McCutcheon, Hange help Buffanblu pull away from Crusaders

Punahou’s Astin Hange (2) puts up the four after scoring his fourth touchdown of the night on a 26 yard pass from Ty McCutcheon in the fourth quarter with 8:24 left in the game against Saint Louis at Farrington's Edward 'Skippa' Diaz Stadium at Kusunoki Field. CJ Caraang | SL

Ty McCutcheon passed for a career-best 427 yards and five touchdowns to help No. 4 Punahou rally from a second-quarter deficit to a 42-28 win over No. 6 Saint Louis Saturday night.

The Buffanblu improved to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the Open Division of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu before a crowd of about 2,000 fans Edward ‘Skippa' Diaz Stadium at Kusunoki Field.

McCutcheon completed 25 of his 36 pass attempts and was not intercepted. Three of his touchdown passes went to Astin Hange, who finished with five receptions for 122 yards. Hange caught scoring passes of 80, 9 and 26 yards and also ran in a touchdown from seven yards out. He was one of three Punahou players to go over the century mark Saturday.

Noah Macapulay pulled down team-highs of seven receptions for 128 yards and Iosepa Lyman tallied six grabs for 110 yards. Freshman Zion White had touchdown catches of 28 and 8 yards in the win.

Saint Louis held a 20-14 lead with 5:13 left in the first half after a 26-yard touchdown pass from Kaunaoa Kamakawiwoole to Roxten Popa-Herandez and a successful two-point conversion on a pass from Kamakawiwoole to Titan Lacaden.

Punahou tied it just before the half with McCutcheon's first TD pass to White, who secured the grab with one arm while fending on a defender with his other. Carson Beard's ensuing extra point gave his team the lead for good.

The Buffanblu separated in the third quarter with a pair of McCutcheon TD passes. The Crusaders cut it to a one-score game early in the fourth quarter with a short TD pass from Kamakawiwoole to Lacaden and a two-point conversion, but McCutcheon and Hange hooked up for a 26-yard TD pass for an insurance score with 8:24 to play.

Saint Louis finished with 370 yards of total offense, including 222 through the air from Kamakawiwoole, who finished 25-of-42 passing with a pair of interceptions. Two of his three touchdown passes went to Lacaden, who finished with eight grabs for 47 yards. Apduhan carried 14 times for a game-high 66 yards and a touchdown in the loss.

Alika Cavaco-Amoy and Donte Utu tallied 10 1/2 tackles apiece to lead Punahou defensively.

The Buffanblu got seven tackles for loss and four sacks from its defense, as well as a pair of interceptions by defensive back Aiden Takuma. Takuma recorded one pick in each half; His second came in the end zone and secured the Punahou win with just 40 seconds to play.

The Crusaders fell to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in league play.

Saint Louis will look to snap a two-game skid when it visits No. 5 Kamehameha Friday.

Punahou is off until Oct. 21, when it will host the Warriors at Alexander Field.