Bye Week Draws Knights Closer, Stronger For Kahuku Game

Wednesday - October 07, 2009
By Jack Danilewicz
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Castle High defensive back Lowen Rogers. Photo by Nathalie Walker, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

As the old adage goes, it’s all about how you respond - to adversity, that is.

Indeed, going into their bye week with a bitter taste in their mouths - from losses to Farrington and Roosevelt - wasn’t what Castle defensive back Lowen Rogers and his teammates had in mind for this fall, not after impressive wins over Iolani, McKinley and Kaimuki to begin the season.

Some problems can be waited out; others have to be worked out. In Castle’s case, the problem was diagnosed quickly.

“The bye week came at a good time for us,“Rogers said. “It allowed us to become closer as a team and to work on fundamentals. We’re playing for each other more now rather than for ourselves. It was a problem even before the Roosevelt game, and it causes us to make mental mistakes and breakdowns.”

Added Shaydon Kehano, a safety and wide receiver:“I felt like the bye week was meant to be. We felt like we weren’t playing like a team before those two losses, and we talked to the team every day about what we needed to do and encouraged everybody. It showed during McKinley week ( a 41-14 win), and now we hope we can carry on.”


 

At 2-2 heading into the weekend, Rogers and the Knights are nevertheless positioned to make plenty of noise in the OIA Red East Division in the season’s closing weeks as they prepare for a visit from Kahuku Friday night. Castle was to play rival Kailua in “The Hammer” game over the weekend, so an added challenge for the Knights will be to maintain the focus this week that they brought to practice in preparing for Kailua.

Matching the emotion of the opposition doesn’t figure to be a problem this week, according to Rogers, whose workmanlike approach makes him a natural leader.“This is the important part of the season. They are two tough teams, but we really need these wins to help (our seeding) for the playoffs. We have to train hard.”

At 5-7, 145-pounds, Rogers is a blur on the field with his speed and quickness. In the locker room and off the field, he’s a positive influence, according to coach Nelson Maeda, whose off-season weight training and conditioning is a huge part of the overall program.

“Lowen is a great kid,” Maeda said, “an excellent student, a superb two-way athlete, and he was voted position leader by his peers.”

Added Shaydon Kehano, OIA Red East Offensive Player of the Year in 2008: “Lowen brings a lot of character to the team. He motivates everyone by trying his best, and he brings intensity.”

Rogers has started every game to date going back to his junior year. He missed the pre-season game at Pearl City with a hip injury Aug. 15, but quickly regained the form of his junior year and has been a steadying presence in a talented secondary that also features Hans Reppuhn, Moses Alimoot and Layne Suyat, in addition to Kehano at varying times.

“We have a mean defense,” Rogers said.“We just have to stick to our assignments and have everybody do their job. Against Roosevelt, we didn’t bring our ‘A’ game. We were not as prepared as we usually are.”


While key matchups will take place in the trenches as always, the matchup between Castle’s secondary and Kahuku’s receivers should also figure big in Friday’s game. The Red Raiders have expanded their offensive package this year to include more one-back sets with four receivers in contrast to the pro set they employed for so long.

“I’ve been watching them, and the thing that’s impressed me is how they’re starting to throw the ball,” Kehano said. “They’re big and aggressive. It’s going to be a good game. There will be a lot of hitting.”

For Rogers, there was no direct line to football. He didn’t play Pop Warner, and he never played any other sports. “I mostly just played football at the park with my friends. When I got to Castle, an uncle talked to me (about playing), and I looked up to the older guys, guys who were better than me like Corey Paredes (now at UH), who is the brother of my friend Garret.”

Off of the field, Rogers plays the ukulele and guitar. “It’s football and school first,” he said,“but I still play in my free time. I play songs I hear on the radio or old Hawaiian music. Music is just a hobby on the side.”

He hopes to be playing a happy tune Friday night.

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