Mules Ready To Tackle Season

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The prep football season may still be a month away, but at least in mind-set, Leilehua is already in mid-season form, to hear Mules coach Nolan Tokuda tell it.

“We’re really pleased with the attitude of the kids,” said Tokuda. “After every practice or pass league game, they condition on their own without the coaches monitoring them, and the Junior Varsity kids have followed their lead. They have December in mind. They want to play on. They’ve been taking care of business every day and working hard. These kids were OIA champions on the JV, so they know what it takes.”

The Mules are hoping to once again be in the thick of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red West race this fall after finishing 7-4 in 2006. While the Mules graduated the face of that team, three-year starting quarterback Bryant Moniz (1,898 yards and 20 touch-downs in ‘06), eight seniors return to the defensive side of the ball, with a promising junior class also joining the fold after helping the school to its second consecutive OIA Junior Varsity title last November.

Above all, Leilehua will hang its hat on its defense, Tokuda said.

“Our strength will be the defense,” said Tokuda, who led Leilehua to a second place finish in the state in 2004,“and that puts us ahead of the game. Having eight starters back should really help our offense, which will be young.”

With that in mind, Tokuda named junior Kaipo Ke’a as the Mules’ starting quarterback for their pre-season opener with Kailua on Aug. 17. He had been battling senior Kaipo DeRego for the starting job. Both led their respective JV teams to OIA titles as sophomores.

With Ke’a taking over at quarterback, DeRego will remain at slot back, where he was a key contributor last year. DeRego could also figure big in Leilehua’s run-game, according to Tokuda, who likens the Mules’ situation to that of the University of Florida, which successfully utilized two quarterbacks with different styles en route to last January’s National Championship.

“We’ll have that kind of flexibility,” Tokuda said. “It’s a matter of putting athletes in space, so they can make plays. We need Kaipo (DeRego) on the field. He’s a blue-collar worker.

“(Ke’a) has that game savvy,” he continued of Ke’a. “He’s an extremely coachable kid, who is a student of the game. He always wants to get better.”

Leilehua has thrived in its Summer Passing League to date, having gone 10-0-1 through an 11-game schedule. A tie with Kaimuki in their first game was the Mules’ closest encounter.

“The kids have a lot of pride in themselves, and they’ve executed real well on both sides of the ball,” Tokuda said.

Leilehua plays Moanalua and Waipahu on Tuesday and Friday, respectively, this week to close out their summer schedule. A two-week “dead” period, in which players and coaches won’t be able work out together, follows. Fall camp begins for all prep teams on July 31.

Oceanic-16 has announced that the Mules’ Aug. 24 game with Radford will be televised. Game-time will be announced at a later date.