Sabers Focus On Defense After A Rash Of Injuries
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usWith all the parity that figures to define the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s Red West Conference this fall, Campbell head football coach Tumoana Kenessey will put the emphasis more on his own team.
Not that the seven-year veteran doesn’t make it a point to have a good scouting report in hand.
“I can’t control what the opposition is doing,“Kenessey said.“Our philosophy is we want to execute what we do well. That’s the key. We want to keep it close and go into the fourth quarter with a chance to win.
“Our most challenging opponent will be ourselves,“he continued.“If we can execute what we do, then we have a shot (to win the league).”
The Sabers are moving up to Division I (and the OIA’s Red West) this season after a 6-1 mark in 2006 when they shared the (Division II) White Division title Moanalua and Radford.
Campbell enters the 2006 season having won their division four of the past six years, including the Division II OIA and state football championships in 2004. This year’s fall camp was not without its speed bumps for the Sabers, however.
“We’re going through some trials right now,” Kenessey said. “We’ve been hit by the injury bug, and that’s been slowing us down a bit in practice. We also have the kids making the transition from Junior Varsity football to the Varsity, but we’re making strides every day and that’s been a positive. No excuses. The next group has to be ready to play - that (injuries) is the nature of football.
The silver lining in the cloud is that the young kids will gain valuable experience.”
Six projected starters on the defensive side were among the injured late last week as Kenessey prepared his team to play its pre-season game against Castle. He estimates that “two or three” could be back for Friday night’s regular-season opening game with Damien of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. The Sabers begin OIA Red West play at home on Sept. 2 against Aiea.
“Potentially we can be at full strength for Aiea,” Kenessey said. “We’ll hold them out for Castle and some will not play against Damien because I want them all to be at 100 percent. Right now, we have to make-do.”
In spite of the injuries, Kenessey acknowledged that the program’s faith in its system, particularly the wing-T (four-back set) offense, which is also run by the Sabers’ Junior Varsity, is a big plus.
“Our continuity (throughout the program) helps out a lot - we can progress further and faster,” Kenessey said.“Right now, we’re just trying to get them to work as a team. It will take every person for us to be successful.”
Execution of the wing-T has been big reason for Campbell’s success through the years.
“It’s very big on the Mainland - it has a cult following - and they (Campbell) run it very well,” said Castle coach Nelson Maeda, whose team lost to Campbell 49-30 in a pre-season game in 2005.“It’s hard to prepare for. It’s all angle blocking, and there’s a lot of deception involved with the quarterback often faking to two people. It forces you to defend the whole field, and there’s always the threat of play-action (passes). If you’re not very disciplined, it can be very tough (to combat).”
Kenessey likes the direction his 2006 team is headed in on the offensive side of the ball.
“They’re starting to click,” Kenessey said. “The starters are starting to solidify their positions. We have a lot of work to do still, but we’re making strides.”
Like the defense, Kenessey has seen his special teams slower in developing than the Sabers’ offense because of the injuries.
“We’ve had to revamp our special teams because we had a lot of the guys from the defense there, so its been difficult. This (rash of injuries) is something that’s new for us. Defensively, we’re not very big, but we’ll have decent speed out there.”
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