‘Agile, Overachieving’ Cougars Face Bulldogs Aug. 16

Wednesday - August 06, 2008
By Jack Danilewicz
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For all the skilled players that have excelled at Kaiser since moving to the spread offense (and even before), opponents should never underestimate the Cougars’ ability to play physical at the point of attack.

At least not this time around. “We don’t always get the bruisers,” head coach Pat Samsonas conceded. “We’re kind of like Iolani. We’re more the small, agile guys, the hardworking, overachieving, fight-for-everything kind.

“This year, we have a mix of both (linemen who dominate by size and those on the agile side). We have some athletes, and we have some old-school, down-and-dirty guys. It’s a great mix.”

Since going to the spread in 2006, Kaiser has been able to count on its offense to control the tempo in games. While an assistant at Iolani under Wendell Look, Samsonas was among those who went to Evanston, Ill., to learn Northwestern University’s version of the spread from then-offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson after the Wildcats won the Big Ten title in 2000. Samsonas brought NU’s version to Kaiser and it’s paid dividends ever since. “We’re always tweaking stuff, but I think he’d still recognize it as his,” Samsonas said of Wilson, now offensive coordinator at Oklahoma.


Of course, every scheme is dependent on the players who run it. Behind returning starters Pasi Toetuu, Doug Paahao, Bijon Mostoufi and first-year varsity player David Nohara, Samsonas believes he has the nucleus for a good offensive line. All four are expected to play defense as well.

“That’s our strength,” Samsonas said. “We’ll average over 6-2, 250 pounds, and that’s good for Kaiser. Usually, it’s the opposite (undersized in the trenches). We’ll have a solid line.”

Toetuu, Mostoufi and Paahao, who is the son of former Kaiser standout Doug Sr., are all getting attention from college recruiters, while Nohara has stood out in fall camp so far after spending his sophomore season on JV.

“He’s been very aggressive on both sides of the ball; he’s going to see a lot of time,” Samsonas said.

Heading into spring practice, one of the key questions was how to use quarterbacks Cal Tashiro and Laakea Awong. Samsonas had talked of employing a two-quarterback system, akin to what Florida used in its run to the national championship in 2006.

Tashiro was the starter last season, having taken “70 percent of the snaps,” according to Samsonas, while Awong had been used in certain situations. At the end of spring practice, Tashiro elected to concentrate on baseball for his senior year and was not part of the team as of last Friday.

“It’s still possible Cal might be back. Our back-up was injured yesterday, so we talked to him, and we’ll see.”

For his part, should he be the full-time starter this fall as expected, Awong is poised for a great senior season. “He has the talent to do it - we have to put all of the pieces together for him,” Samsonas said. “He has a canon of an arm, and his accuracy has improved a lot. This will be his third year with us. We called him up as a sophomore, wanting him to learn the system.

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“We had a great senior class to learn from that year,” added Samsonas of 2006, when the Cougars went 6-1-1 en route to winning the OIA White Conference title. “It’s his time to shine. As a runner, he’s a bruiser. He won’t slide. He still has that lineman mentality in him. We’ll still try to get him some reps at defensive end.”

Samsonas also counts on receivers Brian Freeman and Corey Hironaka and safety Bryce Marcoulier to be impact players.

Marcoulier will anchor the Kaiser secondary. “Bryce is a baseball guy who wasn’t with us during the summer much because he was on a select (all-star) team. But he came back a better football player. He’s making play after play and showing some leadership skills.

“Brian plays like the guy he emulates, (former Seattle Seahawks star) Steve Largent. He even wears his number (80). He’s a great route runner, has a great work ethic, and he’s a great person. Corey doesn’t say much, but he’s probably the toughest kid we have, and he’s only 135 pounds.”

As the team prepares for its preseason encounter Aug. 16 at home against Kaimuki, depth remains a key question.

“We’ll have a smaller team - about 30 or so,” Samsonas said. “Scientifically, realistically, that could be a weakness - even world class athletes can get tired. But we have a lot of the kinds of kids who get right back up after getting knocked down, so hopefully, we’ll surprise some people.”

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