Saint Louis quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw for 318 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another in a win over Punahou. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Sat, Oct 17, 2015 @ Aloha Stadium [ 6:30 pm ]

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Punahou

14

Saint Louis

30

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Punahou (8-2-0)	14	0	0	0	14
Saint Louis (9-2-0)	0	9	14	7	30

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Tua Tagovailoa 315 yd 2 TD

Ephraim Tuliloa 103 yd

Saitaua Lefau 110 yd 1 TD

Wayne Taulapapa 89 yd 2 TD

Drew Kobayashi 125 yd 1 TD

Judd Cockett 46 yd

Saint Louis rallied from a 14-9 halftime deficit to defeat Punahou, 30-14, Saturday night to force an overall Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I championship next Saturday.

With the win the No. 2 Crusaders took the ILH second-half championship; No. 1 Punahou won the first round.

Saint Louis (5-1 overall, 3-0 second half) snapped an eight-game losing streak to Punahou (5-1 2-1), which last lost to the Crusaders in 2010. That season, Saint Louis won its last state title behind a quarterback who plays on Sunday these days, Marcus Mariota.

A Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium crowd of about 5,000, saw the Buffanblu turn over the ball six times, three by interceptions from quarterback Ephrain Tuliloa and three from fumbles by All-Hawaii running back Wayne Talaupapa.

Saint Louis QB Tua Tagovailoa completed 17 of 28 passes for 315 yards and two TDs. The Crusaders trailed 14-0 before he entered the game. He sat out the Saint Louis' first two series per team policy for missing some practice days; he was healing a calf injury. He missed on his first three passes of the game, but his first completion was a 97-yard TD pass to Drew Kobayashi.

"It's a great feeling," Tagovailoa said. "It was a great team win, but at the same time, all glory goes to God.."

Trailing 14-9 after the half, linebacker Noa Purcell intercepted a Tuliloa pass at the Saint Louis 38. Eight plays later, Tagovailoa bowled over Punahou's Laakea Look at the goal line to finish a one-yard TD run for the go-ahead score at 16-14.

Tagovailoa later thew a 19-yard TD pass to Ronson Young to make it 23-14. The Crusaders closed out their scoring with a 76-yard drive that ended with Saitau Lefau's 14-yard TD run to make it 30-14.

It was a rough night for Tuliloa, who was 13 of 22 for 103 yards and three interceptions. He also was sacked four times.

"We have to fix it," Punahou coach Kale Ane said. "We can't have turnovers like that, especially against a good team like Saint Louis. They played well, made some adjustments. I'm grateful we have another chance to compete."

The Crusaders are grateful, too. They need the win or their season was over.

"It feels great," Saint Louis linebacker Isaac Slade-Matautia said. "It was a team effort. I love these guys. They did great and they picked it up."

Slade-Matautia, who had one of the team's four sacks, said all week the defense worked on turnover drills.

"He was our focus," Slade-Matautia said of Talaupapa. "He's a tough running back. He's great. It takes more than one guy to take him down. In practice, we always work on turnover drills and it worked tonight.

Saint Louis' luck seemed to turn with the entrance of Tagovailoa. Punahou scored on its first two series of the game in taking a 14-0 lead halfway through the first quarter on Talaupapa's nine- and one-yard TD runs, respective lead. On his last TD, he leaped over DB Jalen Saole en route to the end zone.

The Buffanblu hung on that lead through the first quarter. But on first-and-goal at the Saint Louis 1 early in the second period, Talaupapa lost the ball and Saint Louis recovered at the 3. Tagovailoa lofted a high pass near the right hash, where Kobayashi hauled the ball in at the Punahou 48 and raced the rest of the way to complete the 97-yard scoring play.

Punahou's ensuing series found the Buffanblu facing third-and-23 at their own 7, when Slade-Matautia sacked Tuliloa in the end zone for a safety to pull Saint Louis to 14-9 with 9:27 in the half.

Despite a 57-yard return on the ensuing free kick by Chandler Washington-Villanueva, Saint Louis lost a fumble by Saitau Lefau at Punahou's 10. But Punahou's drive was stopped when Talaupapa fumbled and gave Saint Louis the ball at its 38. Somehow, Punahou managed to keep its lead despite turning over the ball two more times after that on another Talaupapa fumble and an interception by Jalen Saole

The half ended strangely, as Tagovailoa completed a 23-yard pass to Lanakila Wilson at the Punahou 3, but time had run out, leaving the Buffanblu leading, 14-9 at the break.

Saint Louis started the second half by punting after punted its first  But Noa Purcell's interception set up Tagovailoa's one-yard TD run that put Saint Louis ahead, 16-14.

The Crusaders then put together a nine-play, 96-yard drive that consumed nearly four minutes of time off the clock before Tagovailoa hit Ronson Young on a 28-yard TD pass to make it 23-14.

Early in the fourth, Saint Louis scored its last TD on Lefau's 14-yard run.