KEAAU — Keaau High School’s football team kicked off its preseason with a 27-20 loss to Saint Louis II on Saturday afternoon.
Despite multiple redzone stops on defense, the Cougars’ offense had trouble gaining momentum — and penalties voided several huge plays.
“(On offense) we’re gonna work on being more relentless,” Keaau head coach David Murray said. “A lot of the stuff that we did was there, it’s just finishing. We had a lot of turnovers and a lot of drops — it’s just your basic, fundamental stuff. We gotta go back into the lab on Monday and get it fixed.”
Keaau got on the board first when Shayden Meek-Canon-Chi scoop-and-scored a fumble during the first quarter, rushing nearly 60 yards into the end zone. However, KHS’ PAT kick attempt was blocked.
Later in the quarter, a short punt by the Cougars put the Crusaders in a good scoring position — and they capitalized with a touchdown and successful PAT kick to take the lead 7-6.
Three minutes into the second quarter, Saint Louis scored again — upping its lead to 14-6.
Most of the second quarter’s remainder saw a mess of turnovers and penalties on both sides.
Keaau inched closer with two minutes left in the half as Diego Pettypool connected a six-yard pass to Charleston Salazar in the end zone. The Cougars then attempted a two-point conversion, but failed.
In the third quarter, Keaau continued to face pitfalls when trying to move the ball. Just over five minutes into the quarter, the Crusaders got another touchdown — but Dane Bannister blocked the PAT kick attempt.
Going into the fourth quarter, Saint Louis was up 20-12.
The Cougars became frustrated as they were unable to score, and the Crusaders’ offense approached the end zone again — but an end zone interception by Jaizaiah Pahinui-Willets reignited Keaau’s hopes of catching up.
However, another unsuccessful drive and more penalty trouble dampened the mood again — and Saint Louis scored another touchdown and PAT kick with about three minutes left in the game to lead 27-12.
After that, Sean Randall fielded a (roughly) 40-yard kickoff return.
Dycein Velasco-Kahele then caught a 10-yard pass from Pettypool, and rushed another 15 yards, breaking a couple of tackles along the way.
Pettypool connected with Randall in the end zone, then Salazar ran in a two-point PAT to bring the Cougars closer — trailing 27-20.
Reinvigorated, the Cougars onside kicked, but the Crusaders recovered the ball and ran out the clock.
Keaau will enter BIIF DI play this coming Saturday with a road test at Kealakehe HS.