Crusaders 38 game win-streak snapped in Geico State Champions Bowl

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - It took defending Florida 7A state champion St. Thomas Aquinas to end the vaunted Saint Louis Crusaders 38-game winning streak with a 35-19 victory in the GEICO State Champions Bowl Series on Saturday at Fertitta Field in Las Vegas.

Three different Raiders rushed for touchdowns as St. Thomas Aquinas (15-0), shut out the Crusaders (12-1) in the second half.

Saint Louis was coming off a over a two week layoff since beating Kahuku 45-6 to win its fourth consecutive Open Division state championship in at Aloha Stadium on Nov. 29.

Crusaders quarterback Jayden de Laura, finished 27-for-47 for 273 yards.

He threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another score but turned the ball over four times throughout the game on what was an uncharacteristically inconsistent throwing night.

Senior running back Koali Nishigaya had 11 catches for 84 yards and a touchdown and Isaac Silva added 10 receptions for 85 yards to lead Saint Louis, which hadn’t lost since a 33-20 defeat against Punahou in September 2016.

The Raiders forced a Saint Louis fumble on the first play from scrimmage and scored on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Zion Turner to Antonio Johnson on the next play.

Saint Louis settled down and took a 13-7 lead after de Laura threw touchdown passes to Roman Wilson and Nishigaya.

De Laura scored on a 22-yard run late in the first half to cut the deficit to 21-19, but the Crusaders were stopped going for a 2-point conversion to tie the game.

Saint Louis wasn’t able to muster any scoring plays the final 25 minutes of the game.

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