12. St. Louis

St. Louis (Hawaii) quarterback Jayden deLaura (Photo: Bryon Ng)

Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
18-19 Record: 12-0
Final Super 25 Rank: 12

Why them: Rostering some of the most dominant players in the state of Hawaii, Saint Louis looks like it can compete for its fourth straight championships and continue its win streak, which stands at 26 entering the season.

Saint Louis has the top five players in the 247Sports class of 2020, led by four-star linebackers in Jordan Botelho (Notre Dame) and Nick Herbig (Wisconsin). The linebacking corps will also be a huge strength with  OLB Mason Tufaga and ILB Wynden Ho’ohuli ranked as the top two 2021 players in Hawaii. That’s not even mentioning three-star LBs Lawaia Brown (Central Michigan) and Darrell Masaniai, both in the class of 2020.

The defensive line has bigger holes. Losing four-star defensive tackle Faatui Tuitele (Washington), three-star defensive end Gino Quinones (USC) and three-star Liloa Kapiko (San Diego State) will be a challenge that may fall on three-star DT Stanley McKenzie’s shoulders. In the secondary, three-star safeties Kamo’i Latu and Kaiser Cambra-Cho roam.

The offense looks like it’s in good shape with quarterback Jayden de Laura returning to throw the ball to four-star Roman Wilson (Michigan) and three-star Matt Sykes (UCLA). Leading rusher Dayton Sam, who had 485 yards and eight scores last year, enters his junior year – though losing two three-star offensive lineman to graduation won’t be an easy fix. Saint Louis enters another season looking like the top Hawaii team.

SCHEDULE:

8/15 at Kapolei
8/23 at Campbell
8/30 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas)
9/6 Kamehameha Kapalama
9/14 Kahuku
9/20 Punahou
9/27 Mililani
10/4 at Farrington
10/11 at Wai’anae