Evan Cazimero's performance over the weekend was a microcosm of his season as a whole. 

Cazimero, a junior linebacker for the Kamehameha Warriors, has stepped up to the proverbial plate this football season and never more so than in his team's upset of then-No. 1 Saint Louis Saturday night. 

Kamehameha rode a pair of interception returns for touchdowns — including a 79-yard pick-6 by Cazimero early in the fourth quarter — to a stunning 28-21 victory over the defending Open Division state champion Crusaders before a jubilant home crowd at Kunuiakea Stadium. 

Warriors coach Kaeo Drummondo praised Cazimero for his steady — and at times stellar — play against the offensive juggernaut Crusaders, who entered the game averaging nearly 30 points per contest. 

"Saint Louis puts so much pressure on you to defend the pass that a lot of times their run game is way overlooked — whether it's the power or whether it's the draw — so the totality of his effort and the other linebackers and the whole defense was huge," Drummondo said of Cazimero, who tallied four solo tackles and two more assisted tackles. 

With its offense accounting for only 128 total yards, the onus was on Kamehameha's defense to provide a spark. Early in the second half, with his team trailing 12-7, safety Kamaka Lorenzo did just that with his 46-yard interception return for touchdown that put the Warriors back in front. 

The Crusaders' vaunted passing attack tallied 371 yards through the air on 34-of-48 passing from University of California-commit Nainoa Lopes, but the Warriors' pair of pick-6s proved to be too much to overcome. 

Drummondo credited his defense for coming up clutch against Lopes and company, who tallied 18 of their 27 total first downs via pass. 

"You've still got to play the run, but once you read pass the sense of urgency to drop and get to the right spots, it's takes playing at a high level and it's for all 50, 60 plays, so it takes a lot of energy to play those guys because they make you defend so much grass. So the amount asked of our guys to defend the run, defend the pass, defend the quick pass game, defend the vertical pass game, it's very demanding so to see them play a good game all around for us was big — not just the big plays, but the totality of it," Drummondo commented. 

Not only did Saint Louis out-gain Kamehameha, 457 yards to 128, it also amassed 27 first downs to just 10 for the hosts. The Crusaders ran 73 offensive and held the ball for more than 30 minutes, while the Warriors recorded only 34 plays and less than 18 minutes of possession time. 

After Lorenzo's defensive score, Saint Louis used a 17-play, 76-yard drive that took six minutes and 25 seconds off the clock, capped by Toa-Rai Ellacott's 24-yard field goal, to pull back ahead, 15-13. 

Kamehameha subsequently went three-and-out on its ensuing possession to give the ball back to the Crusaders late in the third quarter. Lopes and company picked up a pair of first downs and faced third-and-12 at the Warriors' 32-yard line when Cazimero turned the tide back in his team's favor. Cazimero dropped back in coverage and stepped in front of a pass from Lopes before he returned it down the right sideline on the 79-yard pick-6. 

"That was huge," Drummondo said. 

"Saint Louis sustained drives in the second half and I don't care if it's on first down and we're punching the ball out, but we gotta end drives, so for him and the entire defense to step up at that point and not just get us off the field, but get us a pick-6 and give us the lead, that was huge," he added. 

Kamehameha sent four defenders to rush the quarterback on the same. Drummondo pointed out Irai Manumaleuna's ability to put some pressure on Lopes as a key factor that led to Cazimero's interception on the back end. 

"Irai was able to get in the face of the quarterback to force a little bit of an errant throw and Evan was able to get his depth, get his drop, but he still had to take a play and catch it and take it back and score it, but credit the pass rush and I was just happy to see (Cazimero) get in front of the ball, catch the ball and then he has legit speed, so for the most part, once he hits open field there's not a lot of guys that are gonna catch him," Drummondo said. 

Drummondo explained that the Warriors used the bye week leading up to Saturday's game to fine-tune their pass coverage schemes. 

"The goal all week was just becoming a better coverage team, getting better at the fundamentals of coverage, understanding the distribution of routes in relation to threats and we worked on that repeatedly over the bye week and the game week and Evan worked to get a very good grasp of it," Drummondo said. 

Cazimero's interception and subsequent return for a touchdown, followed by Tyler Fujimoto's extra point, gave Kamehameha a 20-15 lead with 10:16 left to play. 

"That play right there was probably the play that makes the entire game," Drummondo expressed. 

Drummondo expanded upon the skillset of the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Cazimero, who served as a backup to both the Mike (middle) and Will (weak-side) linebacker positions, with a larger role on special teams, as a sophomore last year

"His athleticism and versatility is impressive. His ability to diagnose a run and get some depth to the line of scrimmage and on the opposite end of that spectrum, his ability to get depth into his drops is impressed. He's physical and he's durable, so he's as good of a linebacker as we've had here in the three years I've been here. He's just the complete package to be able to play the run, be effective as a blitzer, to drop into coverage — he's very versatile and we'll need all of those aspects from him for the rest of the season," Drummondo said. 

Cazimero has always had the physical ability, Drummondo explained, but he also put in a significant amount of sweat equity in the offseason to ready himself for this fall. 

"His physical development between his sophomore and junior year was impressive and important and that's kind of what's allowing him to not only start, but he's thriving now. He worked very, very hard and put in a lot of extra work, which is now paying dividends for him and that's nice for the rest of our players to see because you need to invest. In today's society there's a lot of withdrawal, but when you invest, you invest in yourself and that young man put in a lot of work when no one was watching and now to see it all come out when the lights are the brightest for him, that's all you can ask as a coach," Drummondo said. 

Cazimero began the season once again as a second-string linebacker. However, starting Mike ‘backer Linkin Apana went down with a season-ending knee injury in the Warriors' season opener against Farrington, which thrust Cazimero into an expanded role. 

"We saw (Cazimero's) promise in camp and when Linkin went down, Evan knew he was the next option to slide into that role and he didn't flinch, he didn't hesitate. He knew what the ask was and he slid into that role and he's done a great job for us. He's really stepped up big time for us and it's been huge for us; He's basically become like another leader for us," Drummondo said. 

Even after Cazimero's pick-6, the Warriors weren't out of the weeds just yet. The Crusaders inched ahead with 3:33 to play on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Lopes to Kingston Siliado. 

Kamehameha had an answer just four plays later when running back Nainoa Melchor broke free for a 34-yard touchdown run up the middle to put his team ahead for good with 2:30 remaining. 

Saint Louis drove into Warriors' territory on their final possession, but on third-and-4, Cazimero tackled wide receiver Jordan Nunuha one yard shy of the line to gain after a short pass completion from Lopes. After the Crusaders called timeout with 42 seconds to play, Lopes was stopped for no gain by Manumaleuna and Tau Purcell, which resulted in a turnover on downs. 

That gave possession back to the Warriors, who took a knee to run out the final 37 seconds. 

"That was a huge tackle by Evan and that just goes to his athletic ability because Nunuha is extremely talented and he's an issue to deal with, so for a middle linebacker to be able to drop — and Nunuha wasn't who he was relating to in his drop — but he saw the ball thrown, gave effort and we always tell our guys that every play starts with E and ends with E — starts with effort and ends with execution — if you don't have the first E, you don't have the second E and so he put it all on the line, played with effort and passion and executed a tackle. It was either going to be a first down and they're still driving, or fourth down and the game is on the line. It came down to fourth-and-1 and we were able to finish the fourth down play and thankfully for us that was the ball game," Drummondo stated. 

The win puts Kamehameha in the driver's seat in the ILH Open Division race. 

The Warriors have yet to appear in the state tournament since the advent of the Open Division back in 2016. They last won the ILH in 2009, when they also claimed the state crown in the top tier (Division I). 

"To come out on top of that one and for what it can do for your mentally and psychologically at this point in the season where everybody is grinding, everybody is dealing with bumps and bruises, so winning a game like that helps the psyche and going into fall break with a win feels a lot better than going into fall break with a loss. Coming out with the win in the first round is big, big for our players. I just hope they're utilizing it as fuel and not as a way to feel complacent like we accomplished anything yet because we've still got to get better and we've got to keep our head down and keep working," Drummondo said. 

Once the football season is over, Cazimero will transition to the wrestling mat for the winter season. Drummondo added that Cazimero indicated he plans to run track in the spring. 

"He keeps himself pretty busy," Drummondo said. 

"He's a pleasant young man, very coachable, great attitude, great work ethic. I'm just happy to see him thriving and growing into his own. He was thrust into it a little bit earlier than we expected, but the moment and the role weren't too big for him and it couldn't have happened at a better time for us as a program, but at the end of the day, no matter the success of an individual player, it's a team game. It's always a team effort. We win together, we lose together and that's how it's gotta be the rest of the way, we gotta do it as one," Drummondo said. 

Cazimero and the Warriors (3-3 overall, 2-0 league), who moved up two spots to No. 4 in this week's ScoringLive Power Rankings, have a bye this week before a rematch with the Crusaders on Oct. 18. 

FOOTBALL

Luke Barner, Radford — Caught seven passes for 114 yards and a touchdown in a win over Kaiser 

Kaisten-Paul Ching, Kalani — Caught nine passes for 113 yards and a touchdown in a loss to Pearl City 

Alohi Gaspar, Pearl City — Ran eight times for 115 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Kalani 

Trustin Gomes, Keaau — Threw for 342 yards and a touchdown on 17-of-29 passing with an interception in a loss to Hilo

Emmitt-Jay Harrison, Kahuku — Scored on an 85-yard kickoff return for touchdown in a win over Farrington 

Dycein Kahele-Velasco, Keaau — Caught six passes for 184 yards and a touchdown in a loss to Hilo

John Michael Kaio, Waianae — Threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns on 15-of-18 passing without an interception in a win over Aiea 

Zade Kalua, Nanakuli — Ran 21 times for 292 yards and three touchdowns in a loss to Waipahu 

Lokuhao Lapera, Konawaena — Ran for a touchdown, made 6 ½ tackles, including 1 ½ for losses, forced two fumbles and scored on a 48-yard interception return for touchdown in a win over Konawaena 

Tainoa Lave, Campbell — Made 11 ½ tackles and forced a fumble in a loss to Kapolei 

Kamaka Lorenzo, Kamehameha — Made 4 ½ tackles, scored on a 46-yard interception return for touchdown and broke up another pass in a win over Saint Louis 

Keonakoa Malaia, Waianae — Caught seven passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Aiea 

Marquez Mellor, Kailua — Ran 13 times for 111 yards in a win over Moanalua 

Malosi Muaau, Nanakuli — Caught nine passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to Waipahu

Tristan Pacheco, Waipahu — Ran for five touchdowns in a win over Nanakuli 

Toa Sam, Kahuku — Ran for two touchdowns and scored on an 85-yard punt return for touchdown in a win over Farrington 

Brystin Sansano, Campbell — Caught seven passes for 107 yards in a loss to Kapolei 

Kingston Siliado, Saint Louis — Caught 13 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to Kamehameha 

Victor Silva, Roosevelt — Scored on a 52-yard interception return for touchdown in a win over Kalaheo 

JHeart Sisra, Castle — Scored on a 35-yard interception return for touchdown in a win over Kaimuki 

Nikko Smith, Kapolei — Caught four passes for 127 yards and a touchdown in a win over Campbell 

Ezekiel Soon, Roosevelt — Scored on a 15-yard blocked punt return for touchdown in a win over Kalaheo 

Max Taetuna Fautanu, Konawaena — Scored on an 85-yard kickoff return for touchdown in a win over Kamehameha-Hawaii 

Jezden Takushi, Kapolei — Scored on a 16-yard interception return for touchdown in a win over Campbell

Aliza Taufa, McKinley — Caught a touchdown pass and scored on a 50-yard interception return for touchdown in a loss to Waialua 

Joshua Taylor, Kalaheo — Scored on a 13-yard interception return for touchdown in a loss to Roosevelt 

Zyon-Blaze Telles-Kuwahara, Radford — Caught seven passes for 121 yards and a touchdown in a win over Kaiser 

Ikaika Torres, Pearl City — Threw for 218 yards and four touchdowns on 14-of-28 passing without an interception in a win over Kalani 

Chaseton Wong, Kamehameha-Hawaii — Caught eight passes for 107 yards and a touchdown in a loss to Konawaena 

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Aleia Abiva-Caberto, Aiea — Had 14 set assists, 13 digs, six aces and five kills in a five-set win over Radford 

Averi Ahokovi, St. Andrew's — Had 33 set assists, 10 aces, nine kills and six digs in a five-set win over La Pietra 

Taimane Ainuu, Iolani — Had 18 kills, three solo blocks, two block assists, two set assists and one ace in a five-set loss to Kamehameha 

Hiilei Alo, Kamehameha-Maui — Had 49 set assists and one ace in a three-set win over Maui 

Rylee Carvalho, Aiea — Had 14 set assists, 11 digs, six kills and three aces in a five-set win over Radford and had 13 digs, 10 set assists and five kills in a three-set loss to Leilehua 

Kalaweloilehua Chock, Kamehameha — Had 27 kills, one solo block and an ace in a five-set win over Iolani 

Keila Chun, Waianae — Had 17 digs and three set assists in a four-set win over Waipahu 

Kealoha Cox, Punahou — Had 20 kills and 12 digs in a three-set win over Mid-Pacific 

Elle Foster, La Pietra — Had 10 kills, 10 digs, one solo block and an ace in a five-set loss to St. Andrew's

Emma Grace Hirata, La Pietra — Had 18 digs, two kills, one set assist and one ace in a five-set loss to St. Andrew's

Calize Jesus-Kapesi, Aiea — Had 10 kills, 18 digs, four aces and one block assist in a five-set win over Radford 

Ambree Kakuni, St. Andrew's — Had 13 kills, 19 digs, one set assist and one ace in a five-set win over La Pietra

Poema Kalama-Kingma, Iolani — Had 24 kills, two block assists and one ace in a five-set loss to Kamehameha 

Hope Lemaota, Kapolei — Had 16 digs, nine set assists and one ace in a five-set loss to Mililani 

Rylie Matsuda, Castle — Had 25 digs, three aces and one set assist in a four-set loss to Farrington

Kacie Miyahira, Kapolei — Had 15 digs and two aces in a three-set win over Nanakuli and had 20 digs, one set assist and one ace in a five-set loss to Mililani

Cali Moniz-Kealoha, Leilehua — Had 23 kills, seven digs, five aces and one solo block in a four-set win over Roosevelt and had 18 kills, 11 digs, two block assists and one ace in a three-set win over Aiea 

Ekekela Nahulu, Nanakuli — Had 21 digs, two set assists and one ace in a four-set loss to Pearl City 

Bailey Nakanelua, Iolani — Had 58 set assists, three block assists, two kills and one ace in a five-set loss to Kamehameha 

Sauimoana Purcell, Kamehameha — Had 16 kills, three block assists, one solo block and one set assist in a five-set win over Iolani and had 17 kills and one ace in a four-set loss to Punahou 

Kelsey Reul, Maui Prep — Had 17 digs and three aces in a three-set win over Kulanihakoi

Anny Scott, Kapolei — Had 33 set assists, 17 digs and five kills in a three-set win over Nanakuli 

Sayde Souza, Aiea — Had 10 kills, 19 digs, six aces and one block assist in a five-set win over Radford 

Kealananea Stephens, Mililani — Had 45 set assists, 15 digs, three kills and two aces in a five-set win over Kapolei 

Maila Tawata, Waipahu — Had 17 digs, three kills, three set assists and three aces in a four-set loss to Waianae 

Mari Tillis, Castle — Had 11 kills, 13 digs, one set assist and an ace in a four-set loss to Farrington 

Khanzas Tuisamatatele, Mid-Pacific — Had 11 kills, 10 digs and one set assist in a three-set loss to Punahou 

Cami Watanabe, Leilehua — Had 18 digs and five set assists in a four-set win over Roosevelt 

Chandy-Lee Westbrook, Nanakuli — Had 40 set assists, six digs, three kills, two block assists and one ace in a four-set loss to Pearl City 

Kadence Wilson, Mililani — Had 21 digs, four set assists and two aces in a five-set win over Kapolei