 29 catches for 491 yards and five TDs.

Meanwhile, Waianae's defense must deal with a pair of two-way threats in QB Tua Tagovailoa and SB/RB Ronson Young.

With no true RB, Young has contributed to the ground attack from his SB position and when he lines up behind Tagovailoa. He averaged 7.8 yards per rush with five TDs. He's also an viable receiver with 27 receptions for 372 yards and six TDs. Noah Alejado and Tosh Kekahuna-Kalawe have more receptions and yards receiving, yet all three average 13-plus yards per catch.

While Young can't always lineup at RB, Tagovailoa has acted as another rusher. He not only has passed for 2,264 yards and 23 TDs, he is the team's leading rusher with 524 yards and six TDs. He has been given permission to run when everything else fails when dropping back to pass.

"He can hurt you when he's running as well throwing the ball," Lee said. "It's just what (the defense) is going to give you. They come at you fast and hard, you have to get rid of the ball a little quicker, but he's got that ability to get away from the rush. It's all necessity. We don't have him running just because he can run. We like him staying in there, throwing the ball, but sometimes he gets pressure and he has to be able to step up. If guys are covered, he has to take off, but he can do that. He has the green light."

The Seariders know the damage Tagovailoa, who has verbally committed to Alabama, can inflict on teams. 

"He was always a runner," Waianae coach Walter Young said. "He's a blue chip quarterback all the way. You have to use your weapons where you got'em. A dual-threal quarterback always makes you job a lot harder."

Saint Louis is coming off a first-round bye and has not played since Oct. 21, when it beat Punahou for the ILH title. After its late-September bye, the Seariders will be playing in their sixth consecutive weekend. If they want to keep the Crusaders from returning to the title game, it will come down to basics.

"We have to execute in all facets of the game," Young said. "If we can execute, we have a chance."



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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