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Mules Host Waianae For Homecoming

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For the Leilehua football team, a greater challenge awaits them this week than the stiff competition they face in a stellar Waianae defense on Friday night: The temptation to be side-tracked by the Mules Homecoming Week.

“The kids need to be focused on football,” head coach Nolan Tokuda said. “During homecoming week, the kids are always involved in other things. When I played at Aiea, football players weren’t even allowed to participate in the parade. We want them to enjoy it (the week), but let’s not forget that later on that day, we have to put on the green-and-gold uniform.

“The kids will be up (emotionally) the whole week,” added Tokuda, who is 2-0 for homecoming games at Leilehua, “but you can waste all that energy on other stuff.”

The prospect of playing a good Waianae team could help the Mules retain their focus. The Seariders got everyone’s attention Sept. 1 when they dominated defending OIA Red West champion Mililani in a 28-13 victory before a statewide TV audience. Besides solid execution, they also displayed a fair share of mental toughness, answering what had seemed a momentum-turning scoring drive in the second half by Mililani with a decisive drive of their own.

“They are physical - they’re the Waianae of old,” admitted Tokuda.“They’ll hit you in the mouth from the first to the last, and their defense flies to the football. The last three years they’ve run a 3-4, but now they’re running a 4-3. The defensive match-up in the pits (trenches) between our line and their O-line will be big. It will be a long night for us if we don’t win that battle.”

For their part, the Mules have benefited from a tough pre-season schedule that saw them play Kailua from the Red East as well as perennial powerhouse Saint Louis of the ILH. While Tokuda said the physical nature of the Saint Louis encounter resulted in a rash of nagging injuries, he wouldn’t trade the Mules’ non-conference slate with any team.

“The Saint Louis game exposed some things, and that’s helped us. You grow when you play against physical teams like that. Athleticism-wise, Saint Louis is one of the best teams anyone will face.”

The Mules rebounded Sept. 2 from the Saint Louis game in impressive fashion to beat Radford 37-19, holding the Rams to just 37 total yards through three quarters.

“When you can shut down a team like Radford, that’s making a statement,” Tokuda said. “They lost some studs (to graduation), but they still have a lot of guys who can play. The game also gave us a chance to rest some of the guys (recovering from injuries) because we substituted (freely in the fourth quarter). I’m excited about our potential.”

Leilehua’s strong suit against a physical Searider defense could be its versatility, led by senior quarterback Bryant Moniz, who is one of the state’s most capable at his position.

Now in his third year in the system, Moniz’s knowledge of the Leilehua offense has enabled him to change plays at the line of scrimmage as much as 40 percent of the time in some games, depending on the opposition and the game situation, his coach said.

“It’s been nice to see him grow,” Tokuda added.“It’s like me being in the huddle. He’s like a coach on the field. When teams load up (the box), it’s nice to have a Bryant Moniz because he can change the blocking schemes (at the line of scrimmage). He’s learned a lot about opposing defenses.”

In Waianae, the Mule defense will face a team that operates the wing-T offense with precision. The Seariders set the tone early in their win over Mililani, converting a quick-post route into a 72-yard scoring play from Nathan Malaki to Ben McQuown on their first offensive play.

“Their offense is all about deception,” Tokuda said. “They can catch you off-guard because they mix it up really well. They always have their guards pulling.

We’re a pursuit(-oriented), gang-tackling type team, so we have to be able to stay disciplined and stay home (in position).”

Slow starts plagued the Mules in their games with Kailua and Saint Louis, but Tokuda is hopeful that’s all in the past. Leilehua seized control of the Radford game early, taking a 17-0 lead.

“The Radford game was kind of our ‘coming out’ party,” Tokuda said.“We needed to come out and jump on the other team.”

“We’re progressing. We haven’t peaked yet, but we don’t want to peak too soon and fizzle out at the end.”