Tokuda Moves To Bolster Special Teams With ‘Punishing’ Sprints
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usLeilehua football coach Nolan Tokuda doesn’t mind taking the “old school"approach to discipline on occasion if it will help his team down the road.
After being disappointed with his team’s special teams play in a recent 41-0 win over Radford, Tokuda made sure the Mules ran a few extra sprints the following Monday at practice.
“It was 1800 yards of punishment,” said Tokuda.“We missed a field goal and two extra points in that (Radford) game.You’re looking at five points there. The kids need to know that’s a big part of winning or losing a football game. The question we always ask is ‘are you better today than yesterday?’”
Special teams struggles aside, the Mules would appear to be right on schedule for another stellar season as they prepare for Friday night’s early-season OIA Red West showdown at Mililani. The game will be televised statewide at 7 p.m. by OC-16. It also marks the first of three straight road games for the Mules, who visit Waianae and Kapolei in the next two weeks.
First up, the Mules will have to get by the Trojans, who got everyone in the state’s attention when they routed Red East power Castle 43-6 in their public unveiling Aug. 18.A week later, Mililani held the lead over defending West champion Waianae through three quarters before giving up a late score in a 14-9 defeat.
“We’ll have our hands full,” Tokuda said of Mililani. “They’re very talented and very well-coached. We have to be consistent against them. If we don’t play a complete game against them, they could embarrass us on TV.”
For their part, the Mules have relied on their defense the first three weeks of the season. Against Radford, Leilehua gave up no yards, a week after yielding only 3 points to Kailua in a 6-3 win.
“They’ve played extremely well,” Tokuda said of his defense, which was to face another big test over the weekend when they played Punahou. How the Mules’ defense fares against the Mililani offense could go a long way in determining the outcome of Friday’s game. Mililani senior quarterback Rustin Funakoshi had thrown for more than 200 yards in each of his two starts heading into last weekend.
“We’ve seen them twice, once in person,” Tokuda said of Mililani. “They’re very creative on offense, and they have lots of weapons. They’re going to come at you every play. They’re also a good running team and excellent in play action.”
Leilehua’s own offense “got untracked,” according to Tokuda, in its win over Radford.
A week earlier, against Kailua, they had been out of sync, turning the ball over three times in their first six plays.
“The kids have high expectations, and they just came out tight,” Tokuda said. “We had 12 plays to Kailua’s 35 in the first half, but we learned our defense can keep us in it (on an off night, offensively).We were never able to get into a rhythm in the first half . Once the kids settled down, they played well.”
The Mules have alternated a pair of quarterbacks in Kaipo Kea and Kaipo DeRego so far, and both figure to play against Mililani.Against Radford, Kea completed 7 of 12 passes for 51 yards, while Kaipo DeRego completed his last 6 passes in a row (6 of 8) for 98 yards.
“They’ve done really well; they both contribute. They’re both good leaders. Either of them could start for almost anyone else. They know they still have areas to work on, but we’re pleased with them.”
Up front, they feature center Bronson Smithe, guards Josh Quinn and Jordan Jenks, and tackles Keala Pascua and Chris Atualevao. Centers Stanford Salavea and Greg Tialavea have also figured into the rotation, while running back Rico Newman accounts for much of the Mules’ground yardage so far with 66 yards in only five carries against Radford.
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