Punahou football team stops Saint Louis short in OT

October 25, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

Freshman John-Mark Twigg fired a 16-yard touchdown pass to junior Tanner Peterson in overtime as No. 10 Punahou rallied for a 19-13 win over No. 8 Saint Louis on Saturday afternoon at Alexander Field.

Visit afsport.lat for more information.

After Punahou scored in overtime, the PAT attempt was blocked by Saint Louis defensive lineman Kona Acedillo.

Saint Louis then drove to the Punahou 2-yard line. On fourth and goal, out of their heavy formation, senior Tenari Fuamatu-Ma‘afala ran up the A-gap, but Punahou’s defense stopped him at the 1-yard line to preserve the win. During the timeout before the game’s biggest play, the Buffanblu kept it simple.

“You know what? These guys knew what to do,” Punahou coach Nate Kia said. “It was really just adjustments. It was technical. These guys were ready. They knew what they needed to do to win. Defense, we’re counting on them to win the game. They’ve been playing hard all year. We’re going to look at the film and find a whole bunch of heroes on senior night.”

Kia has a core of seniors in the box whom he will miss when they graduate.

“Aw yeah, Joe Kipapa, he’s going to be moving on. Paki Kafusi, he showed up big. He’s had some injuries through the season, but he showed up big on senior night,” Kia said. “Those guys played big. Tale (Vitale Elisara-Savea) made some key tackles. Luke Twigg got kicked out for some reason. We’re going to review it (on video). Jonah Na‘a, our captain on defense, he’s been great all year.”

Peterson, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound wide receiver, finished with four catches for 55 yards as the Buffanblu (2-5-1, 1-2 ILH Open) rallied from a 13-6 halftime deficit.

It was defense, though, that was a force from start to finish. Punahou did not allow a score by the Saint Louis offense, limiting the visitors to 101 yards of total offense.

The Crusaders relied on defense and special teams, scoring on a blocked field goal and an 87-yard kickoff return by Frank Abreu. Saint Louis ended the season 1-8 overall, 1-3 in ILH Open play.

Penalties were a major factor for Saint Louis with 22 yellow flags for 175 yards. Eight of the flags were for false starts.

The Crusaders defense tried to make up for it with six sacks of Twigg-Smith, including 2.5 by Acedillo.

Punahou closes its season next weekend against Kamehameha, which has already clinched first place and the ILH championship.

Saint Louis’ young team endured and learned from some heavy life lessons, including the dismissal of their head coach, Tupu Alualu, in midseason.

“I’m proud of them, appreciate them staying together and fighting all the way to the final play.” Crusaders interim coach Leonard Lau said. “I couldn’t ask for any more from them. They showed up every single day and put the work in. To me, I feel like I’m a winner. Because of them.”

With starting QB Tai Utoafili sitting out with an injury, freshman Twigg got the call. Punahou kept the ball mostly on the ground and took a 3-0 lead on Jason Asano’s 27-yard field goal with five minutes left in the opening quarter.

A bad snap on a punt was bad news for Saint Louis. Punahou sacked punter Toarai Ellacott at the Crusaders’ 15-yard line and had a short field for a second time. However, a 25-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Zander Namokui and scooped up by Ricky Liilii off the bounce. Liilii sprinted to midfield and was nearly tackled but lateraled to Mario Garza in stride. Garza raced the final 50 yards for a Saint Louis TD.

The shocking turn of events had the Crusaders ahead 6-3 with six seconds left in the first quarter.

Late in the first half, the Buffanblu drove to the Saint Louis 5-yard line, but a sack by LB Siaosi Leakona stalled the drive. Asano’s 30-yard field goal tied it at 6 with 20 seconds left in the first half.

On the ensuing kickoff, Abreu broke a tackle before midfield and ran it back for an 87-yard TD. A penalty was assessed when Abreu went airborne over the goal line, but the TD stood. The Crusaders led 13-6 at the half.

PUNAHOU 19, SAINT LOUIS 13, OT

At Alexander Field

Line Score

Team

1

2

3

4

OT

Total

Saint Louis (1-8, 1-3)

6

7

0

13

Punahou (2-5-1, 1-2)

3

0

7

6

19

Scoring Summary

PUN

Jason Asano FG 27

STL

Mario Garcia 66 fumble return (kick blocked)

PUN

Asano FG 30

STL

Frank Abreu 87 kick return (Andrew Moses kick)

PUN

Mason Perpignan 5 pass from John-Mark Twigg (Asano kick)

PUN

Peterson 16 pass from Twigg (kick blocked)

Team Statistics