A crowd of more than 10,000 fans gathered at the Aloha Stadium on Oct.24 and witnessed the St.Louis Crusaders defeat Punahou, 27-23.

With only seconds left in the final quarter, St.Louis defensive back, Ronson Timbreza, stopped Punahou from making a comeback attempt and intercepted the ball. Filled with pride and exhilaration, the Crusaders and their fans stood and cheered as they knew they would be crowned Interscholastic League of Honolulu(ILH) Division I Champions, a title they won nearly five years ago led by Marcus Mariota, now a quarterback for the Tennessee Titans.

Linebacker Jordan Iosefa said, “It feels surreal to be the ILH Division I Champs. I am beyond thankful and blessed to be a part of the tradition and this recent win. The defense played an outstanding game in all areas. Though there is still room for improvement, we will only get better.”

With this win, the Crusaders advance to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) state football tournament and will play against the Oahu Interscholastic Association(OIA) teams.

St. Louis defensive end, Darius Matsumoto, said, “ILH teams are more disciplined than the OIA teams. Our practices and preparation for the tournament will be the same, but our attitude will be different. We have faced many adversities throughout this whole season from our field house going down into our locker room being in the worst possible condition or questionable penalties, but from that, we have grown to be a team with potential.We have the potential to be this year’s state champs by executing properly and preparing well.”

The playoff game for the Crusaders is to be determined.