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Saint Louis Crusaders

Head coach: Ron Lee (XX season, X at Saint Louis)
Associate Head coach: Cal Lee
Co-offensive coordinators: Rob Crowell, Howard Peralta
Co-defensive coordinators: Shawn Kalima, Keone Batoon

Players to watch: QB A.J. Bianco (6-4, 215, Sr.), WR Devon Tauaefa (6-4, 200, Sr.), OG Jonah Savaiinaea (6-3, 330, Sr.), OT Laakea Kapoi (6-4, 305, Sr.), C Ethan Spencer (6-2, 275, Sr.)

Coach's words: "I'm really pleased with our conditioning and how our offense is coming together, because none of them have played a whole lot, so we have some guys, but we have some really good guys. We're ten, eleven deep on the offensive line and out of those, there will be at least six to seven guys who will get D1 offers. Defensively, we're very young, but I like our overall speed. The coaches have been doing a great job with the young guys; we have lots of sophomores and even a couple of freshmen that will play, so it's a big challenge ahead for the defense, but we have a good nucleus." - Ron Lee

SL's take: The Crusaders have, by far, the top OL in the state. It may not even be a stretch to say it is among the best in the country. They are that good and that deep. Kapoi has verbally committed to San Diego State, Savaiinaea to the University of Arizona and Spencer to Hawaii. Ron Lee expects LT Dakota Brown (6-5, 300, Sr.) and another OT Gannon Lauer (6-5, 290, Sr.) to pick-up their first of many scholarship offers to come very soon. Farrington-transfer OG Poncho Laloulu (6-3, 350, Jr.) is rated as a four-star recruit with offers from Arizona and Florida. Tauaefa, who has offers from Nevada and UH, is the most experienced WR, but the Crusaders also have a slew of playmakers at SB in Trech Kekahuna (5-10, 180, Jr.), Jayden De Laura (5-10, 185, Jr.), Chyler DeSilva (5-10, 180, Jr.) and Titan Lacaden (5-6, 150, Fr.). Bianco, with offers in hand from UH, Washington State and Nebraska, is the next in line to take the reins of the offense, but not far behind him are a pair of more-than-capable backups in Kekahi Graham (6-1, 185, Jr.) and Kaunaoa Kamakawiwoole (6-0, 200, So.). Bianco is adept at reading blitzes pre-snap and takes advantage of mismatches. He has outstanding pocket presence, is able to keep his eyes downfield while eluding pressure and will take the check down option rather than taking unnecessary risks. Not surprisingly there are no shortage of talented RBs, but Keola Apduhan (5-5, 165, Fr.) is expected to be the starter; Lee likes Apduhan's explosiveness as a ball carrier, as well as his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. Opposing defenses may have difficulty finding Apduhan behind that massive OL. LBs Tasi Tadeo (5-11, 220, Sr.) and Iona Purcell (5-11, 225, Jr.) are a pair of hard-nosed run stoppers, but are also steady in pass coverage. S Kona Moore (6-1, 185, Sr.), a UH commit, will be looked to lead a young secondary. Ron Lee takes over for his Cal after serving as his longtime OC. The brothers have handed off the coordinator titles this fall, but make no mistake, they're still heavily involved in the day-to-day operations. Saint Louis has won five straight ILH titles and all four Open Division state titles since its inception in 2016 and it certainly looks poised to extend both streaks in 2021.

SCHEDULE

Fri Aug 20@   Bishop Gorman * L, 42-21
Sat Sep 18@   Punahou W, 41-23
Fri Sep 24  Kamehamehaat Aloha StadiumL, 23-21
Fri Oct 08  Punahouat Aloha StadiumW, 27-21
Fri Oct 15  Kamehamehaat Aloha StadiumL, 34-31
Fri Oct 22  Punahouat Aloha StadiumW, 35-0
Fri Oct 29  Kamehamehaat Aloha StadiumW, 41-7
Fri Nov 05  Kamehamehaat Aloha StadiumW, 35-21
Sat Dec 18  Mililaniat FarringtonW, 27-25
Thu Dec 23  Kahukuat FarringtonL, 49-14

league games bold *non-league **HHSAA tournament


2019 TEAM STATS

AVERAGESOFFENSEDEFENSE
POINTS36.814.4
YARDS381.9182.9
PASS287.6152.4
RUSH94.330.5

TEAM CAPSULES


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