Baseball
Schools
Schedules
Standings
Stats
Players
Softball
Boys VB
JV boys VB
Girls Water Polo
Flag football
» Football
» Girls Volleyball
» JV Football
» JV/White Girls Vball
» Baseball
» Softball
» Boys Volleyball
» Girls Water Polo
» Flag Football
» JV Boys Volleyball
» Boys Basketball
» Girls Basketball
» Boys Soccer
» Girls Soccer
» JV Boys Basketball
» JV Girls Basketball
» JV Boys Soccer
» JV Girls Soccer
All-Hawaii
Power Rankings
Distinguished Athlete
Newcomer Award
Top Performers
Stories
About SL
Contact
Privacy
Advertise
Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveNovember 29, 2024, 11:50pm
Fri, Nov 29, 2024 @ Ching Field [ 7:00 pm ]
MANOA — For the first time in five years, the crown is headed back to Kalaepohaku.
Charles-Titan Lacaden ran for 155 yards and two touchdowns to carry No. 2 Saint Louis to a 17-10 win over No. 1 Kahuku in the title game of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Open Division State Championships Friday night.
A crowd of 8,566 at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex saw the Crusaders (9-3) lay claim to their first state championship since 2019 and eighth overall. In the process they denied the Red Raiders (9-5) a fourth straight title.
It was, in his own words, a full-circle moment for Lacaden, who was a freshman when Saint Louis made its last appearance in a state final. The University of Hawaii-bound standout has recalled Kahuku's lopsided 49-14 win over his Crusaders many times over his illustrious career.
Friday night, Lacaden made sure to write the ending he has envisioned for the past three-plus years.
"It's just awesome. This is a full circle moment," Lacaden expressed.
After he was limited to fewer than five total touches in Saint Louis' season-opening 14-13 loss at Kahuku back on Aug. 10, Lacaden shouldered the load in the rematch Friday. The 5-foot-7, 171-pound running back carried 31 times, caught one pass for 11 yards and had one punt return for 17 yards. He finished with a game-high 183 all-purpose yards.
"I believe it's the most touches I've had this season, but I'm willing to do everything I can to make us win and be better, so if that means I gotta do it fifty more times, then I'll do it fifty more times, but other than that I'm just trying to do my job and I give all the credit to my teammates and God," Lacaden said.
Saint Louis coach Tupu Alualu, himself a former standout ball carrier in his playing days with the Crusaders, had high praise for Lacaden.
"Every week Titan does amazing things, but without the o-line and the quarterback and the slotbacks and the receivers and the coordinators, then nothing would be rolling, but I told Titan that we're gonna run the ball," Alualu said.
With Lacaden carrying the load, Saint Louis dominated the time of possession — it held the ball for more than 31 minutes to Kahuku's 16-plus minutes — and kept the Red Raider offense mostly on the sidelines.
Kahuku ran just three plays from scrimmage in the first quarter. By comparison, Saint Louis ran 20 plays, including 18 rushes, in the opening stanza.
"I said, ‘We gotta run the ball.' I said, ‘Let's go right at ‘em, let's go right at ‘em,' and we came out victorious. Anybody could have won tonight, but we believed, we had discipline, we had effort and we was grateful for just getting this opportunity to be here," Alualu said.
Red Raiders coach Sterling Carvalho said the defensive emphasis was to key on Lacaden, but it proved to be easier said than done.
"We knew from the beginning we had to stop Titan. He's a great athlete, great skillset — he can catch the ball, run the ball — I mean, he just found holes and he just made it difficult for us tonight, especially on defense," Carvalho said.
Saint Louis opened the game with a 15-play drive that covered 60 yards and took eight minutes off the clock. However, it came up empty after Lacaden was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line.
After Kahuku went three-and-out on its first possession, Saint Louis attempted a 43-yard field goal, but Makena Kauai's kick came up short.
Following a scoreless first quarter, Saint Louis broke the seal late in the second quarter with Lacaden's 1-yard touchdown run to cap a 10-play, 99-yard drive. Stytyn Lasconia tacked on the extra point to give the Crusaders a 7-0 lead with 1:38 left until halftime.
"Yeah, that's the frustrating part — three plays in the first quarter — we just couldn't stop the run. No fault on our own, just Saint Louis was able to get a hat on hat and Titan being the running back that he is he found creases, he made players miss and we just couldn't stop that," Carvalho said.
However, Kahuku had an answer when it capped its ensuing drive with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Matai Fuiava to Kaimana Carvalho on fourth-and-13. Carvalho hauled in the pass from Fuiava in front of a pair of Saint Louis defensive backs just as he crossed the goal line.
The scoring play, with just eight seconds left in the half, was followed by Manoa Kahalepuna's PAT, which came from 35 yards out after 15-yard penalty was assessed against Kahuku for Carvalho's post-TD celebration.
The score was tied at 7 at the half.
Kahuku started with the ball to open the second half, but turned it over on downs. Saint Louis took over at the Kahuku 42-yard line and needed nine plays to take the lead for good on a 3-yard TD run by Lacaden off right tackle.
The Crusaders stretched it to a two-score lead on a 22-yard Makena Kauai field goal that was set-up by a defensive takeaway. Defensive lineman Stone Ah Quin was able to tip a Kahuku third-down pass to himself and came down with a two-handed interception to give the Saint Louis offense the ball at the Red Raiders' 43-yard line.
Kauai's field goal made it 17-7 in favor of the Crusaders with 8:39 left to play.
Kahuku cut it back to a one-score game with Manoa Kahalepuna's 37-yard field goal with 7:04 remaining.
The Red Raiders got the ball back with 2:30 left and drove to the Saint Louis 8-yard line in the closing seconds, but Fuiava's pass on fourth-and-7 fell incomplete. The Crusaders took over with 32 seconds to play and took a knee to run out the clock.
"We just didn't execute when we needed to, we just fell short tonight and it's something that we gotta get better at — no excuses. Saint Louis played a great game and tonight was their night," Carvalho added.
After it opened the season with back-to-back losses by a combined three points to Kahuku and Mililani, Saint Louis reeled off nine wins over its final 10 games. One-hundred eleven days after the one-point defeat at Carleton E. Weimer Field, the Crusaders came out on top in high-stakes clash between two of the state's most storied programs.
"After those losses I told the boys to stay the course, stay disciplined, follow God's plan and change the culture," Alualu said. "We're here now and I'm so grateful that we learned there and came here and was victorious. Give all these kids and coaches all the credit."
Kahuku played without three-year starting linebacker Falealii Atuaia, who was ineligible Friday after he was ejected from the Red Raiders' semifinal win over Campbell due to a targeting penalty.
"Fale is able to stop the run and get into coverage. He's our leader, he's our captain, he's our everything, so how much did we miss him? We missed him a ton," Carvalho lamented.
The Red Raiders finished with 257 yards of total offense to the Crusaders' 278.
Fuiava finished with 206 yards through the air on 17-of-34 passing with one interception. Bodhi Kaanga caught seven passes for 101 yards.
Saint Louis amassed 201 rushing yards and limited Kahuku to only 51.
The Red Raiders averaged three yards per carry and managed only four of their 16 total first downs by rush.
Kahuku's inability to run the ball was just part of the problem, Carvalho said.
"It's not just our run, we just had to execute in all phases. I mean, we missed opportunities on special teams when we had that shot, we couldn't stop their run, (but) same thing goes with them — they couldn't stop our pass too — but at the end of the day we just fell short," Carvalho said.
Dallas Pelen-Talalotu racked up nine total tackles to lead Saint Louis defensively. Vince Tautua and Pupualii Sepulona tallied two tackles for loss apiece.
Kaimana Carvalho made 9 ½ tackles and Malaki Soliai-Tui had nine tackles and a sack to pace Kahuku's defense.
Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.
Please consider making a contribution today.
Athletics administrators from across the state are gathered at the Hilton Waikoloa Village, where the...
Twelve student-athletes from 10 different schools and representing three of the state's leagues were...
Senior setter Bailey Nakanelua was the engine that helped drive the Raiders back to the top of state...
Chargers' setter Marley Ngirmidol named Player of the Year in OIA Division II; Pearl City head coach...
Na Menehune outside hitter Lionel Gannon named Player of the Year and head coach Alan Cabanting named...
Senior OH Seth Kimura was joined by teammate Kaito Duranceau on the first team; Trojans' head coach Gabriel...
