Waipahu Prepares To Take On Westlake High Warriors

Wednesday - August 29, 2007
By Jack Danilewicz
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While Waipahu coach Sean Saturnio is quick to remind everyone that Friday’s game against California powerhouse Westlake High won’t have any bearing on post-season hopes, he also recognizes that his team has an opportunity that most schools would be happy to have.

“It would be a nice feather in our cap,” Saturnio admitted, on the prospect of beating Westlake.

Indeed, the Warriors arrived in town on Monday with an impressive track record. A year ago, Westlake won its first 12 games before a loss to state champion Canyon High,and veteran coach Jim Benkert is only one victory away from 150 wins, having compiled a 149-54-5 record.


“They’re quite the team,“Saturnio said.“They flew Coach Benkert out here about a month ago so that he could check on everything and make the arrangements. That tells you what kind of program they have.”

More evidence of the interest in Westlake football can be found on the program’s website, which includes a college-style media guide with information and photos on each player. That is no small feat in and of itself, considering Benkert expects 134 players (65 for the varsity game) to make the trip for Westlake in addition to several hundred fans.

“The kids have been excited about the trip for a long time,” Benkert said.“We’re coming to paradise. Hopefully, we can focus on football. We’re looking forward to a good game. We’ve seen Waipahu on film, and they look really good. They’re well-coached,and their players play hard for them.”

Although Benkert sounds as if already in mid-season form, it won’t all be about football for Westlake this week. Far from seeking seclusion, the Warriors will stay in Waikiki and practice daily at Kapiolani Park. In between their football preparations, he said,“The kids will have seven different excursions to choose from each day, and we’ll all visit Pearl Harbor on Wednesday.”

On the field, the Warriors return only seven starters from 2006, but 31 lettermen are back in the fold, highlighted by place-kicker Jordan Mannisto. A senior, he tallied 81 points last year (13 field goals and 42 extra points) and two of his field goals were from better than 50 yards out.

“He makes us a little conservative when we get inside the 30-yard line,” Benkert said. “We always know we have an opportunity to get points out of that field position. It’s a nice option to have.”

Also back for the Warriors are AllMaramonte League wide receiver Curtis Peterson as well as leading rusher Cooper Stuckey, who was a 2nd team All-Maramonte League selection in 2006 after rushing for 767 yards. Running back/defensive back Justin Lilley is also back.


Five of Westlake’s seven starters are on the offensive side of the ball.

“Our experience on offense is our strength,” Benkert said, “but practicing against ourselves makes it difficult to determine if we’re a year better or not.”

Westlake’s most glaring loss to graduation from last season was quarterback Ryan Campbell, a three-year starter who now attends the Air Force Academy on a football scholarship.

Senior Nick Owens and junior Ben Conlin will share the duties behind center for the Warriors Friday night. Owens completed 16 of 29 passes for 305 yards (with five TDs and one INT) as Campbell’s backup, while Conlin threw for more than 2,000 yards while guiding the sophomore team to an 8-2 record.

“They’re both neck-and-neck (in competition to be the starter),” Benkert said.“We don’t like to (rotate quarterbacks throughout an entire season), but we’ve never had two who were as equal as these two.”

Like the Warriors, Waipahu will also have a new quarterback under center in Troy Matautia.A converted fullback,he replaces two-year starter Gil Fernandez, who completed his eligibility last season after leading the Marauders to the OIA Division II championship.

“He’s our version of (former UH quarterback) Michael Carter,” Saturnio said of Matautia during the summer.“He’s built the same way.

He has the ability to throw a nice ball,and he basically gives you a running back at the quarterback position.”

While both teams exchanged game film last month (“We know what they do, and they know what we do,” Saturnio said), there still figure to be plenty of unknowns on Friday.Westlake lost all but two starters from last year’s defense, and Benkert noted that the Warriors won’t see the Wing-T formation that Waipahu likes to run from for the rest of the season.

“We lost everyone, so that’s our biggest challenge right now,” Saturnio said of his defense.“Last year, we had a lot of three-year starters on defense, and they kept us in games. (The Warriors) offense presents a big challenge for us. They’re very good at what they do, and we don’t see it normally, so it is hard to devote a lot of time to something we won’t see much of. I would imagine they’ll give us some trouble there.We’ve been challenged with it through practice.”

Waipahu was to open its OIA White Conference schedule over the weekend against Waialua.

Contact Jack Danilewicz at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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