Mamiya sparks Saint Louis past Iolani

Cold and getting colder on the sideline, there wasn't much Micah Mamiya could do in the first half.

Once he got warmed up, though, Mamiya fired three touchdown passes as No. 1 Saint Louis pulled away for a 49-34 win over tough Iolani last night at gusty Aloha Stadium.

The Crusaders, who had a narrow 28-21 lead at the half, improved to 3-0 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu (6-0 overall). Iolani, meanwhile, showed once again that on a good night, a Division II team can hang with the defending league champions. The Raiders dropped to 3-1 in ILH play (4-3 overall).

"It was exactly what I expected. They wanted to outscore us," Saint Louis coach Delbert Tengan said, wary of Iolani's no-huddle offense and the speed of Raiders quarterback Kela Marciel. The junior ran for 122 yards and passed for 189, but Saint Louis clamped down on him during the pivotal third quarter.

"We tried to control him with our linebackers. We had one of our inside guys responsible for him," Tengan said of halftime adjustments. "He was fabulous tonight."

Marciel wasn't so pleased.

"They crashed the inside guys. They had a lot of guys with fresh legs, and I was dead," he said, lamenting the slow start. "My line was blocking pretty good, but I just wasn't hitting my guys. You gotta credit Saint Louis. They have a good defense."

Mamiya wasn't so bad, either. The senior threw four touchdown passes in all and was 11-for-17 for 237 yards, improving his record to 17-0 as a starter. Saint Louis had 464 total yards to outgain Iolani (351).

The Crusaders scored easily on their first three possessions, and the game looked like a blowout in the making. Mamiya's 14-yard keeper to the end zone was one of four Saint Louis runs of 10 yards or more during an eight-play, 67-yard drive to start the game.

After an interception by Kalani McLaughlin, Saint Louis needed just one play to score again. Kalani Nishigaya's 63-yard jaunt up the middle put the Crusaders up 14-0 with 6:08 to play in the first quarter.

With the ground game in control of the middle of the field, Mamiya connected with slotback Ryan Iaea on a post pattern for a 26-yard touchdown pass, and the Crusaders had a comfortable 21-0 lead with 1:42 left in the opening quarter.

Iolani finally got on the scoreboard with the next series. Marciel directed the Raiders on a 13-play, 58-yard march, scoring on an 18-yard keeper up the middle. Iolani was within 21-7 with 9:05 to go in the first half.

Saint Louis responded on the next play from scrimmage. After Tamatoa DeMello returned the kickoff 65 yards, Nishigaya sprinted to the right pylon for a 29-yard touchdown, and the Crusaders had a 28-7 lead with 8:47 remaining in the first half.

Marciel orchestrated another long drive on the next series. Iolani used 12 plays to drive 75 yards, including a 34-yard catch and run by Ronnie Hirokawa. Marciel found Lionel Fujioka open on an 8-yard touchdown pass, and the Raiders were within 28-14 with 4:12 left in the half.

Saint Louis' defense barely got a rest when Iolani's Carl Gibson recovered the ensuing onside kick. Six plays later, Marciel scrambled right, then cut back to the left and ran untouched to the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown as Iolani pulled within 28-21 with 1:06 remaining to intermission.

By halftime, Iolani's no-huddle offense had run 41 plays. Saint Louis had just 16 offensive plays. The time of possession clearly belonged to Iolani, which had the ball for 19 minutes, 3 seconds to Saint Louis' 4:57.

Late in the third quarter, the Crusaders drove 71 yards in eight plays, using a pair of passes from Mamiya to Billy Stutzmann to move downfield. Mamiya then found Lucas Gonsalves on a crossing route for a 19-yard touchdown play, and Saint Louis led 35-21 with 2:42 to go in the third quarter.

After another Iolani three-and-out, Saint Louis only needed to drive 40 yards to paydirt. Mamiya found Stutzmann on a quick in route on fourth down for a 4-yard touchdown pass. Saint Louis led 42-21 with 11:11 remaining.

Marciel, who ran for 92 yards in the first half, was contained in the third quarter. However, he picked up 17 yards on a fourth-down scramble, and Kellen Ishida scored on a 5-yard run to bring Iolani within 42-27 with 9:05 left.

Moments later, Gonsalves struck again, hauling in a perfectly placed lob from Mamiya at midfield for an 80-yard touchdown. Saint Louis had a 49-27 lead with 8:23 to go.

Marciel hit Yamamoto as the running back leaked out for an 8-yard touchdown pass with 3:57 left to close the scoring.

"The big thing is we got out of this injury free," Tengan said.

Punahou 44, Pac-Five 28

Kimo Makaula connected with Robbie Toma for three touchdown passes as the No. 2-ranked Buffanblu overwhelmed the Wolfpack. Toma finished with 177 yards on six receptions.

Manti Te'o sparked the defense and added 85 rushing yards on five carries as Punahou improved to 2-1 in league play.