Big Island Team Prepares To Face Strong Red Raider Squad
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usIn Gary Clark’s view, running a premier program means having a premier schedule. As the Kealakehe head coach prepared to bring his team to Oahu this Saturday an evening game versus Kahuku, he made sure that his team was well-aware that its opening opponent is among the most coveted when it comes to scheduling.
“It’s always been our vision to play good football teams, so we want to schedule the best schools we can find,“said Clark. “We don’t have the competitive teams like Oahu, so it is certainly to our benefit to play Kahuku, no matter what the score.”
In fact, all signs point to a competitive game at 6 p.m. on the field at Castle High, which will host the event. The Waveriders are the Big Island’s version of, well, Kahuku, with a resume that includes six straight state tournament berths, including last season when they took an 8-0 record into their first-round game with Farrington.Although the school was later stripped of its BIIF Crown due to a clerical error regarding a player’s eligibility, that was seen as a speed bump in the road.
Since both schools are regular participants in the state tournament, they are not as foreign to each other as teams from different Islands might normally be. It just adds to the intrigue surrounding the matchup. Moreover, Clark played his own high school ball at Leilehua and was head coach at Aiea in the ‘80s.
As was the case then, he sees defending the Kahuku run game as the first key to getting a chance to win on Saturday night. “Kahuku is Kahuku - they’re always going to do the things that they do,“he said.“It’s no secret - if we can’t stop the run game, we’re not going to be in the game. That’s their strength, and they’re going to want to use their strength.”
For their part, the Waveriders’ best defense may be their offense. Kealakehe is one of the most proficient at the spread offense and making opposing teams win individual battles in space.
“We don’t want them to have the football - we have to limit the time they have the ball,” he explained. “We’re a pass team first, and we want to spread it out. If they take away the pass, we need to be able to run. If they stop the run, hopefully we can pass. Our goal is to move the chains down the field.”
Kahuku will counter with what figures to be a stellar defense, led by major college prospects Kona Schwenke and Hauoli Jamora up front.
While it’s one of the marquee matchups of the non-conference slate in prep football,Clark is “keeping it in perspective for the kids and not looking too far ahead.” Anything can happen in Week One, he said. Even with knowledge of Kahuku’s tendencies, the Waveriders have focused on their attention to detail.
“I’m sure there will be mistakes made by both teams,” Clark said.“Against a team like that, your weaknesses are magnified, and those things we can work on for the rest of the year. That’s certainly our focus. We want to make sure we can run, tackle and block - that’s the name of the game. We have to have the basics down.”
Kahuku follows up this weekend’s game against Kealakehe with a much-anticipated game against Punahou Aug. 22 at Aloha Stadium. In other weekend action, Castle visits Pearl City Friday, and Kailua plays Baldwin Saturday on Mauit. Both Castle and Kailua will play their home openers Aug. 21. The Knights host defending Division II state champion Iolani, while Kamehameha visits Kailua that night.
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