Some people wait a lifetime for that coveted "second chance."

The Punahou School football team waited two weeks.

Just 15 days after Saint Louis knocked the Buffanblu off the perch as Hawai'i's No. 1-ranked team, Punahou has an opportunity for payback tomorrow night against the now-No. 1 Crusaders at Aloha Stadium.

Kickoff for the Interscholastic League of Honolulu showdown is set for 7:30, after the 4:45 opener between Kamehameha and Pac-Five.

Punahou (5-1 overall, 2-1 ILH) can't wait to avenge its 38-35 loss to Saint Louis (6-0, 3-0) on Sept. 29, since the Buffanblu fell just short after spotting the Crusaders a shocking 31-0 halftime lead. Punahou got to within three points with 53 seconds remaining, but its onside kick did not travel the required 10 yards and Saint Louis was able to run out the clock.

"We still feel the loss, but it's driving us to become better," said sophomore linebacker Manti Te'o. "This time, we want to come out banging from the (opening) kickoff and sustain it the whole game."

Buffanblu quarterback Brett Kan, who threw two interceptions in the first meeting, also said he's ready for the rematch.

"Any time you lose, you look forward to getting right back out there and you're raring to go," Kan said. "Saint Louis is a great team, but looking back on that game, we definitely think we can move the ball on them. We just have to come out with more of a sense of urgency from the beginning."

Te'o and Kan said they reviewed film of the loss both individually and as a team, and identified the problems in that disastrous first half.

"We saw what we did wrong, and since then our main goal has been repetition," Te'o said of Punahou's defense, which held the Crusaders to zero first downs on Saint Louis' first five possessions of the second half. "In that second half we had a good plan, and we stuck with that plan."

Kan said film review of the Buffanblu offense revealed multiple errors by different people in the first half.

"On every play there would be just one mistake by one person somewhere, and that would ruin everything," Kan said. "If we could have just fixed those mistakes in the first half, the game would have been ours."

For their part, the Crusaders take pride in returning Saint Louis to the No. 1 spot after a four-year absence, but also realize it can be a slippery slope.

"It feels good, but we know it could have gone the other way, even against Kamehameha (a 10-3 win)," defensive lineman Scott Smith said last week. "It's not easy getting to No. 1, but it's even harder staying at No. 1."

Punahou knows the feeling.

DAMIEN, 'IOLANI CLASH

It's also crunch time in the ILH Division II race, with Damien (2-3-1, 1-1-1) traveling to No. 10 'Iolani (3-2-1, 1-1-1) for a 3:15 p.m. game at Eddie Hamada Field.

In the teams' first-round meeting last month, Damien — boosted by Kama Bailey's 301 yards rushing — scored a touchdown and two-point conversion with under a minute remaining to forge a 34-34 tie.

'Iolani's usually reliable kicking unit missed three field goals and two extra-point attempts, costing it 11 points.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.