Castle Knights Dig In To Face ‘Formidable’ Mustangs
By Jack Danilewicz
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Geography alone would normally make Friday night’s matchup of Castle and Kalaheo a “Red Letter” game on both schools’ schedules, but with Kalaheo’s surprising start this fall, the stakes seem higher this time. (Game is at 7 p.m. at Kailua.)
Indeed, the game suddenly looms large in the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s Red East Conference race as well.
“It’s a rivalry that is growing,” Castle High football coach Nelson Maeda admitted. “They’re a very formidable foe, a much-improved team. They’re well-coached, and they have a lot of experience. Both teams will be looking forward to it.
“The schools are less than two miles apart, so they won’t need any added motivation. We’ll have to play our best to give them a game.”
With wins over Iolani and Moanalua (to go with a 43-0 pre-season rout of Nanakuli), the Mustangs already have established themselves as the “feel good” story of the early season.
But a win over Castle, which has been one of the top teams in the East Red in recent years, would solidify Kalaheo’s return to the high-rent district of prep football.
For their part, the Knights are “moving in the right direction,” according to Maeda, whose team lost to Mililani (pre-season) and Kamehameha (inter-league play) the first two weeks of the play before earning a workmanlike 14-10 win over McKinley in their East Red opener Sept. 1.
“It was a very good win for us,” Maeda said. “As big and athletic as they were, we did well against them. It was very gratifying to squeak out a win.
“Our defense did a much better job. We bent, but we only broke once, on a long run, and it was great to hold them to seven points.”
Should the Knights hold Kalaheo to a mere touchdown this week, Maeda would undoubtedly be pleased, given the kind of production the Mustang offense has enjoyed so far under senior quarterback Cody von Appen. A three-year starter, von Appen’s all-around skills were very much on display in the Sept. 1 win over Moanalua, when he threw for 191 yards and ran for three scores.
The week before, he fueled Kalaheo’s win over Iolani with several clutch runs in the fourth quarter.
“He presents a lot of challenges,” Maeda said.“He’s not just a good field general, he can throw. And he’s an excellent running quarterback who’s very elusive, and a good scrambler as well.
“He makes their offense click. And they have receivers, like Bruce Andrews, who are catching everything that comes their way.”
Kalaheo also features a trio of talented running backs in Phip Taui, Max Karsten and Larry Soto.
The Knights counter with a defense that is led by two-way standout Solomon Koehler, one of the country’s most sought-after recruits among defensive linemen.
“He’s been doing a great job in the trenches on both sides of the ball,” Maeda said of Koehler, who is 6-foot-2, 305 pounds.
Koehler will rely on a supporting cast that has been hit hard by injuries, as slotback Chauncey Kruse, linebacker/kicker Mitchell Lum and two-way linemen Joe Kaahu were all lost for the season recently.
“We’ve had some key injuries, so we’re having to regroup and fill the void. We hope to go into the Kalaheo game relatively healthy.”
In addition to Koehler, Maeda has also praised the play of line-backers Kawehi Sablan and Taouli Maae, as well as Thomas Ilae and Kaua Olds in the secondary. Olds returned an interception for big yardage in Castle’s win over McKinley.
For all its concerns about containing von Appen and the Kalaheo offense, however, Castle’s best defense may be its own offense - if the Knights can possess the ball and keep the Mustang offense off the field.
“We need to help our defense out and control the ball, and we need to be a little more consistent. McKinley was able to run 70 plays against us, while we had 50.”
The emergence of running back Devin Spotkaeff and wide receiver Breyden Torres has also helped pump life into the Knights’ offense, while Castle has rotated a pair of quarterbacks in Ilae and Blake Rapozo so far this season.
With Ilae nursing a minor injury, Rapozo is the likely starter for Saturday with Ilae drawing playing time at receiver, according to Maeda.
Both Castle and Kalaheo were in action over the weekend. Kalaheo was to visit defending state champion Kahuku, while Castle was to meet Moanalua.
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