Football
Tobias came through with crucial field goals


 



HALAWA—The night may have belonged to Tua Tagovailoa and the Saint Louis defense, but Jacob Tobias came through with clutch field goals and PATs to help the Crusaders capture the inaugural Open Division title over Kahuku, 30-14 on Saturday night.

Although Tobias did not attempt a field goal up until the title game, the junior placekicker finished 3-for-4.

"He practices everyday and when we finish practice, he's still out there practicing. That's dedication," said Saint Louis coach Cal Lee, on Tobias perfecting his craft.

Tobias went 53-for-55 on PATs in the 2016 season. His only two misses came against Iolani in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu second round tournament on Oct. 14.

The coaches put the pressure on him to make his kicks or else the whole team pays the price and runs. Tobias was no stranger to tense situations.

"We play a game during practice, he lines up and he does a field goal. If he misses it, everybody runs except him. We have to put pressure on him and that's what you gotta do," said Lee.

"I came out here believing God. I knew the offense was going to do good," said Tobias.

Throughout the season, the Crusaders often found ways to score touchdowns—through the air or on the ground so Tobias' job is just to kick the PATs. However, when Kahuku prevented the Crusaders from reaching the end zone, Saint Louis turned to Tobias for points.

Tobias made a 30 and 27-yard field goal to give the Crusaders an early, 6-0 lead.

"He was huge. He hasn't kicked that many field goals, but he's accurate as hell. I'm so confident in him, I don't care where we are on the field, he's the man and I have no doubt about it," said Lee.

On his seven kickoffs, four were touchbacks to prevent dangerous returners from breaking out for big plays.

Saint Louis trailed, 14-13 following a touchdown run by Harmon Brown. Tobias missed a 40-yard attempt where it went wide left at the 4:52 mark in the third quarter.

"I had it down. The one I missed, I rushed it and got too excited. Playing against Kahuku, it's like playing in Seattle, it's so loud," said Tobias.

He and kicking coach Kenton Chun talked about it, but Tobias owned up to it and knew what went wrong.

"We talked about refocusing and forgetting about the hype. I just thought about doing it for the team and staying focused."

He put the previous miss in the rear view mirror and made up for it to hit a 40-yard try down the pipe with 11:50 left in the fourth quarter to give Saint Louis the lead, 16-14, and never looked back.

The line upfront did their part to make sure no Red Raiders came in untouched to block the field goals or PAT attempts. Kahuku made a living off of forcing turnovers.

"We have a great snapper (Peyton Yanagi), last year he didn't do too good, but this year we practiced a lot. Kahuku has a good defense and no one can deny that. Their PAT block is very good and they are extremely fast. We had to focus and get the kicks off and be confident in what we do," said Tobias.

Backup quarterback Chevan Cordeiro served as the holder and he got the placement right for Tobias to put it through despite the elements.

"In warmups, the ball was really slippery and I don't know how he held on to that. He did amazing and I always depend on him. I had him last year, he's so fast and I know the ball will be there," said Tobias, on Cordeiro.



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].




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