Saint Louis snaps Kahuku dynasty in return to the summit

HONOLULU – Crusaders’ coronation.  

Saint Louis (9-3) returned to the pinnacle of Hawai’i high school football on Friday night, defeating three-time defending state champion Kahuku (9-5) in the First Hawaiian Bank/ HHSAA D1-Open Division State Football Championship. Senior running back and Hawai’i-commit Titan Lacaden shouldered the load for the Crusaders, totaling 31 carries for 155 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Saint Louis dominated the time-of-possession battle, 31:42 to 16:18. 

The win marks the eighth state title in program history for the Crusaders and first since the 2019 season for the Brotherhood. The loss snapped a streak of three consecutive state championships for Kahuku, who played without defensive standout Falealii Atuaia after the senior was ejected from the state semifinal against Mililani for committing a targeting penalty. 

“Just a flood of emotions,” Crusaders star Titan Lacaden said immediately after the win. “Just grateful. It’s been a long year for me, for the team, for the parents … Just to be able to finish the mission and stay the course like Coach [Tupu Alualu] says, it’s just God’s doing.” 

Lacaden started strong as Saint Louis received the ball first, running for 45 yards to get his squad deep into Kahuku territory. A direct snap to Lacaden on a fourth-and-1 resulted in a first-and-goal for Saint Louis, but a holding penalty backed the offense up before Kahuku star Mana Carvalho came flying off the edge on fourth-and-goal at the 2-yard line to force a turnover-on-downs. 

The teams traded defensive stops as Kahuku went three-and-out on its opening drive before Saint Louis kicker Makena Kauai’s 43-yard field goal attempt came up just short to begin the second quarter. The Red Raiders’ second possession looked nearly identical to the first, running three plays before punting the ball back into the Crusaders’ possession. 

After forcing a punt for the first time all evening, Kahuku finally found some success on the offensive side of the ball while a pair of 15-yard penalties pushed the Red Raiders into Saint Louis territory. A false start after a three-yard loss stalled the drive, but Carvalho booted a beauty of a punt to pin Saint Louis on its own 1.  

Needing to go the distance of the field didn’t matter to the Crusaders, seeing Lacaden and quarterback Nainoa Lopes help lead a 99-yard scoring drive for the game’s first points. Lacaden punctuated the drive with a strong 1-yard run, helping Saint Louis capitalize on a 12-men-on-the-field penalty against Kahuku that gave Saint Louis a fresh set of downs with a 7-0 lead with 1:38 left in the half. 

Saint Louis RB Titan Lacaden powers through the Kahuku defense for a touchdown in the 2024 D1-Open State Championship. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

The Red Raiders’ offense awoke for the final drive of the half, going 62 yards in just over a minute to tie the game, 7-7, heading into the break after Carvalho beat everyone to a rainbow ball from Matai Fuiava for a 34-yard touchdown catch. 

That momentum did not carry over through halftime, seeing Kahuku turn the ball over on downs on its own 42 on the first possession out of the break. Saint Louis once again capitalized on a Kahuku miscue, using the short field to help re-take the lead with 3:43 left in the third quarter as Lacaden rolled into the end zone for his second score of the night. 

“It wasn’t easy,” Lacaden said of shouldering the load while facing the Kahuku defense. “My line, my receivers, the defensive guys, the special teams – man, they played lights out … I give them the credit; I just try to do my job for them.” 

Saint Louis snatched the ball back two minutes later, seeing sophomore defensive lineman Stone Ah Quin come up with a juggling interception of Fuiava to give the Crusaders the ball on the Kahuku 43 and a chance to take a two-possession lead. The ILH champions did exactly that after draining five more minutes off the clock, seeing Kauai connect on a 22-yard chip shot with 8:39 left to play. 

Kahuku responded with a quick drive of its own that resulted in a 37-yard field goal from Manoa Kahalepuna, bringing the game back within a touchdown with 7:04 remaining, 17-10. Saint Louis was able to let four more minutes tick off the clock on the next drive, but the Red Raiders’ defense stood tall and forced a punt with 2:30 to play to give the offense one last chance to tie or take the lead. 

The Red Raiders would drive 87 yards to the Saint Louis 8-yard line with just under a minute left to play, but the Crusaders stood tall. After trading timeouts with 38 seconds left before the fourth-and-7 try, the ILH champion defense locked down the field one more time as Fuiava’s pass dropped to the turf and Kahuku turned it over on downs.  

Fuiava finished the night completing 17-of-34 passes for 206 yards while tossing one touchdown and one interception in the loss for the Red Raiders. Bohdi Kaanga led all receivers with 101 yards on seven catches for Kahuku while Mana Carvalho chipped in four receptions for 66 yards and a score. 

The win by Saint Louis ensured that the Brotherhood would remain the only Hawai’i high school football program to win four straight Open Division state championships for at least another half-decade. The Crusaders have appeared in all but two Open Division state title games since the classification’s creation in 2016. 

“I feel grateful,” said Saint Louis head coach Tupu Alualu following the win. “First of all, I want to give God the glory. We started this journey – it was God’s plan, and it didn’t matter who believed me … my boys believed me, my coaches believed me, my family believed me, and I thank the school for giving me an opportunity to be the head coach.”