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Linebacker Lum Thrives In The Trenches For Knights

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Castle High School senior Mitchell Lum runs the ball at football practice. Photo by Byron Lee, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

For Castle High’s Mitchell Lum, homecoming week - at least from Monday morning until about 7 p.m. Friday anyway - will come and go with little to distinguish it from any other. Just the way he likes it.

“As a football player, my part of homecoming is the football game,” said Lum, a senior and one of the leaders of a stout Castle defense. “That’s what I’m concentrating on.”

Indeed, for all the excitement that goes with homecoming week, it can also create new worries for coaches, who would like to steer their teams away from the outside distractions. In Lum’s case, another incentive lurks underneath the surface. Friday night’s homecoming showdown with McKinley will be the last home game for him and his fellow seniors.

“I don’t want to be remembered as having lost on home-coming,” Lum said. “I want to win and keep the celebration going on all week.”

If anything, a win over the Tigers would strengthen the Knights’ chance of securing a favorable seed in the OIA playoffs. Castle also has arguably its two biggest games remaining with Kailua and Kahuku in the next couple of weeks, making for an exciting period for the Knights Nation. Lum wouldn’t have it any other way. Asked if his four years at Castle have gone by fast, he will answer without hesitation: “Real fast - in a heartbeat.”

It is often considered a mission of the team’s underclassmen to send the seniors off the right way on the evening of their final home game, but Lum isn’t taking any chances. His presence and leadership helps the Knights to stay the course during a long season, according to coach Nelson Maeda, and he’s set to do his part on Friday night.

“He’s been instrumental to our season,” said Maeda, whose team takes a 2-1 record in the OIA Red East into Friday’s game. “He’s a quiet leader by example.”

Lum is one of a solid group of two-way players for the Knights, also sharing the rushing load on the offensive side of the ball with fellow running backs Kawehi Sablan and Garrett Paredes. A fierce runner when he’s carrying the ball, Lum’s mean streak on the field might be better geared to the defensive side.

“Defense is fun,” Lum said. “I’d rather cream somebody than get creamed. I love to hit and stuff the running back in the hole. Defense is not as showy, but your teammates appreciate it (good defense) a lot more.”

The Knights are giving up 14.2 points per game through three league outings, defensively.

“So far, I think the defense has held its own,” he said. “(Defensive coordinator) coach Harry (Paaga) is great. I had him all four years, and I feel like he prepares us for the next level. He coaches us to play as a team and rally to the ball. It feels good to play for him and know I have a good coach. He’s turned out a lot of all-state players like Corey (Paredes) and Blaze (Soares).”

Playing fast is always the goal of the Castle defense, according to Lum, whose older brother Chris also was a linebacker in the program in recent years.

“Coach likes to say we live and die with the blitz,” Lum said. “(Paaga) coaches us on speed, which helps us a lot. I only run a slow 4.6 in the 40 (-yard dash) or a fast 4.7, but on the field, it’s different. You have to react, and Harry teaches us a lot of that.”

Lum, who played a year of Pop Warner with the Kaneohe Knights in eighth grade, was a defensive back/wide receiver his freshman year on Castle’s JV team before being switched to his current positions of line-backer and running back.

“The coaches bred me into those positions, and I’ve grown into them.” Watching brother Chris also fueled Mitchell’s interest in football. Younger brother Daniel is also a line-backer on the Castle JV team.

“Football is a big part (of family life). I played football to have something in common with him. It’s something we have to talk about and something we can work together on.

“I’m involved in my church, the Boy Scouts - I’m going to be an Eagle Scout in the next couple of months - and I try to go to the beach when I can,” he added, “but it’s pretty much (all) sports with me.”

In addition to football, Lum also does track and field at Castle, as a sprinter and discus thrower. He wrestled through his sophomore year only to switch to swimming during the winter season of his junior year. This time around, he isn’t sure which sport he’ll play. A decision on where he will attend college is also part of the nottoo-distant-future for Lum, who would like to play football at the next level.

“If that’s an option, I’ll take it.”

For the present, his focus is all on Castle’s homecoming - the game, that is.