Veer Offense Could Take Mustangs Far In OIA Season Play

Wednesday - September 02, 2009
By Jack Danilewicz
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Helping head coach Chris Mellor on the Kalaheo football field are assistant coaches (from left) Darrell Santos, Kaipo McKeague and Chad Gushikuma. Photo by Nathalie Walker, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Even in the years that Kalaheo’s defense has been stout under Chris Mellor, its best defense has often been its veer offense, which has been able to churn out the yardage and keep the clock moving.

As they prepare for Friday’s 7 p.m. homecoming game versus Aiea at Kailua High School, Mellor is hoping for more of the same.

“They have the kind of defense that can cause problems,” he admitted. “They’re big and strong up front and tough in the middle. We match up well with fast teams. We’ll have to control the ball and make the right reads and keep the ball out of their hands.”

Kalaheo is in the midst of a brutal stretch of games that began Aug. 22 with its White Conference opener versus Moanalua, a heart-wrenching 26-22 loss.A game with Kaiser was to follow over the weekend, and Radford is on the plate after Saturday’s prime-time matchup with Aiea. A win over Na Ali’i would be a big boost.


 

“Both of us are competing for playoff spots,” Mellor said. “All the games are big, but we have a lot of tough games early.Aiea has tradition and history, which carries you a long way in young minds.”

The team began last week’s practice for Kaiser with a collective hangover from the Moanalua game. It had led most of the game before conceding two late scores.

“They were bummed out and down in the dumps. We feel like we were the better team, but we have no one to blame but ourselves. They were a tough team, and they came to play, and they did a better job of taking advantage of their opportunities.

“You can always look for silver linings, but we’re a team with high expectations, and it takes awhile for us to shake it off. But we’re moving on.”

More pleasant were Mellor’s recollections of last year’s win over Aiea, a 7-2 defensive gem on the road. Aiea’s offense has done an about-face to date, putting up 24 and 50 points in wins over Roosevelt and Kalani, respectively.

The temporary loss of projected starting quarterback Freddy Taliulu hasn’t slowed Na Ali’i. Backup Chucky Ka’ahanui, who was in a tight battle for the job throughout spring and into the summer workouts,has settled in nicely behind center and rushed for three scores against Kalani. He also went 9-for-18 for 158 yards and an interception in that game.


“They (Aiea) have a good attack, and they’re putting a lot of points on the board,” Mellor said. “We’re really going to have to get in his face and make him earn it. Definitely, we’re going to do what we can to not make things easy for him.”

Aiea also has a good run game with backs Anae Va’a and Otto Titan Salausa sharing the bulk of the carries.

Two-way lineman Lawrence Lagafuaina leads the way in the trenches. He and Api Foumai combine to make up one of the better defensive fronts in the OIA. Both are being pursued by numerous Division I colleges.

Kalaheo is led by two-way standouts Phil Tauai (QB/DB), Eddie Tauai (OL/DL), Edward Atanoa (OL/DL), Jesse Carney (RB/LB) and Elijah Mataele (OL/LB).

Phil Tauai ran for two scores and threw for one in Kalaheo’s opening day win over King Kekaulike. Against Moanalua, he added a pair of scoring tosses.

Mellor has been pleased with both his 43 players and his staff, which includes coaches Sipi Siliga, Chad Gushikuma, Kaipo McKeague and Darrell Santos.

 

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