Football
Defense never rests when Crusaders play Mules




The way these two offenses play, one would think they're double parked.

Second-seeded Saint Louis and Leilehua square off in the nightcap of the First Hawaiian Bank Division State Football semifinals 7 p.m. Friday at Aloha Stadium. The winner plays the winner of the Mililani-Wai'anae semifinal that starts at 4 p.m. for the state title Nov. 26.

Both games will be aired live on OC16.

And TV timeouts might be welcomed by the defenses of the Crusaders (9-1) and Mules (8-3), as both teams employ no-huddle offenses.

The Mules are coming off a 35-26 quarterfinal win against Baldwin on Maui, but the Crusaders haven't played since they ended the Interscholastic League of Honolulu season Oct  28 with a 34-12 win against Kamehameha.

Leilehua has settled on junior southpaw Kenan Sadanaga at QB after he shared time with senior Jordan Kalaau most of the regular season. Sadanaga as three 300-plus yard passing games, including 478 yards and five TD passes against Baldwin, both season highs. His 2,178 yards leads all Division I passers.

Sadanaga took some hits against Baldwin's front seven, leaving the game twice, but returning each time. In the past two games, receiver Jeremiah Andrade has subbed for Sadanaga and is now the backup.

Wide receiver Fred Padrones has turned into a key target, having caught nine of his 13 TDs in the past five games. Darrien Shealy and Andrade also get a lot of attention from Sadanaga.

Rushing hasn't been a strong point for the Mules. The remaining backs on the team average less than two yards per carry.

The Crusaders' concern would be shaking the rust of being without a game for a little more than three weeks.

Leilehua coach Nolan Tokuda said the Mules can't control how the Crusaders would be affected by the layoff, but added his team can control its own issues. Leilehua overcame 19 penalties and six turnovers in the Baldwin game last week.

"Hopefully, we got that out of the way," Tokuda said.

Still, Saint Louis is always a threat because of QB Marcus Mariota, who has passed for 2,018 yards and 22 TDs, though defenses have to be wary of his legs, too. He averages 7.9 yards per carry and his six rushing TDs only trails RB Derek Nakasato's eight.

Duke Bukoski, an all-state receiver last season, is keeping up the pace with a team-leading 41 catches for 794 yards and 11 TDs.

The teams have split their last two meetings. The Crusaders won a non-league game, 28-21, in 2009. The Mules beat the Crusaders, 20-16, for the state Division I title in 2007 behind a sophomore QB named Andrew Manley. The Crusaders hold a 6-4 edge in the series that dates back to 1936, when Leilehua played in the ILH.


Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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