St. Louis Defeats Kahuku in Hawaii High School Football Opener

In a rematch of last season's Hawaii high school football state title game, the St. Louis Crusaders defeated the Kahuku Red Raiders 21-6 last night at Aloha Stadium, as reported in the Honolulu Advertiser. The contest was the preseason opener of the Hawaii high school football season.

The loss ended an 8-game winning streak for Kahuku, which defeated St. Louis 7-6 in last November's Division 1 (big schools) state title tilt. Entering last night's game, Kahuku was ranked #1 in the Hawaii high school football poll. St. Louis was ranked #2.

The Saints' Micah Mamiya, last season's all-state offensive player of the year, passed for 139 yards, completing 13 of 28 tosses. With less than a minute gone in the first quarter, Mamiya connected with Lucas Gonsalves on 65 yard touchdown strike. Warren Spencer made the first of his three extra point kicks to give the Saints a 7-0 lead.

The Raiders answered in the second quarter when quarterback Jray Galeai found running back Junior Mataafa in the left corner of the end zone to complete a 16 yard scoring play. The PAT kick failed. The big play of the drive was a 47 yard toss from Galeai to Jordan Kamae.

The Crusaders scored twice in the second half. In the third quarter, sophomore running back Vonn Feao scooted in on an 8 yard run. Feao rose to fame two years ago as a leader of the Ewa Beach (Hawaii) team that won the Little League World Series for 11-12 year olds. The Saints completed the scoring in the fourth quarter on a 37 yard fumble return by linebacker Joseph Lacaden.

In total offense, Kahuku outgained St. Louis, 218 to 157. But the Crusader defense was able to register 5 sacks and hold the vaunted Raider running attack to just 121 yards on 47 rushes (2.6 yards a carry).

The contest was marred by penalties, with the Crusaders, of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu (private schools), being flagged 11 times for 105 yards and the Raiders, of the Oahu Interscholastic Association (public schools) 12 times for 78 yards.

The two schools have dominated their leagues in the past decade and collectively have sent scores of players on to college Division 1 programs. In the 2006 season, according to USA Today, five Kahuku graduates were playing in the National Football League. Four other United States high schools-Poly (Long Beach), Dorsey (Los Angeles), Ely (Pompano Beach, Fla.) and Dillard (Fort Lauderdale) also had five players in the NFL. No high school has more than five.

The top St. Louis alum in the NFL is Olin Kreutz of the Chicago Bears. Entering his tenth NFL season, Kreutz is a 6 time Pro Bowl selection at center, reports the Bears' website.

The Saints, coached by Delbert Tengan, and the Raiders, coached by Rudy Torres, are tabbed to win their respective leagues and advance to the yet another state title matchup. Kamehameha, also of the ILH, is expected to give the Crusaders a run.