No. 3 Punahou improved on its defense from its earlier meeting to knock off No. 2 Saint Louis, 33-20, Thursday night at HTFCU Field at Aloha Stadium.

With the win, the Buffanblu improved to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in league play, and pulled into a tie for first with Saint Louis (5-1, 4-1) in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I standings.

A postseason tournament that pits the four Division I teams based on seeding will determine which two teams advance to the new State Open Division Tournament. What isn't known is if the teams do finish tied, how a tiebreaker will determine the top two seeds. Neither coach said he knew what procedure would be used.

"The kids, the coaches all dedicated themselves for preparing and focusing on being at the right place at the right time," Punahou coach Kale Ane said. "It (Saint Louis) is still a great offensive team. We were worried all night. I'm proud of our kids the way they stepped up."

Ane should be proud. His defense held reigning All-Hawaii quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to a career-low 116 yards passing and no TD passes for the first time since last year's state title loss to Kahuku. He was 12-of-26 passing.

Ryan Dominick and Kaulana Makaula each had interceptions off Tagovailoa. Dominick a linebacker, also had two sacks, along with Miki Suguturaga. Saint Louis had just two first downs in the first half and 11 overall.

"I think they did a nice job defensively," Saint Louis coach Cal Lee said. "They just played better. They put pressure (on Tagovailoa). They had good coverage in the back end. We got a lot of work to do to get better."

Dominick credited his coaches for devising a defensive game plan that would not be repeat what happened in the teams' previous meeting.

"The huge difference, stats-wise, we had a bunch of turnovers," Domnick said. "I think energy-wise, we were a lot different this game. We created the turnovers."

Dominick was aware of the Crusaders' ability to rally. He said he had seen it once too often over the past two years.

"The players that played last year, we all keep that in the back of our mind," he said. "That was definitely in the back of my mind tonight."

Punahou QB Nick Kapule enjoyed a big game, completing 29 of 45 passes for 306 yards and two TDs with no interceptions.

Punahou wasted little time getting ahead of Saint Louis, scoring on its first two series of the game. Kapule threw TD passes of 24 yards to Ethan Takeyama and 12 yards to Keala Martinson go give Punahou a 14-0 with four minutes, 13 seconds left in the first period.

A touchback gave Saint Louis the ball at its own 20, but the Punahou defense chased Tagovailoa all the way into the end zone before Suguturaga stripped the QB of the ball that was recovered by Saints' lineman Trinity Karapani in the end zone for a safety to make it 16-0.

Tagovailoa's first interception of the game by Punahou's Makaula set up the third TD of the half. The Buffanblu moved 70 yards on 10 plays before RB Enoch Hanawahine scored from the 2 to make it 23-0 with 10:10 left in the half.

Saint Louis received the second-half kickoff and immediately got on the board with RB Ronson Young's 3-yard TD run to pull to 23-7 with 8:28 in the third period.

But Jeff Chan's 37-yard field goal — he missed from the same distance in the first half — increased Punahou's lead to 26-7.

Saint Louis responded quickly with a seven-play, 79-yard drive with Young scoring from four yards to make it 26-14 with 9:49 in the third.

In the second half, it appeared Tagovailoa scrapped his progressions and ran when the opportunity presented itself. He rushed for 31 yards on three carries in the two scoring series.

"We know what we have to do," Lee said. "Out there he has to see different coverages."

Punahou ensured its lead later on a Nawahine 6-yard TD run that made it 33-14.

It appeared Saint Louis caught a break when Punahou backup Stephen Barber threw an interception on first down to Rick Sandry, but the Crusaders failed to capitalize on the gift. Instead, Punahou's defense rose to the occasion when Suguturaga sacked Tagovailoa on fourth-and-10 from the Punahou-41.

Saint Louis added a score late in the game when backup QB Chevan Cordeiro scored on an 11-yard run as time ran out. No PAT was attempted.