Football
Bianco-led Crusaders wallop Buffanblu, will face Kamehameha next


  



Fri, Oct 22, 2021 @ Aloha Stadium [ 7:00 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
Punahou (1-4-0) 0 0 0 00
Saint Louis (6-4-0) 7 21 7 035

HALAWA — The reigning four-time state champs looked the part Friday night. 

A.J. Bianco was a perfect 17-for-17 passing for 263 yards and two touchdowns — both to Mason Muaau — and also ran for a game-high 95 yards and two more scores to lead No. 2 Saint Louis to a resounding 35-0 rout of third-ranked Punahou at Aloha Stadium. 

The Crusaders (3-3 overall, 3-2 league) advance to next week's Interscholastic League of Honolulu Open Division second round final against top-ranked Kamehameha, while the season is over for the Buffanblu (1-4). 

"We knew coming in it was a win-or-go-home game and we needed to play our best game tonight and I thought we played a pretty good game," said Bianco, a senior quarterback and University of Hawaii-commit. 

He added, "I thought we had a good game plan coming in and I thought we were able to execute at a high level."

Saint Louis posted 21 second-quarter points en route to a 28-0 halftime lead. It recorded 354 of its 505 yards of total offense before the break. Muaau caught three passes for 99 yards, including touchdown receptions of 20 and 59 yards from Bianco to cap consecutive scoring drives in the second stanza. 

"It just felt like we were in rhythm," Bianco said. "I feel like every week we're getting more and more comfortable and I feel like we're just getting better each and every week."

The Crusaders were certainly motivated to bounce back from last week's 34-31 loss to Kamehameha — and continue their season, of course. They dropped both meetings against the Warriors by a combined five points. 

"We worked hard in practice coming off the two losses," said junior slotback Jaysen Peters-DeLaura, who hauled in eight catches for 65 yards Friday night. 

"We just had to get things straight in practice and execute what we've been going over and we knew that this was a one-and-done situation, so we just had to work hard and get that win," he added. 

Peters-DeLaura made a key play that led to his team's first score, which capped its opening possession. He secured a pass over the middle from Bianco for a gain of 16 yards to move the chains on third-and-4. Two plays later, Bianco scampered into the end zone from 11 yards out on a read-option keeper around left end. 

Saint Louis covered 65 yards in nine plays on the scoring drive, which took four minutes off the clock. 

Bianco scored on the same play early in the second quarter, just one play after connected with Peters-DeLaura again for a 9-yard pitch-and-catch on a third-and-3. On the scoring play, Bianco read the defensive end while he pulled the ball out of the belly of running back Mana Catrett, before he turned on the jets for a 19-yard TD run. 

Following a third consecutive Punahou punt, the Crusaders went to the air during their next possession and Bianco completed all four of his passes to four different receivers. He found a wide-open Muaau in the back right corner of the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown pass to make it a three-score game just before the midpoint of the second quarter. Lason Napuunoa converted the extra point to make it a 21-0 cushion with 6:11 until halftime. 

The Buffanblu turned it over on downs on their next drive and Bianco hit Muaau in-stride on a deep pass down the right sideline for a 59-yard touchdown on the first play of the ensuing Saint Louis possession. 

At the intermission, Bianco was 15 for 15 for 207 yards. 

"This is the best game we've played. If he continues to play like that, I think we win it all," Peters-DeLaura said. 

Of its six first-half possessions, Punahou went three-and-out on four of them. 

The second half started off with another three-and-out for the Buffanblu and the Crusaders cashed in in just four plays. 

Bianco tossed a 14-yard completion to Kekahuna to start the drive. Catrett then ripped off a 12-yard run before Bianco fired a 42-yard pass over the middle to Titan Lacaden, who got down to the Punahou 2-yard line. Ola Apduhan punched it into the end zone a play later and Napuunoa tacked on the PAT to close out the scoring with 9:22 left in the third quarter. 

Punahou put together its longest drive — 11 plays covering 48 yards — on its ensuing possession, but turned it over on downs in the red zone. Two plays later, safety Will Straton recovered a Saint Louis fumble at the Crusaders' 38. 

John-Keawe Sagapolutele hit Noah Macapulay on a pass that went for a 36-yard gain and set-up first-and-goal from the 2, but Sagapolutele was intercepted two plays later after his pass glanced off the hands of his intended receiver, Iosepa Lyman, and into the arms of defensive back Pono Narciso, who brought it out of the end zone for a 15-yard return. 

Bianco affirmed that it was the Crusaders' best performance to-date this season. 

"I'd say so, both sides of the ball. I thought our defense played a hell of a game. I thought offensively, we played a pretty good game and special teams, I thought they were flying around all night and I thought overall, yeah, good game," he said. 

Punahou's final possession ended with a second Saint Louis takeaway, this one with pick by Bubba Preston off of backup QB Ian Eveleth. 

The Buffanblu were held to a season-low 145 yards of total offense and shut out for the first time all year.

"The defense did great, holding them to zero (points), that's what we expected all week; they were working hard," Peters-DeLaura said.

Punahou played without defensive end/linebacker Tevarua Tafiti, a Stanford-commit and the state's highest-rated recruit. Tafiti was on the sidelines with crutches and a boot on his lower left leg.

The Buffanblu dropped their final four games since a win over Kamehameha to open the ILH season back in late August. 

Saint Louis entered the game averaging just over 28 points and 360 total yards per game, while its defense had allowed more than 28 points each time out. 

"You lose and you're out, so we had to come out and put on a performance to come out victorious and we were able to do that tonight," said Bianco, who has thrown for 1,438 yards with 10 TDs and five interceptions this year. He raised his completion percentage of 72.7 for the year after Friday night's aerial perfection. 

Saint Louis must beat Kamehameha next week in order to claim the ILH second round title and force a winner-take-all playoff against the Warriors (3-1) — who won the first round — for the overall ILH championship and the league's lone berth in the four-team Open Division state tournament. 

"That's what we play for, these types of challenges and I'm excited," Bianco said. "I got my team and I'm excited."

Kamehameha and Saint Louis will play Friday night at Aloha Stadium.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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