Hurricanes Get Down To Business During Preseason Play
By Jack Danilewicz
E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS | Share
Del.icio.us
|
For the Kapolei High football team, the road to a 2008 OIA Red West Conference championship will pass through the Big Island, and while Saturday’s preseason game against Kamehameha-Hawaii won’t have any bearing on the Hurricanes’ post-season hopes, they’ll bring the focus of a team more akin to November than August, according to head coach Darren Hernandez.
“We want to win - no question,” said Hernandez, who led Kapolei to a 7-4 season in 2007. “We’ll approach it as a business trip. Any fun we have will be a byproduct of our having won the game. Our main goal is to go up there and play well - represent ourselves and our community and school well - and get better.”
The prevailing theme throughout fall camp has been a commitment to building cohesiveness within, making Saturday’s trip all the more necessary in Hernandez’s view.
“We have a lot of individual talent this year, and we’re very happy to have talent, but it isn’t enough,” said Hernandez, who led Kapolei to a road win against Kahuku last October in the OIA playoffs. “We have to play together as a team. There are teams out there that don’t have enough talent, but play together and come at you. Navy is a good example in college football. They’re always undersized. Underneath their uniforms they wear T-shirts that say “will over skill.”
“I’m always wary of teams that are not loaded with talent but play together,” he added. “In football, it’s not the best 11 players - it’s the best 11 guys who can play together. We’re excited about the parts, but we haven’t played a game yet, so it’s difficult to judge how the whole will be.”
The Hurricane talent pool begins with two-way standouts Stan Hasiak, Chad Lopati and Cyril Ontai II currently listed as the second, fifth and eighth-best Division I college prospects in the state, according to the recruiting service Rivals.com. No other program in Hawaii has three top-10 prospects.
Ontai and Lopati will anchor the Hurricanes’ defense at line-backer and defensive end, respectively. The unit also returns safety/linebacker Shaydon Akuna, defensive back Lyle Brackenridge, defensive back Lyle Santiago, linebacker Dustin Elisara and interior lineman Luke Spencer.
“We can be a good defense,” said Hernandez. “We’re athletic, strong, fast, and tough, individually.”
Hasiak, who packs 320 solid pounds into a 6-foot-6 frame, will also figure big in the rotation up front on defense in addition to holding down a spot on the offensive line.
Junior Noah Pascua gets the call at quarterback on Saturday, meanwhile. He threw for over 750 yards and six touchdowns as a sophomore, while playing intermittently in a two-quarterback system that included Mason Koa, who has since completed his eligibility.
“He’s a good student (of the offense),” Hernandez said of Pascua. “Our offense is a difficult one to learn - there are reads to make in the run game and the passing game - but he’s able to learn. He’s not a fresh face. He has a lot of experience for a junior.
“Our summer pass league was invaluable to us,” he continued. “We were able to install our offensive package. Once the season starts, there’s not a whole lot of time for on-the-job training.”
Hernandez also expects quarterbacks Trent McKinney and the aforementioned Akuna to take some snaps during the season.
The Hurricanes also figure to be deep in the backfield, with Ontai leading a group that also includes Elisara, Simione Vehikite and Onosai Faumuina.
“We’re excited about those guys,” Hernandez said. “We think we’ll be more physical this year in between the tackles. Cyril, at 210, is our lightest and smallest running back in the mix. We also have some nice skilled players. We hope we can keep people off-balance by being a balanced team.”
In Kamehameha-Hawaii, the Hurricanes will meet a program in transition. Last year’s head coach, Ulima Afoa, left to become the athletic director at his alma mater, Saint Louis School. The Warriors’ new head coach is Brian Kelson.
“We’re going in blank - we don’t know anything about them,” said Hernandez.“We’re hoping we can adjust on the fly.”
Kapolei’s regular-season opener is set for Aug. 22, at home against ILH team Kamehameha.
E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS
Most Recent Comment(s):
