Football
Tuileta guided offense in shutout win over Saint Louis




Punahou quarterback Larry Tuileta would have preferred to have faced then-No. 7 Saint Louis with a full complement of weapons at his disposal, but despite the absence of leading receiver Kanawai Noa, Tuileta and the Buffanblu ultimately put together a pretty productive night of work in a 38-0 rout of the Crusaders, helping Punahou clinch its second straight ILH league title in the process.

"Losing Kanawai (Noa) was a big deal for us, but it also opened up an opportunity for a lot of other guys to step up to the plate, and that's exactly what they did." said Tuilleta. "We had a slow start but we talked about it at halftime, and everyone just did that little extra to get some points on the board and that really helped."

Offensively it would be Tuileta that clearly brought that little extra something, especially in the second half, personified on a scoring play that featured a scrambling Tuileta buying enough time to thread a strike between multiple Crusader defenders and into the hands of wide receiver Noah Willey for an 11-yard touchdown.

Tuileta would throw two more touchdowns after the intermission, one of them to junior tight end Dakota Torres, his second of the game, and the other to running back Ryan Tuiasoa, as the Buffanblu added 14 points in the third quarter, and the same number in the fourth, to put the game on ice.

The junior quarterback finished the night an efficent 20-of-28 for 248 yards and four touchdowns, and hit 6 different receivers in the contest, with none of them hauling in less than 2 passes a piece. Leading the way was Torres, whose five receptions for 83 yards and 2 TDs in the game just about doubled both his season reception and yardage totals.

"We brought out some new formations, new plays that we've been practicing a lot but never really got to use in the game and it ended up working really well." remarked Tuileta. "The tight end, we don't really throw to them a lot but they were a big deal in this game, and I'm just glad that everybody was ready to catch the ball and score some touchdowns."

TOP PERFORMERS - WEEK 11

Campbell WR Brannon Bantolina had a 95 yard interception return for TD against Mililani.

Iolani QB R. Foy passed for 216 yards and 3 TDs against Damien.

Mililani RB Dayton Furuta rushed for 45 yards and 3 TDs against Campbell.

Radford RB Chris Jackson rushed for 171 yards and 3 TDs against Kalaheo.

Iolani RB Yuya Kato rushed for 113 yards and 2 TDs against Damien.

Waiakea WR Dayton Kiko had 7 receptions for 136 yards and 3 TDs against Hilo.

Mililani QB Jarin Morikawa passed for 372 yards and 3 TDs against Campbell.

Leilehua DB Malik Morton had 2 interceptions against Moanalua.

Leilheua DB Shai Pulawa had a 100-yard interception return for TD against Moanalua.

Iolani LB Josiah Situmeang had a sack and an interception against Damien.

Punahou TE Dakota Torres had 5 receptions for 83 yards and 2 TDs against Saint Louis.

Punahou QB Larry Tuileta passed for 258 yards and 4 TDs against St. Louis.

Waiakea QB Kean Wong passed for 172 yards and 3 TDs against Hilo.



Reach Brien Ing at [email protected].




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