In a must-win game last night, the Saint Louis School football team won big.

The Crusaders stuffed Iolani, 35-3, in rainy, blustery conditions at Aloha Stadium to stay alive in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu title chase.

Saint Louis, ranked No. 7 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media, improved to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the ILH. Iolani, ranked No. 4, fell to 6-3, 3-2.

The Crusaders jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and finished with four interceptions to stifle the Raiders' prolific passing offense. Iolani had been averaging 35.4 points per game, but Kiran Kepo'o — the state's top-rated passer — was limited to 8 completions in 27 attempts for just 97 yards last night.

"Definitely the weather helped; it made it harder on them to throw the ball," Saint Louis coach Delbert Tengan said. "And on offense, we scored on our first two possessions and that put them in a press mode."

After Shane Ahlo, Jr. returned the opening pooch kickoff 27 yards, the Crusaders traveled 47 yards in nine plays, culminating in Keani Nishigaya's 1-yard touchdown plunge. Linebacker Jared Silva intercepted Kepo'o on the ensuing series, and Jeremiah Masoli scored on a 2-yard quarterback sneak eight plays later to help make it 14-0.

After reaching the Saint Louis 8-yard line on their next possession, the Raiders settled for a 25-yard Kody Adams field goal on the final play of the first quarter. That would be their final points of the game, as Kepo'o fought a heavy pass rush and his receivers struggled to find open spots in the secondary.

"(The Crusaders) mixed up their coverages and put on a lot of pressure," Iolani coach Wendell Look said. "Those two things, made it hard."

Tengan said his team also wanted to stop running back Mike Hirokawa, but he was the Raiders' lone bright spot while rushing for 93 yards on 16 carries. Still, many of those yards went for naught as the passing game stalled time and again. Iolani's previous low output was 24 points against Damien.

"We mixed up man and zone (coverages) and tried to slow them down," Tengan said. "We tried to stop them on first down and not let them get us in second-and-short situations."

Meanwhile, Saint Louis continued to stretch the margin. Cameron Higgins and Cameron Bayne connected on a 19-yard TD pass to help the Crusaders take a 21-3 halftime lead.

IOLANI (6-3, 3-2) 3 0 0 0 — 3

SAINT LOUIS (5-3, 3-2) 14 7 7 7 — 35

SL — Keani Nishigaya 1 run (Matthew Terry kick)

SL — Jeremiah Masoli 2 run (Terry kick)

Iol — FG Kody Adams 25

SL — Cameron Bayne 19 pass from Cameron Higgins (Terry kick)

SL — Jared Silva 17 interception return (Terry kick)

SL — Masoli 1 run (Terry kick)

RUSHING — Iolani: Mike Hirokawa 16-93, Kiran Kepo'o 2-(minus-7), Justin Yamamoto 3-16, Ryan Dung 1-(minus-10). Saint Louis: Nishigaya 18-55, Chase Alcott 4-17, Higgins 5-29, Shane Ahlo, Jr. 4-40, Masoli 9-37, Cody Wells 7-31, Bayne 1-1, Devan Essner 3-(minus-5), Michael Winter 1-(minus-4).

PASSING — Iolani: Kepo'o 8-27-4—97. Saint Louis: Higgins 3-8-0—44.

RECEIVING — Iolani: Hirokawa 2-38, Kekai Kealoha 2-20, Blayne Yama 2-19, Travis Nishioka 2-20. Saint Louis: Ahlo, Jr. 1-12, Bayne 1-19, Kulia Aiona 1-13.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.