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Saturday, November 18, 2000
The Crusaders proved once again that the road to the state championship goes through St. Louis. Defending champion
St. Louis storms CastleBy Ben Henry
Special to the Star-BulletinThe defending state champions and winners of the past 13 Prep Bowls dominated Castle, 48-0, last night at Aloha Stadium, advancing to the semifinals of the second annual Chevron State Football Championships.
The Crusaders play Waianae next Friday at 8:05 p.m. at Aloha Stadium.
St. Louis had not played a game since Nov. 4, when it beat Kamehameha for the Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship.
"I don't think we played all that well (last night), it was sloppy," St. Louis coach Cal Lee said. "I don't know if the layoff hurt us or what, but we didn't play like we normally do."
For the Crusaders, the victory was all but a formality.
St. Louis grabbed a 21-0 lead in the first 7 minutes of the game, thanks to Timothy Paepule's interception and a fumble recovery caused by Ikaika Noguchi on Castle's first two offensive plays.
Senior running back Pesefea Fiaseu Jr. rumbled for 114 yards on 11 carries and scored three touchdowns.
But Lee wasn't satisfied.
"We had so many turnovers in the first half," he said. "When the opportunities were there we never took care of the ball. We should have put the game out of reach, to be honest."
Two Castle players, Joel Botelho and Jared Prestidge, played for St. Louis as freshmen.
"I was looking forward to playing them since the beginning of the season," Botelho said. "It was a lot of fun to play against my friends."
Prestidge said Botelho, the regular starter at quarterback, did not start the game for disciplinary reasons. Castle head coach Nelson Maeda declined to elaborate.
But Prestidge, who started at quarterback and free safety, suffered a bad cut on his leg and was lost for the night. Botelho, meanwhile, aggravated his bruised back late in the first quarter and had to sit out a series.
"The injuries hurt, but it didn't really matter," Maeda said. "St. Louis, they got it all, the total package. That's why they are where they are."
Despite the lopsided score, the Crusaders respect the Knights.
"Castle's a good team," said sophomore quarterback Bobby George, who passed for 206 yards while being alternated with senior quarterback Kelika Higa. "We're probably going to be seeing them again in the state tournament for the next couple years."
"We have to be a little bit more consistent offensively," Lee said. "It's very important that we get back to work and prepare really well."
Castle (9-4) 0 0 0 0-- 0 St. Louis (13-0) 21 14 7 6--48 Scoring summary
StL--Pesefea Fiaseu 1 run (Haa Bento kick)
StL--Ross Dickerson 11 pass from Kelika Higa (Bento kick)
StL--Fiaseu 2 run (Bento kick)
StL--Fiaseu 2 run (Bento kick)
StL--Frank Rivers 4 pass from Higa (Bento kick)
StL--Gino Gosiaco 1 pass from Higa (Bento kick)
StL--Darren Freitas 52 pass from Bobby George (kick blocked)Individual statistics
Rushing--Cas: Kaleo Segovia 13-92, Joel Botelho 12-(-33), Fale Taupaki 3-5, Sean Navin 7-3. StL: Fiaseu 11-114, Bronson Beaver 4-1, George 2-(minus 6), Higa 3-(minus 3), Justin Cabansag 3-7, Kainoa Fernandez 1-0, Samson Hoohuli 1-(minus 1), Prince Brown 1-4, Lee Boyd 1-(minus 9), Team 1-(minus 1).
Passing--Cas: Botelho 9-23-4 for 73 yards; Prestidge 0-1-1 for 0 yards; Navin 1-6-0 for 2 yards. StL: Higa 11-18-1 for 71 yards; George 8-15-1 for 206 yards; Boyd 0-2-0 for 0 yards.
Receiving--Cas: Segovia 5-36, Keha Ho 1-6, Michelman 1-8, Miranda 2-17, Ikaika Ho 1-8. StL: Davin Nakasato 2-18, Fernandez 2-7, Gosiaco 2-4, Dickerson 4-112, Rivers 3-23, Tito Sallas 1-14, Jeremy Inferrera 1-9, Sanoe Mokuahi 2-41, Freitas 1-52.