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No Slacking For Cougars After Winning Football Season

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Cougar down-lineman Tukia Aholelei is ready for
some action. See story on page 9. Photo by
Nathalie Walker, staff photographer.

The accolades keep on coming for Kaiser High School’s football team, and Cougar head coach Pat Samsonas wouldn’t have it any other way.

The second-year Kaiser coach knows his team did more than learn how to win this fall, after producing a 6-1-1 record on its way to an Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II regular-season championship. The Cougars also know how to handle winning, which is no small accomplishment in its own right, to hear Samsonas tell it.

“They’ve taken it the right way,” Samsonas said of his team’s success and ability to stay focused. “All the credit goes to the kids. We’re going just as hard as the first day (of practice), and we’re going to give 125 percent (effort) this week.”

Kaiser was to play Kaimuki over the weekend. A victory over the Bulldogs would have helped the Cougars advance to the OIA Division II championship game Nov. 10, in addition to guaranteeing themselves a berth in the upcoming First Hawaiian Bank State Football Championships.

It was perhaps only fitting that Kaiser drew Kaimuki as its opponent for the semifinals, as it was only their loss to the Bulldogs in Week One that prevented the Cougars from having an undefeated regular season.

That defeat also lit a fire under the team, which had hoped for a chance at redemption.

Kaiser coach Pat Samsonas. Photo by Byron Lee.
Kaiser coach Pat
Samsonas. Photo by
Byron Lee.

Indeed, their 13-12 defeat Sept. 2 was even used as fuel in the second half of Kaiser’s Oct. 20 game with Waipahu, when the Cougars trailed 13-0 with four minutes to go before charging back to tie the game, thus preserving home-field advantage for their post-season opener last weekend.

“When we lost to Kaimuki, we told them to remember the feeling (of losing) because we didn’t want to ever have that feeling again,” Samsonas recalled.“When we were down (to Waipahu), I reminded them of that, and they found a way to pull through. The kids really wanted to play Kaimuki again. They saw it as a payback game. They’re real fired up. Their level of intensity is at an all-time high right now.”

Samsonas credited a stellar senior class, which is 27-strong, with spearheading the Cougars’ title run.

“Our senior leadership has been big,” he said. “They’ve held it together. It’s not us coaches - we’re doing the same things. The kids have just responded well.”

Kaiser’s ability to play physical has also gone a long way in aiding their cause this fall. A solid offensive line (tackles Andrew Wingert and Rayce Chun-Ming, center Brice Kahalewai and guards Lono Awong and Justin Inagaki) has dominated most of their opponents, helping to clear the way for running back Isaac Saffery, who had rushed for a state-best 1,277 yards (8.1 yards per carry) and 17 touchdowns heading into the weekend.

His production has helped pave the way for a balanced offensive attack, according to Samsonas. The Cougar offense also boasts quarterback Skyler Chan, who was a wide-out in 2005, and wide receivers Jake Esteban and Kalua Noa, a transfer from Saint Louis.

“It starts with the O-line - they’re the key,” Samsonas said. “Everyone knows Isaac’s our go-to-guy, and he helps to free us up in passing situations.”

As on the offensive side of the ball, the Cougars have been dominant in the trenches, defensively, led by down-linemen Tukia Aholelei, Sean Harkin, Andrew Wingert and Bronson McMoore, as well as versatile line-backer C.J. Criado. The Cougar defense pitched three consecutive shut-outs (vs. Pearl City, Roosevelt and Kalani) in the weeks leading up to the aforementioned showdown with West side power Waipahu.

As his team prepared for Kaimuki late last week, the possibility that Kaiser would have an open date this week was much on the mind of Samsonas.

A bye week precedes the Nov. 9 Division II OIA title game - the only drawback for a Cougar team with as much momentum as perhaps any team in the state at present.

“I’m not a fan of the bye week,” he said.“I want to keep this going, although in the long run it might be a good thing.”

Meanwhile, a plaque commemorating Kaiser’s regular-season championship is on display in the school’s front office for all to see.

“It’s like the Stanley Cup,” Samsonas laughed, in reference to professional hockey’s coveted prize.

“We want the teachers to be able to see it.

“We want the whole Hawaii Kai community to be excited about this, like back when the (former Kaiser and current University of Hawaii coaches Ron and Cal) Lees were here.”