Thursday, October 25, 2001

Crusaders, Monarchs
finally get to play ball

After a summer of controversy
about inequities, St. Louis and
Damien meet in an ILH contest

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By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com

The game that almost wasn't will finally take place tomorrow evening.

St. Louis and Damien meet at 5 p.m. at Kaiser Stadium in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu football game that was nearly canceled last summer.

But the controversy surrounding the proposed Damien forfeit and the subsequent discussions on the need for statewide classification have been put on hold as the teams prepare for the 67th meeting between the schools.

"That thing's past already, we know we have a game and we'll play the game," St. Louis coach Cal Lee said. "It would be meaningful if they didn't play, but since they're playing, we just have to practice and get ready."

It appeared the rivalry between the all-boys Catholic schools would be suspended for a year after Damien president Brother Gregory O'Donnell announced last July the school's intention to forfeit its games against St. Louis.

O'Donnell cited safety issues created by the inequity between the teams. Last year's 84-0 rout and the youth of the incoming Damien squad convinced O'Donnell to cancel the game with the powerful Crusaders.

ILH officials responded to the forfeits by splitting the six-team league into two divisions for football. With just one meeting between the schools scheduled under the new format, Damien administrators decided in August to allow the Monarchs to take the field against the Crusaders, who own a 57-9 advantage in the series.

But as the teams gear up for the contest, it appears the lopsided trend could continue.

While St. Louis (4-0-1) hasn't performed with the precision of past Crusader teams, it faces a Damien squad riddled with injuries and hampered by inexperience.

"Right now, it's a matter of just staying together," Damien coach Chris Bisho said. "It hasn't been an easy year. We're real young and it shows out there. We're just taking every game as an opportunity to make ourselves better."

The Monarchs (0-5) had eight seniors, 16 juniors and 24 sophomores on their roster to start the season, and many will be in street clothes tomorrow due to injuries.

Sophomores now hold about half the starting jobs, and the growing pains have been severe as Damien has given up 40 points or more in every game and hasn't reached double-digits since the first week of the season.

"If you watch us play, you wouldn't think so, but there's a lot of individual improvement that's gone on," Bisho said. "Basically, for these sophomores, just getting the playing experience to get to know the tempo and the speed of the game at the varsity level has been a big improvement. Individually, the kids are making a lot of strides for the better."

"We're just stretched right now," he added. "This week is just to test our moral fiber and our competitive spirit and try to stick together."

St. Louis, which has beat Damien by an average score of 36-9 during Lee's tenure, must guard against looking ahead to next week's rematch with Kamehameha.

If St. Louis wins and Kamehameha beats Iolani in the second game of the ILH doubleheader, their showdown next week would be for the ILH championship and the league's spot in the state tournament.

But Lee is confident his players will be able to focus on the task at hand and continue their march toward a 16th consecutive ILH title.

"We're on track, it's just a matter of being consistent," Lee said. "If the effort is there, that's what you want. They're doing that, and we hope to intensify that this week and hopefully down the road."

Kamehameha (4-0-1) is in position to claim the league crown with wins the next two weeks. Iolani (4-1) has clinched the ILH Division II title, but must win tomorrow to keep its league championship hopes alive.

Iolani can force an ILH championship game if it finishes with a better record than the Division I champion.

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