Na Ali’i Welcome Game Against Powerhouse Saint Louis
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usIn Wendell Say’s 29 years as Aiea High School head football coach, one aspect of Hawaii prep football has never wavered - the dominance of Interscholastic League of Honolulu member Saint Louis.
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“You always want to play the best,” said Say, whose Aiea team hosts the Crusaders in an inter-league game at about 6:45 p.m. Friday.“They’ve been the most consistent program over the last 25 years as far as winning. They’ve always been a well-coached team with a lot of pride and tradition. The game will be a good gauge for our program.We’ll be able to see where we need to go.”
Both Na Ali’i and Saint Louis were impressive in their recent preseason encounters. Saint Louis edged Kahuku 21-6 in a rematch of last November’s state championship game, while Aiea posted a work-manlike 21-7 win over Kaimuki.Aiea was to begin Oahu Interscholastic Association Red West play over the weekend versus Campbell, while Saint Louis was to play a game at Kailua, giving both teams a couple of games under their belt before the Friday night showdown.The schools have only met once in Say’s tenure, in an OIA playoff game in 2001. Saint Louis’resume includes 14 Prep Bowl titles and a pair of state championships.
For his part, Say was pleased with Aiea’s opening-night performance against Kaimuki.
“Overall, it was positive,” he said.“We were happy with our performance. Kaimuki is going to be one of the better teams in the White (conference). Although we still made a lot of mistakes, they’re correctable.We had some dropped passes, and at times Keenan (Naeole) could have read the defense a little better, but that will come. He did a good job of placing the ball, so it was a good start for him.”
Naeole completed 15 of 31 passes for 258 yards and a pair of scores for Na Ali’i in that game with seven different receivers catching passes. Aiea is banking on having similar balance this week against Saint Louis. Indeed, if anything, the matchup between Aiea’s offense and the Crusader defense could go a long way in determining the outcome of Friday’s game.
“Defensively, they’re always one of the top teams in the state, and that only helps their offense,” Say added. “We think they’re solid all-around. It all starts at the line of scrimmage, and they’re always deep in that area (the trenches).”
Aiea returned eight of its top 10 receivers from last year, including James Buchanan and Aldodius Colquitt.
Na Ali’i's run game will get an added boost if Daniel Liilii can return from a mild ankle sprain. He was injured early in the Kaimuki game and was then held out of action as a precautionary measure.
Offensively, Saint Louis boasts “a good quarterback in Micah Mamiya,“according to Say.“He can throw the ball, and he can run the ball. He’s a dangerous player to have there (behind center).”
While it’s a spread team like Aiea, he added,“Saint Louis wants to run the ball more.”
Aiea will counter with a defense that features free safety David Sevaaetasi, corner back Josh Chung, strong safety (and three-year starter) Alex Mauga and linemen Kaneoka Asing, Miah Faatoafe, Brennan Sato and Lawrence Lagafuina.
The unit limited Kaimuki to 77 yards rushing in their preseason game, while conceding 190 through the air. That the Bulldogs were able to pick up big yardage on screen passes was a point of emphasis last week in practice for Aiea.
“Kaimuki saw that we were real aggressive and threw some screens at us. We’ll have to do a better job. Our tackling was good.”
The coach stopped short of saying Aiea needed to play a perfect game against the Crusaders, but Na Ali’i will be looking to eliminate the penalties that plagued them against Kaimuki.
“It’s hard to play mistake-free early in the season, but we’ll have to be consistent in what we do.”
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