Thursday, October 11, 2001
[ PREP FOOTBALL ]
Buffanblu brace On paper, Punahou football coach Kale Ane knows what St. Louis will throw at his team tomorrow night. Countering the Crusaders on the field is another story.
for Crusaders
Punahou nearly beat
St. Louis the first time
around a month agoBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comThe Buffanblu came close to knocking off the 15-time defending Interscholastic League of Honolulu champions in their meeting last month and Ane hopes his team can do the little things to get over the hump in their rematch.
"We need to disrupt patterns and confuse them as much as we can and take advantage of our familiarity," Ane said. "They know what we do, we know what they do, it just comes down to execution."
The Crusaders and Buffanblu meet at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow in the feature game of an ILH doubleheader at Aloha Stadium. Iolani and Pac-Five meet in the first game at 4:45 p.m.
Kamehameha faces Damien in another ILH game at 2 p.m. Saturday at Iolani.
St. Louis executed its game plan just well enough to escape with a 25-16 win when the teams met in their regular-season opener Sept. 7. The Crusaders racked up 480 yards in total offense, but committed seven turnovers to help the Buffanblu stay in the game.
But Punahou gave the ball away five times and several dropped passes helped kill promising drives.
"We've been able to review the game plan and take a look at the film and see some things we need to do better," Ane said. "It was the first game of the year and we dropped a couple of passes and I think now the kids are more comfortable with what we're doing and I think being able to see visually what we did and how they reacted will help."
St. Louis is 2-0-1 in the ILH after last week's 13-7 win over Iolani. Punahou (1-2) earned its first win of the regular season with a 41-6 win over Damien.
By building a big lead against Damien, Punahou was able to rest quarterback Todd LaFountaine, who ran the ball just five times and threw one pass, a 24-yard TD strike to David Marsh.
And with just one game in the last three weeks, LaFountaine has had time to recover from the punishment he absorbed against St. Louis and Kamehameha. He was tackled for losses 19 times in those two games combined.
"He's had a couple of breaks between the big games with St. Louis and Kamehameha, so he's had some time to recuperate and get ready for the next game," Ane said.
While the Buffanblu came up short against St. Louis in their last meeting, Ane said the experience helped the players' confidence as they prepare for the rematch.
"I think they have a better feel that they can compete," he said. "We tell them they're just as good, but until you get out there and compete physically that takes it to the next level."
In the Oahu Interscholastic Association this weekend, Kahuku and Aiea will continue their quests for the Red and White conference championships tomorrow night.
Kahuku returns to the field after a bye last week against winless Leilehua (0-5) at the Mules' field.
Through their first five games, the Red Raiders have surrendered fewer than six points per game while scoring more than 45.
The last time Leilehua won a game was Sept. 15 of last year against Aiea, which is now leading the OIA White.
Na Alii (5-0) travels to face rival Pearl City (2-3) tomorrow night. Aiea quarterback Lole Laolagi has thrown 11 touchdown passes in the teams last two games against Kalaheo and Nanakuli.
After slow starts, Campbell and Radford have also jumped into the OIA playoff picture. After two losses to start the season, Campbell is now 3-2 and tied with Waianae for fourth in the OIA Red. The Sabers host Castle (4-1) tomorrow night.
Radford has also won three in a row and is in fourth place in the OIA White at 4-2. The Rams take on Kalani (0-5) tomorrow.
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