Knights Working On Football Rebound

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Nelson Maeda

While Castle High’s 2006 football season may have ended over 10 months ago, it’s still fresh in the collective minds of the Knights. The silver lining in their 3-6 season was the sense of urgency the Knights took into their off-season weight training and conditioning program as a result.

“We’re looking to rebound,” coach Nelson Maeda said. “Last year was a huge disappointment for everyone involved with our program as well as our community. We didn’t feel good about not competing for the full four quarters in games. We were very inconsistent as a whole. We’d always taken pride in our discipline, but last year we took a couple of steps backward.”

On Monday, Castle can officially put last year to rest when the Knights begin fall camp for the 2007 season.

Maeda has known few lean seasons during his tenure at Castle.

Before 2006 (finishing 3-4 in Red East play), Castle had gone a combined 11-1 versus their Oahu Interscholastic Association East Red rivals the previous two years, earning Maeda back-to-back Coach of the Year awards in 2004 and 2005. So recent history certainly provides encouragement for the Knights in their quest to once again be a factor in the league race.

Castle returns 21 lettermen from a year ago, highlighted by two-way standout Solomon Koehler, who is currently among the most sought-after recruits in the West at his position, according to recruiting analysts. At 6-foot-2, 315 pounds, Koehler could be the most dominant player in years to compete for the Knights, who have always been known more for getting the most out of undersized players.

“Solomon is very athletic, and he runs well,” Maeda said. “Our strength will be in the line, where we have a lot of people back for the first time in a while. We’re a little bigger than in the past.”

Defense will also benefit from the return of two-way lineman Tauoli Maae and

Kawehi Sablan, who may be the next in a long list of stellar line-backers tutored by the school’s assistant coach Harry Paaga.

“Sablan is very instinctive, a very physical player,” Maeda said of Sablan, who will play both ways. “He has all of the attributes you look for in a linebacker. We’re anticipating good things from him. As a running back, he has a good feel for his blockers, and he has good vision.”

While the team figures to look to their defense to set the tone early-on this season, Castle’s offense will have its share of fresh faces, including at quarterback, where senior Thomas Ilae and junior Blake Rapozo are vying for the job. Ilae is coming off a junior season in which he appeared in only one game because of injuries, but he was the starting quarterback for Castle’s junior varsity in 2005 and could have an impact if he can stay healthy. Rapozo has taken all of the snaps in Castle’s 7-on-7 scrimmages, and his development may allow Castle to take advantage of Ilae’s talents elsewhere, according to Maeda.

“You may see them on the field at the same time. We want to try and get the best 11 people on the field. Thomas can play a lot of different positions. As a quarterback, he’s very versatile and a great runner in the open field.

“Blake is more of a passing quarterback. He puts a nice touch on the ball, and he’s made good progress in understanding our passing game. He’s gotten quite a bit of repetitions this summer.”

In recent weeks, Castle has been involved in 7-on-7 pass scrimmages before beginning the mandatory break from football on July 20 that is required by the Hawaii High School Athletic Association. Although 7-on-7 passing scrimmages are without contact, they allowed the Knights to “get our timing down,” Maeda said.“We run a lot of ‘read’ routes, where the receiver has to read the defense (and run his route based on the defense).

“The focus this summer has been on the passing game and on pass defense. Next week, we’ll switch more toward (working on) the run game. We can’t be a three(plays)-and-out offense. We have to give our defense a chance to recover.”

The 2007 schedule ensures that Maeda’s team will be tested early. The Knights open the pre-season with games against Mililani Aug. 17 and Kamehameha Aug. 24.