Hau’oli Jamora A Happy Addition To Red Raider Arsenal
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usKahuku football players are never at a loss for role models in the community, given the storied program’s long tradition of turning out Division I college prospects. Asked to name a role model on the field - and off - junior defensive lineman Hau’oli Jamora picked close to home.
“That would be my cousin, Kamalani Alo,” said Jamora. “He works really hard and he’s good.”
This fall, they’re saying the same things about Jamora, who was on Kahuku’s junior varsity at this time last year. By the time of Kahuku’s first game this season, having earned a starting job at the varsity level, Jamora had already established himself in the minds of the coaching staff from his diligence in the off-season.
“It’s his work ethic,“said Kahuku coach Reggie Torres of Jamora’s impact on defense. “During our optional workouts he even called me one day to tell me he couldn’t be there because of a family emergency. I told him the workouts were optional and that he didn’t need to call me, but he’s concerned about it. He wants to be there.”
Jamora, who also competes in judo and wrestling at Kahuku, is the unofficial resident director of the Red Raider weight room and continues preparing for an upcoming opponent on his own in-season, according to Torres.
“He’s the last to leave the weight room, and he watches a lot of film, one-on-one, in addition to what we watch together as a team. That’s what makes him unique. He’s consistent about it. He learns from his mistakes. They bother him. He’s a kid that’s under-the-radar right now (with college recruiters), but he won’t be next year.”
Jamora has been one of the mainstays of a surging Kahuku defense that has rebounded from a disappointing season-opening loss to Kamehameha to become the catalyst for a team that had won six straight games heading into last Friday night’s regular-season finale with Castle. Since losing 35-0 to Kamehameha Aug. 15, the defense has given up only 6.6 points per outing in six games since. Included in that stretch were back-to-back shut-outs against Kealakehe (30-0) and Roosevelt (28-0). “We’ve worked a lot on our speed every week,“Jamora said.“We were slow coming out of that game, but we’ve changed up our defense a little each week for each opponent we challenge, and everyone’s adjusted. The Kamehameha game definitely made us work harder, and the coaches have pushed us to never let that happen again.” Kahuku’s defensive scheme, which shows both a 4-3 and a 3-4 defense at various times, allows Jamora to play on the outside and inside.
“The biggest rush I get out of football is rushing the quarterback, but my strength is the run game,” he said.“I like playing wherever the coaches need me to play as long as it helps the team.
“As a defensive unit, we’re on our game right now,” he added. “We had a lot of key plays versus Farrington, and we’ve had some shut-outs.”
Unlike a lot of his teammates, Jamora didn’t play Pop Warner football as a youth. His first experience with organized football was as a freshman, the same year he also took up judo and wrestling.
“My mom (Dawn) didn’t want me to play at first, but she saw how important it was to me,” he said. “She comes every week now to support me. I always wanted to play for Kahuku since I was a little kid. I love putting the red jersey on and stepping out on our field.”
Although he had a solid sophomore season with the JV, Jamora was surprised to earn a job in the starting lineup back in August.
“I didn’t expect to start, but that was the goal,” he said. “There was a lot of competition, but I worked all summer for it.”
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