Bulldogs Beef Up For A Winning Season
By Jack Danilewicz
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Waialua coach Lincoln Barit
There was no direct line to Waialua’s success on the football field, but the team is finding that the payoff was well worth the wait.
In a sense,the revival began after the 2004 season when that team’s returnees began to assert themselves at off-season conditioning.
“The kids saw the results of working hard in the off-season,” Waialua coach Lincoln Barit said. “We had given them a month off, and then they came back in January and got to work lifting and running.”
The Bulldogs finished strong last year, tying for second in the OIA White Conference and closing with a riveting (21-7) win over Kaiser an statewide TV. But they lost a coin-flip that decided which White teams would advance to post-season. That scenario seems unlikely this time should the Bulldogs continue their high level of play.
Waialua meets Kaimuki in a key game at Roosevelt at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. That and upcoming games with Pearl City (Waialua’s homecoming game Oct. 14) and Nanakuli (road game Oct. 20), will likely decide their fate.Waialua had an open date last week,which it used as healing time for minor injuries and to prepare for Kaimuki.
It’s been 13 years since they had a winning season (they endured five winless ones in that span),but interest in the program is now at an all-time high.An explosive offense and “bend-but-not-break"defense have lifted them to a 4-2 overall record (3-2 in the White).
“The kids have seen a lot of support from the community as well as our student body,“said Barit,who played for Waialua in the late ‘70s and began coaching there in 1981.
“I’d like to thank all of them. This is the first time these kids have had so much attention. I’m proud of them. They’ve worked real hard for this.”
Waialua was once short on numbers (having to forfeit a game in 2000), but its current roster has 43 players. The 2005 late-season run helped increase participation.
“When you win, it helps kids to want to be a part of it. There’s been a carry-over.
“These kids are real close,” he added.“In the summer, we worked at bringing the kids together. We asked the boys to make a commitment, and we as coaches would make a commitment to them.And it’s paid off.”
With only four returnees on defense, the team has relied heavily on its spread offense to keep opposing offenses off of the field.
“I told my offensive coordinator (Sluggo Silva) the offense would have to carry us through mid-season because we’re young there.”
Senior quarterback Caleb Fore has been the catalyst so far.He threw for six touchdowns and 290 yards in the win over Kalani last month, and currently leads the state in passing yards (1,473) as well as scoring tosses (18 touchdowns).
“He reads the defense much better (than last year),and he calls audibles better.All of the clinics he’s gone to have helped him. His smarts are his strength,” the coach said. “He knows what we want, and he makes our offensive coordinator’s job easier.They’re on the same page.”
Solid play from the offensive line of Micah Hatchie, Aaron Lapitan, Tauese Tatusoa, Alika Schultz and Kawika Yamaouchi has also figured big. “Their pass-blocking technique has been good,which is something we stress for Caleb,“Barit said.
Offense also boasts play-makers in junior running back Donovan Matas and senior receivers Adam Foster, Joshua Whittaker, Cody Labra and Edwin Rubio.
The Bulldogs will look to shore up their run defense after conceding Kaiser’s Isaac Saffery 205 yards on the ground in their 42-21 loss to the Cougars Sept.22.Waialua will face one of the White’s better running teams in Kaimuki , but Barit is confident his team can hold up.
Schultz and Yamaouchi had been used earlier in short-yardage situations, but due to injuries to Waialua’s interior line,Barit said their roles will likely expand this week against Kaimuki.
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