Hurricanes Prepare For ‘Physical’ Game At Waianae Friday
By Jack Danilewicz
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Kapolei head football coach Darren Hernandez won’t be offering aspirin to his players before Friday night’s OIA Red West opener at 7 p.m. at Waianae, but he’s emphasizing the importance of matching their rival’s physicality.
“They’re a team that likes to ground and pound,” said Hernandez. “Last year, they ran over us, and it was over by half-time. They’re very physical, and we’d like to think we are.We’ll have to bring our ‘A-game’ against them.
“Obviously, we have to stop the run to have any kind of a chance, and we need to establish our own running game. In the games we have won (in the series), we were able to stop the run and establish our own running game.”
Kapolei’s last win in the series came in the final week of 2006 when they handed
Waianae its only loss on its OIA slate. The Seariders have won the last two meetings, including last year’s 24-0 rout. Friday’s game may be the most intriguing to date, as both teams have a mix of key returnees and underclassmen moving into starting roles. The game also comes in Week One as opposed to its usual late-season date.
While there are unknowns about Waianae’s personnel, Kapolei knows it’ll have to defend the Wing-T offense.
“It’s always a battle of defense and field position when you play them,” said Hernandez.“I don’t like to call them old school, because they’re very up-to-date in what they do, but there’s a lot of misdirection and ‘trickeration’ in the backfield to deal with. Gap integrity is very important when you play them. I’m hoping our front seven (four defensive linemen and three linebackers) can step up and be a factor.
“We know we’re not going to hold them to zero yards,” he added,“but if we can contain them and force them to punt in key situations, that would be good.”
Among Waianae’s returnees on offense are 290-pound full-back Eleu Wilson, who ran for four touchdowns against Kapolei last year, and quarterback Keoni Napierala-Rose, who proved one of the league’s better decision-makers by the end of the 2008 season, with only three interceptions in nine starts. The Seariders, who went 5-6 overall (5-4 in the Red West) in 2008, amassed 170 yards in last year’s Kapolei encounter.
Hernandez declined to list his defensive starters, preferring that they take pride in each other as a unit rather than as individuals.“We want to make sure they’re all playing as a team,“he said.“All 11 are important.”
Defensive prospects could be helped along on Friday night by its offense, in Hernandez’s view. Senior quarterback Noah Pascua is one of the state’s most experienced and is poised for a great season after a busy summer that saw him attend camps at Division I colleges. He completed 56 percent of his passes last year and threw 10 touchdown passes against only four interceptions.
“Noah knows all the plays and adjustments in our package, and he has the arm and ability to run the offense. We have to make sure now that the hogs up front give us some time. Right now, like most young teams, it’s taking our offensive line longer to come together. In our scrimmage with Castle, at times the line looked great, and at times, they looked awful. They’re still a work in progress, and as they go, we go.”
The team will step outside of the OIA to host three-time defending Division II state champion Iolani Aug. 28. It returns to Red West play Sept. 4 against Nanakuli.
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