Football
Hange, defense spark No. 4 Punahou past No. 5 Saint Louis for second straight ILH crown


Kalani Takase | ScoringLive
October 28, 2023, 8:35pm

  


Sat, Oct 28, 2023 @ Punahou [ 3:00 pm ]

Saint Louis

10

Punahou

24

Final 1 2 3 4 T
Saint Louis (4-5-0) 0 0 7 310
Punahou (7-3-0) 0 14 3 724
Ty McCutcheon 254 yd 3 TD
Kaunaoa Kamakawiwoole 344 yd 1 TD
Astin Hange 137 yd 2 TD
Jordan Nunuha 143 yd 1 TD

MAKIKI — Return trip booked. 

Astin Hange caught a pair of touchdown passes and No. 4 Punahou got eight sacks from its defense en route to a 24-10 win over No. 5 Saint Louis on a scorching hot afternoon at Alexander Field Saturday. 

The Buffanblu improved to 7-2 overall, 4-0 in league play and secured their second Interscholastic League of Honolulu title in as many years, while the Crusaders saw their year end at 4-5 and 2-2. 

Hange, an Air Force Academy commit, proved to be a problem for Saint Louis in multiple phases. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound senior tallied 203 all-purpose yards, including 137 receiving yards. 

After a bit of a sputter out of the gates, Punahou's offense got a jumpstart from Hange. 

The Buffanblu drove to the Crusaders' 36-yard line on their opening possession, but opted for a quick kick on fourth-and-8. They got a stop from their defense, which forced a Saint Louis punt. 

That's when Hange got going. He received the punt of 44 yards off the foot of Kaunaoa Kamakawiwoole and carved his way all the way back to the Saint Louis 17-yard line for a return of 46 yards. 

"The first drive on offense we were kinda stagnant, so I knew the next time we had the ball in our hands we had to punch it in, so special teams, that really motivated us and I was able to return it thanks to my teammates with their good blocks," Hange said. 

Three plays after Hange's punt return, quarterback Ty McCutcheon connected with Zion White on a back-shoulder throw for an 8-yard touchdown pass on third down. 

The Crusaders went three-and-out on their ensuing drive and Punahou got the ball back in Saint Louis territory. Hange pulled down a 44-yard pass from McCutcheon along the right seam to move the chains on third-and-9. The same pair hooked up one play later for a 1-yard TD pass and Carson Beard added the extra point to make it a 14-0 lead with 7:16 left in the first half. 

Beard stretched it to a 17-0 cushion with his 39-yard field goal at the 5:31 mark of the third quarter. 

Saint Louis got on the board late in the third quarter on Kamakawiwoole's 7-yard TD pass to Jordan Nunuha, but Punahou answered with a big play four plays later. On the very first play of the fourth quarter, McCutcheon fired a pass over the middle that was tipped near the line of scrimmage. It found its way into the hands of Hange, who maneuvered a handful of downfield blockers on his way for a 60-yard touchdown. 

"It wasn't really supposed to go to me. It just got tipped up because Ty got hit and it got tipped at the line, so my awareness, I just went to go grab the ball and I just finished it," said Hange, who was tended to by athletic trainers just beyond the end zone after the play. 

"I jumped in the air because Titan (Lacaden) went to grab my leg, so I had to make a play because I was five yards away (from the end zone) and I ended up landing wrong on my knee, so I ended up just diving into the end zone," Hange explained. 

He was eventually able to walk off the field on his own power. 

Defensive end Kekai Burnett said that Hange's injury scare was a collective moment of trepidation on the Buffanblu sideline. 

"Astin is a dawg. You know, when he went on the ground after the touchdown, I was scared because he's one of our key players to our team," Burnet said, "best receiver on the island, in my opinion."

Whereas Hange was able to pick up his share of yards after the catch, Lacaden — Saint Louis's standout slotback — was limited to 73 receiving yards despite a game-high 13 receptions. 

"They did a nice job of corralling Titan," Crusaders coach Ron Lee said. "They knew Titan hurt them the first time we played, but then he couldn't shake one, but I thought they did a nice job defensively on us. I give them a lot of credit, you know, nice job of coaching."

Kamakawiwoole passed for 344 yards on 32-of-52 passing without an interception, but had Punahou defenders in his face all afternoon. 

The Buffanblu racked up eight sacks, including two apiece by Burnett, Josiah Kia and Blayne Shiraki, and held the Crusaders to minus-31 rushing yards. 

"One thing that we did differently (than the first game against Saint Louis), we did more stunts this game. The d-line and linebackers did more stunts, got more pressure on the quarterback the DBs did good, too — they covered Titan, Jordan Nunuha, all those great guys — they gave us time to get to the quarterback," Burnett said. 

Lee acknowledged as much from his perspective. His team had a 20-14 lead late in the second quarter in the first meeting against the Buffanblu back on Sept. 30 (Punahou went on to win, 42-28), but was never really able to get things going offensively Saturday. 

"They did a nice job. They changed up the defense from the last time we played them. It took us a while to kinda figure out what they were doing, give them credit, they played well, they played hard. We didn't get a break — to have a deflection, then catch it (for a) touchdown — but anyway, that was good for them," Lee said. 

Punahou finished with a modest 271 yards of total offense, including only 17 rushing. McCutcheon threw for 254 yards on 13-of-19 passing without a pick. 

"We made stops, got the ball back, did some good things, (but) we didn't help the defense on offense, we didn't have big plays," Lee lamented. 

Hange was sure to tip his cap to his teammates on the defense, who held the Saint Louis offense to 4 of 15 on third downs. 

"The defense has really been saving us all year. Our offense has really been stepping it up late in the season, but our defense is really our foundation to this team," Hange said. 

Punahou, which has won five straight games since a 38-23 loss at Campbell on Sept. 15, will have two weeks off before the start of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Open Division State Championships. 

Saint Louis needed to win Saturday in order to force a rematch with the Buffanblu for the ILH title next week. 

Punahou reached the state final a year ago, but lost to Kahuku by a score of 20-0. 


Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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