Sylvia Lee | SL

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Sun, Sep 4, 2016 @ Aloha Stadium [ 10:00 am ]

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Faith Lutheran

49

Kaimuki

18

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Faith Lutheran (1-0-0)	16	17	7	9	49
Kaimuki (5-4-0)	0	0	6	12	18

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Jordan Solomon 241 yd 3 TD

Sagan Gronauer 186 yd 2 TD

Kyle Viyavong 9 yd

Saundre Spiller 105 yd 2 TD

Andriess Toussaint 74 yd 1 TD

Elijah Kothe 126 yd 1 TD

HALAWA — Faith Lutheran (Las Vegas) scored on five of its seven offensive possessions in the first half to rout Kaimuki (2-2 overall), 49-18 in a non-league game at Aloha Stadium on a rare Sunday morning.

This game was the start of a home-and-home series between the two schools. Next year, the Bulldogs will go to Las Vegas to play at Faith Lutheran. Faith Lutheran coach Vernon Fox and Kaimuki coach David Tautofi knew of each other during their times in Fresno and in Las Vegas and concocted an idea for their schools to play each other.

"There were a few coaches on their staff that were coaches under me in Vegas. It was a good way to get a relationship working with these guys. There's a lot more to the game," said Tautofi.

"I met David (Tautofi) several years ago. With him living in Vegas we connected. We talked about a far fetched idea of pulling off a home-and-home. He was coaching at a different school. I wasn't coaching at the time, but I did know of him and spent some time and talked to him. We were able to get together to pull this off," said Fox.

The Crusaders (1-1 overall), who are known to push the tempo, scored on offense and defense to take a commanding lead.

Faith Lutheran took the opening drive from its own 48 and marched down in eight plays in 1 minute 34 seconds after Sagan Gronauer rushed for a 8-yard score. Brandon Hann's PAT was no good as the Crusaders took a 6-0 lead.

"It's been instilled with us since day one, it's tempo, tempo, tempo. We have to move the ball and get set on the line real quick. It's a habit and way we play," said Gronauer, who finished with 186 passing yards and two scores.

The Crusaders took advantage of a short punt at the 50. Their nine-play drive resulted in a 37-yard field goal by Brandon Hann. Hann added another field goal from 45 yards out at the 5:20 mark in the second quarter.

Daniel Nguyen intercepted Gronauer's pass, but the Bulldogs could not capitalized and lost 27 yards on a botched snap to the punter to give the Crusaders excellent field position. Seven plays later, Gronauer threw a 7-yard pass to Eric Ho with 1:33 left in the first quarter to go up, 16-0.

"We did the best we can, we were unfamiliar with the surroundings the weather and time change. My biggest thing is we weren't making excuses. Whatever walked into needed to be prepared and we had to execute and play our style of football," said Fox.

Jordan Solomon struggled on his first offensive series as he threw an interception to Keagan Touchstone. He threw his second interception to Alec Netski, who returned it 21 yards for the score.

Saundre Spiller rushed for 83 yards on 15 carries and ran it in for a 3-yard touchdown 50 seconds before halftime to make it, 33-0.

"We got off to a fast start. Things went well early, we have to finish stronger. At the end of the day, we came away with the win and that's the most important thing," said Fox.

The Bulldogs had an opportunity late in the second to get on the scoreboard. Solomon threw a 38 yard pass to Calton Joseph to get into the Crusader territory. On a fourth-and-7, Faith Lutheran was called for a pass interference that put the ball on the 11. Solomon kept it, but came up 2 yards short of the end zone as time expired.

"You get so far behind in the first half, all it takes is one bad play or a bad mistake and you find yourself fighting the momentum again. Had we eliminated the pick six and get out of our territory in the first half, it could've been a different game. Hat's off to these guys," said Tautofi.

On the first play of the third quarter, Gronauer threw a 57 yard pass to 6-foot-4 receiver Elijah Kothe who took it to the Kaimuki 28. Three plays later, Spiller ran it in for a 10 yard score to initiate running clock. Spiller finished the game with 105 yards.

"We won't face another team like this. To experience another team with a different speed, discipline and a different style of football was a good experience for us. It gave us a good perspective of how much more we need to work and we're not close to where we want to be," said Tautofi.

After the Crusaders punted for the first time in the game, the Bulldogs responded in six plays as Solomon found Siah Maiava for 12 yards, 32 seconds before the end of the third quarter.

Faith Lutheran went three-and-out and Kaimuki took over on their own 48. Solomon threw it to Andriess Toussaint for a 29 yard pass and later for a 23-yard score, but the pass failed. Toussaint led all Kaimuki receivers with 74 yards.

The Crusaders brought back the starters and Gronauer threw it to Kothe, who broke free for a 19-yard score. Kothe had a game-high 126 receiving yards. Faith Lutheran added a safety after Clay Shipley pressured Solomon, who was called for intentional grounding in the end zone.

Maiava hauled in his second touchdown of the game from 5 yards out from Solomon with no time remaining for the last score of the game. Solomon finished with 241 passing yards.

Kaimuki resumes league play to take on Kalaheo (1-3 overall, 1-2 league) at Kailua's Alex Kane Stadium.