Punahou running back Wayne Taulapapa heads downfield on a carry against Saint Louis. Jim Lebeau | Special to SL

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Punahou's Kanawai Noa had a huge receiving night, hauling in 13 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown in a win over Saint Louis. Reina Takaki | Special to SL

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HALAWA-- No. 3 Saint Louis gave top-ranked Punahou their toughest test of the season as the Buffanblu prevailed over the Crusaders, 35-28 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu postseason final on Friday night at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium.

The Buffanblu claimed their fourth consecutive, 26th overall ILH title and a state berth to the First Hawaiian Bank Division I State Football Championships. The loss snapped Saint Louis' six-game winning streak and they end the season at 6-2 in the ILH, 6-4 overall. Punahou defeated Saint Louis earlier, 55-7 on Aug. 29, but tonight both teams evolved over the season since they first met.  

"They knew if you win, you continue, you lose, you're done. They did the best they could, we made some mistakes, but give Punahou credit, they deserved to win," said Saint Louis coach Cal Lee.

"It was a great game and it was good to have some adversity and Saint Louis played awesome and jumped ahead. Our kids played really well and didn't miss a beat, both teams played really well and it was fun to watch. It's sad when a team loses like that their season is over and we feel for them, but I'm proud of our kids and our resiliency they showed and we're glad to be moving on," said Punahou coach Kale Ane. 

Kanawai Noa hauled in a 52-yard touchdown from Ephraim Tuliloa that made the difference in the fourth after they capitalized on an illegal substitution penalty against Saint Louis. Noa finished with a game-high 13 catches for 194 yards. 

"Saint Louis is a great team and their defense played a hell of a game tonight, it was a rough patch for us from the start, but we finished strong and that's what matters. Our offensive coordinator (Teetai Ane) saw a one-on-one opportunity for the trips side so I flew as fast as I could and got the touchdown," said Noa, on the touchdown.

The Buffanblu racked up 543 yards of net offense as Ephraim Tuliloa passed for 349 yards, three touchdowns, one interception and Wayne Taulapapa rushed for 182 yards on 24 carries. Kalama Chung came up huge for the defense with two sacks, one for a 20-yard loss. 

The Crusaders jumped out to a quick 13 point lead early in the first quarter and tested the Buffanblu. Saint Louis struck first on a 80-yard, five play scoring drive that took 1 minute 8 seconds as Tua Tagovailoa threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Drew Kobayashi. Kobayashi led Saint Louis with seven catches for 138 yards. 

Tuliloa completed a pass to Taulapapa, but Kainalu Paikai knocked the ball loose from Taulapapa and Josiah Maglente-Tonu recovered the fumble. Four plays later, Tagovailoa rushed for a 6-yard touchdown, but the pass failed as the Crusaders took a 13-0 lead. 

"We haven't been challenged this year yet, you never know when you get in that position. It was good to know when the kids needed it because Saint Louis was battling all game, you never know until you get into a situation like that," said Ane. 

Punahou scored two unanswered touchdowns to go back up, 14-13. Punahou answered back as Tuliloa threw a 5-yard touchdown to Micah Maa that covered 75-yard and 10 plays. After Saint Louis punted and four plays later, Taulapapa rushed for a 37-yard touchdown. 

"It started with Wayne and the o-line, we started off slow with our passing game, but once Wayne got it going, it opened up the offense to throw," said Noa. 

"Our receivers did a good job getting open, letting them find windows and letting them make plays. All props to the offensive line and Wayne did great and when you have a running back rushing, it gives you one more thing the defense has to worry about," said Tuliloa.

Saint Louis reclaimed the lead as they marched 80 yards on eight plays after Tagovailoa threw a 35-yard touchdown to a wide-open Ricardo Sallas III to go back up, 20-14. Tagovailoa was 10-of-12 passing for 157 yards in the first quarter and finished the game with 334 passing yards.  

"Luckily we had plenty of returnees and we got scored on, we didn't get flustered, we had to make adjustments. They were testing us after the third touchdown and we were a little stressed out, but calmed down and went back to assignment football," said Chung.

The Buffanblu answered back as Tuliloa threw a 8-yard touchdown to CJ Tuliloa. The Crusaders got the ball back on the Punahou 37-yard line, but turned it over on downs. Punahou went all the way down to the Saint Louis 20, and on a fourth-and-1, Tuliloa rushed 16-yards to the Crusaders' 4-yard line. Taulapapa ran it in from 2-yards out for his second rushing touchdown as the Buffanblu held a 28-20 lead at halftime. 

In the third, the Crusaders scored on a safety as the snap sailed past Tuliloa and Heisman Hosoda tried to throw it out of the end zone, but was called for intentional grounding. Cash Searle returned the kick off to the Saint Louis 46 and six plays later, Tagovailoa threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Nunuha, but Noah Alejado missed the PAT to tie the game at 28. 

"We felt pretty good with our offense and it's been the backbone of our team. Defensively, we couldn't stop them when we had to," said Lee. 

Tane Tuifua blocked John Toner's 42-yard field goal attempt and Makoa Chapa returned it to the Punahou 45-yard line. However, Jonathon Manalo fumbled the ball and Ronley Lakalaka recovered it. The Crusader defense appeared to have stopped the Buffanblu, forcing them to punt on fourth-and-2, but they were penalized for illegal substitution, giving Punahou an automatic first down. Tuliloa immediately threw a 52-yarder to Kanawai Noa that turned out to be the game-winning score. 

"They had plenty of threats offensively so we tried to keep them in the pocket. We tried to change things a bit and came out rusty. We started doing our stunts and blitzes, but we contained him with outside pressure, we were solid. That was to the d-line," said Chung, on the sack. 

Penalties pushed the Crusaders back and Saitui Moeai had a sack and Chung sacked Tagovailoa for a 20-yard loss that forced Saint Louis to punt on fourth-and-52. Punahou received the ball and Tuliloa threw a 37-yard pass to Noa to the Saint Louis 33 and the Buffanblu were able to run out the clock. 

"It boosts us going to the state finals and we're looking forward to it," said Noa.