Prep Beat

Thursday, November 27, 1997

Gesser returns
for Crusaders

Injured QB could play in Prep Bowl

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

Senior quarterback Jason Gesser will suit up for St. Louis in tomorrow's 25th Oahu Prep Bowl game against Waianae, according to Crusaders' head coach Cal Lee.

The news comes as a surprise -- Gesser suffered a broken bone in his left arm only three weeks ago. But because it's not his throwing arm . . .

"His right arm is fine," Lee said.

Asked if Gesser, who passed for 23 touchdowns before being sidelined, has taken many snaps this week in practice, Lee said, "He's taken a few."

But Lee said sophomore Timmy Chang, who started both games against Kamehameha the past two weeks, will start.

Gesser's chances of playing in the Prep Bowl?

"It's tough to call, because you never know who you're going to use," Lee said. "He's a young kid and he wants to play."

Waianae head coach Leo Taaca said he heard Gesser might play and he's prepared to see the all-stater in the game.

That adds another element of suspense to the much-anticipated rematch between the Crusaders (10-1 Interscholastic League of Honolulu, 12-1 overall) and Seariders (9-1 Oahu Interscholastic Association, 9-3 overall).

Last year, St. Louis edged Waianae, 7-0, but the Seariders were without three key running backs: Josh Meyer, Esau Fenderson and West Keliikipi.

This year, Keliikipi, who returned from an injury a few games ago, and Kamuela Black were the No. 1 and No. 2 rushers in the OIA Red Conference. The Seariders have depth at running back with juniors Duane Miller, Mose Tiolu and Lambert Keaweehu, and seniors Ronald Galindo and Glenn Kawaiaea.

But that's not the only difference on offense for the Seariders. This year's starting quarterback, Kana Kawai, gives them a two-dimensional attack.

''They have to respect what we can do in the air because Kana is a mobile quarterback," Taaca said. "We were so option-oriented these past years, but now we throw more."

Waianae gained only 54 yards passing in last year's Prep Bowl, but Kawai threw for 166 yards in a 34-20 preseason loss to the Crusaders in August.

He's shown he's not afraid to throw against the St. Louis coverage, and wasn't rattled when Geste Ornellas returned his first pass of the game for a score. Kawai kept firing, and six minutes later connected with Black for a touchdown that cut the St. Louis lead to 14-7.

Kawai passed for eight touchdowns in the regular season and completed 44 of 77 attempts.

But what makes Kawai exciting is his ability to evade the pass rush. His teammates have dubbed him ''Bar Soap" because of his slipperiness.

"He can run the ball, he can scramble, he throws it -- we have our hands full," Lee said.

Last week, St. Louis used a ''Bear Defense" with a 6-1 formation to stuff the Kamehameha run and allowed only one first down in the first half.

"This week we'll have a 6-1 or a 7-1 or an 8-1 -- we've got to do what we've got to do," said Lee, whose defense is led by all-staters Tony Tata (lineman) and Fabian Manumaleuna (linebacker).

Taaca said he expects the Crusaders to start with ''some form of 50-50 and then go to the Bear."

Defensively, Taaca hopes for as strong a performance as last year. But he knows St. Louis junior running back Noah Campbell and sophomore slotback Gerald Welch will be tough to stop.

Campbell took a lot of pressure off Chang last weekend with 120 yards. Welch, who led St. Louis in scoring during the regular season with 14 touchdowns, added 91 yards.

But with all-state defensive tackle White Sosene back in the starting lineup the past few games, Waianae has looked as formidable up front as it did in 1996. Linemen Stanford Evaimalo and Kainoa Evangelista are also healthy.

"We bank on our defense to give us four good quarters," Taaca said.

St. Louis usually has an extra week to prepare for the game. But this year, instead of winning the ILH outright, it was forced to do so in a playoff.

''It's less frustrating not having to think about Waianae for an extra week,'' Lee said. ''We played them in preseason and we saw enough of them."

Lee will become the winningest coach in Hawaii prep football history with a victory in the game. He is tied with former Waianae coach Larry Ginoza with 188 wins. Ginoza finished his career at 188-36-8. Lee is 188-28-4.

Waianae has been in the Prep Bowl 14 times, winning four (1973, 1977, 1978 and 1980). Prior to last year's 7-0 victory, St. Louis defeated Waianae five times in the Prep Bowl by an average of 35.6 points.