Kapolei’s Season Put Into Hands Of Its Talented Line
By Jack Danilewicz
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Their last names are Hasiak, Hoffman, Spencer, Gibson, Paiva and Nakatani, and around the Kapolei football program, the group represents a team within a team.
“We call them The Law Firm,” Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez joked of his offensive line. “Listen to those names. They sound like a Bishop Street law firm.”
As the Hurricanes prepare for a first-ever visit from Mililani at 7 p.m. Friday night (and on OC-16) for a key Oahu Interscholastic Association Red West game, much emphasis will be on that offensive line. The group performed well in Kapolei’s first few outings (wins over Damien and McKinley) before a two-week break interrupted their season. And although stellar left guard Alex Paiva will miss a month because of a knee injury, Hernandez is confident the O line will continue its upward mobility.
“We’ve been pretty good in the trenches - other than the injury to Alex, we’re pretty healthy,” Hernandez said. “We feel like our offensive line, if they stay healthy and continue to gel, has a chance to be one of the strengths of our team. We always talk about playing on one heartbeat. Cohesion is the main thing (up front). When you have that, you can take lesser athletes, and your offensive line can become a force.”
Veteran right guard Mike Hoffman leads the way for the Hurricanes up front. A senior who packs 285 pounds into a 6-foot-4 inch frame, he’s being recruited by Oregon State among other Division I colleges. With Paiva out for Friday’s game, Hoffman’s line-mates will include Stan Hasiak,Luke Spencer, Jordan Gibson and Kaipo Nakatani. Hasiak and Spencer are underclassmen with a lot of football to be played. Together, the unit will have to figure big for the duration of Kapolei’s schedule if the Hurricanes are to contend in the Red West.
Indeed, with a talented receiving corps that features Keliiholokai Aki, Shenon Moore and Chase Alcott, and one of the most versatile quarterbacks in the state in Mason Koa, moving the ball hasn’t been a problem.
With that in mind, how well Kapolei can defend Mililani’s offense could go a long in determining the Friday game’s outcome. The Trojans have a three-year starter at quarterback in Rustin Funakoshi, as well as one of the state’s most explosive play-makers in Taz Stevenson. The Hurricane defense counters with a physical front seven that includes Chad Lopati, Othaniel Maiava and Trent Nakata in addition to linebackers Cyril Ontai and Tim Brown.
“The biggest matchup problem we have is with Stevenson,” Hernandez said.“Although he’s only a sophomore, he’s 6-2 and a game-breaking receiver.
“He can really hurt you,“he added of Stevenson, who had an 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Castle last month.“We have to really contain him. Like Kama Bailey of Damien, who we played earlier in the season, you can’t really stop him. He’s a super player.”
Kapolei held Bailey to 93 yards in 19 carries, numbers that stand in stark contrast to the 295 he picked up versus Radford and the 175 rushing yards he produced against Farrington.
“We held him in check, and we have to do the same with Stevenson.”
In addition to the challenge from a talented Mililani team, the Hurricanes will also be looking to shake off the effects of a long layoff, after having been idle for two weekends. Last week’s scheduled game with Aiea was forfeited by Na Ali’i for their part in a melee that broke out at the end of the Aiea-Campbell game Aug. 25. As a result of the forfeit, which came a week after their standard bye week, Hernandez gave Kapolei three days off before they resumed their regular practice routine. Aside from extended time to prepare specifically for Mililani, Hernandez saw more negatives than positives in the break from action.
“It’s hard for teenagers to stay focused for a week when there is a game (to look forward to on the weekend),” he said.“To keep them focused for three weeks is really tough. It really hurt us. No coach likes a double-bye. The good thing is that it helped with the healing process - we got some guys back who were banged up - and we had a long time to watch Mililani.”
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