KAPOLEI - Young guns were on display in Thursday's controlled scrimmage between visiting Saint Louis and Kapolei.

The eldest of five quarterbacks on display were juniors Tua Tagovailoa of Saint Louis and Ezra Savea of Kapolei. Tagovailoa guided two scores in his only series - a six-yard TD pass and a 10-yard run scrambling out of pressure - before the Crusaders handed the ball over two sophomores: Chevan Cordeiro (5-10, 145) and Maika Bonner (5-9. 165). Cordeiro led a scoring drive that resulted in a 17-yard TD off a shovel pass.

Savea, who played as a freshman at Kapolei before transferring to Campbell, returned to the Hurricanes and shared time with freshman Taulia Tagovailoa, Tua's brother.

Savea threw in his first two series, including a 30-yarder where the receiver was wide open on the left sideline. The younger Tagovailoa labored in his first drive that ended with two over-thrown passes, but made up for it in a later series that resulted in a 12-yard TD pass.

Kapolei's defensive line - it runs out of a 3-4 alignment - pressured the Saint Louis QBs, including the elder Tagovailoa. But the QBs managed positive yardage when forced to run. Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said that might have been a result of the linemen over-pursuing plays or attrition.  He added that he had only four defensive linemen available for the Hurricanes' 3-4 scheme. The over-pursuit of the defense might explain the frequent use of shovel passes and draw plays.

It might have been a costly scrimmage for the Hurricanes. Sophomore running back Josh Kansana suffered a knee injury and wide receiver Ty-Noah Williams might have had a concussion, Hernandez said.

Saint Louis offensive coordinator Ron Lee said he gave more time to the sophomores because once preseason and regular season starts, opportunities will be few with Tua Tagovailoa back after an impressive sophomore year (2,583 yards and 33 TDs).  While the QBs looked good scrambling out of pressure, in the run-and-shoot they are supposed to go through all their progressions and run as a last result.  Lee said that happens now because the QBs are still getting use to their receivers.  It is common for new QBs in Saint Louis' system to run prematurely, but that becomes less of an issue with more experience.

"I know when Tua was in there it was a big difference," Hernandez said. "He could run the ball. He's such a dynamic play-maker. With Tua, they're a dynamic team."

It was the first day controlled scrimmages were allowed, so whatever success can be taken with a sugar granule.  

"I thought we played them pretty even throughout," Hernandez said. "We struggled at times in different areas."

Hernandez was pleased with his young QBs: Savea and Taulia Tagovailoa.

"It's a good 1-2 punch," Hernandez said. "Ezra Savea is tall, has a great arm and he can scramble. Taulia is a freshman. He did well today; he's improving everyday. It's a good problem to have, to have two good quarterbacks. You need two nowadays."

Should Taulia get a start somewhere along the way, it would be the second time the Hurricanes would start a freshman at QB. Savea started some games as a freshman, Hernandez said. The only other two QBs to start as freshmen that Hernandez could recall were Kailua's Kahaku Iaea and Kalani's Mark Manzo.