The Saint Louis defense celebrates after recovering a fumble against Punahou. John Lujan | SL

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Fans at Aloha Stadium Friday night got to witness something incredible.

Saint Louis quarterback Tua Tagovailoa accounted for an astounding nine touchdowns to lead the Crusaders to a 64-44 victory over Punahou to move into first place in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I standings. 

Tagovailoa's counterpart, Nick Kapule, also had a strong game with a career-high 495 passing yards with five touchdowns.

Both offenses combined for 108 points, which was good for the sixth-highest scoring game in state history.

Although it may seem like there wasn't any defense being played, the Saint Louis defense were the difference makers in the contest.

The most notable stat of the game was the three turnovers forced by the Crusaders' defense. Tagovailoa and company scored on all three takeaways, netting them 21 total points off of turnovers. With Saint Louis winning by 20 points, the two teams could have made it an overtime thriller if those turnovers weren't forced. 

The first turnover forced helped set up Saint Louis' first touchdown drive. After the defense allowed Punahou to score on its first three possessions, junior linebacker Noa Purcell came up with a big play and forced a fumble on Buffanblu running back Sitiveni Kaufusi. Safety Kai Kaneshiro was able to recover it near midfield and three plays later Tagovailoa threw a 37-yard strike to Tosh Kekahuna-Kalawe to make it a 13-7 game. 

Saint Louis also forced another fumble in the third quarter, which led to the go-ahead score. Cornerback Rick Sandry stripped wideout Keala Martinson after a 6-yard gain and safety Isaiah Tufaga recovered it in Buffanblu territory. Tagovailoa hit Ronson Young for a 6-yard touchdown five plays later to give Saint Louis the lead, 43-36 with 3:16 to play in the third.

Kaneshiro also had an interception on Kapule midway through the final stanza to set up the Crusaders' final scoring drive of the night.

Even though Saint Louis allowed Punahou to score on six of its eight first half possessions, the Buffanblu were forced to settle for three field goals.

"I think we would have liked to have touchdowns instead of field goals and I think they stopped our momentum by doing that," said Punahou coach Kale Ane. "They're a great team, (Saint Louis) coach Cal (Lee) is great, as well as his whole staff."

One reason why the Crusaders got torched early on was because of play-action passes. Even with a non-existent run game (50 yards rushing), Punahou was able to get one-on-one matchups on the outside.

The second half was a different story as Saint Louis made the necessary adjustments and held Punahou to just two scores and just 163 yards of total offense.

"Our defense did really good," said Tagovailoa. "They just had to get together during halftime and talk everything out. They had to communicate and do a lot of things as far as changing up what they needed to do, and what they ended up doing. I feel that was the most important thing."

Ane noted that the lack of a balanced attack hurt his team in the game. 

"I've been disappointed with the running game for the last few weeks, and it caught up to us tonight," he said. "I think we still scored over 40, and normally when you score 40 you should at least be in the game, but it didn't feel like were in the game at all after the first half, so there's a lot of work that needs to be done.

"It was fun to be a part of. We have a lot to work on, hopefully we can get that fixed up for the next opportunity with them." 

Sandry and outside linebacker Isaiah Taliulu both finished with a team-high five tackles to lead the Crusaders. Sandry had a game-high three pass breakups to spearhead the secondary. Defensive lineman Kaeo Freitas and junior outside linebacker Isaiah Feary each had a sack to lead the Crusaders' pass rush.