Hurricanes Face Key Game Friday
By Jack Danilewicz
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For the Kapolei football team,this week is all about getting into position to get into position - for the post-season, that is.
Along the way,the Hurricanes also are hoping to add another milestone to their growing football tradition - a first-ever win over Mililani, which has swept all four matchups between the schools since they began meeting in 2004. And if Kapolei head coach Darren Hernandez didn’t already have enough to sell his team on this week in their dayto-day preparations, Friday night’s contest with the Trojans also is senior night, with 15 Hurricanes set to make their final home appearance.
Aside from sending a talented senior class out the right way, Kapolei’s larger goal this week is to secure a better seed before the OIA playoffs.
“Mililani is absolutely huge in terms of seeding,“said Hernandez, whose team took a 2-2 record in OIA Red West play into their game with Pearl City last weekend. “A lot depends on what happens. Leilehua looks strong right now,and Waianae looks like maybe the second-best team in the West.Positions three, four and five may be up to Waipahu, Mililani and Kapolei.”
A strong post-season run would more than make up for what has been an “up and down"2008 campaign for the team, in the mind of its coach. For added inspiration, Kapolei need only look at fellow division member Leilehua, which had an up-and-down 2007 regular season before running the table en route to the school’s first-ever state title last November. The Mules hadn’t lost since heading into last weekend’s game with Waianae, stringing together 11 victories in a row.
“It’s a new season in the playoffs,” Hernandez said.“Leilehua squeezed in as a last seed last year before making its run, and, hopefully, we can be that type of team.”
A win over the Trojans would also give the Hurricanes yet another signature victory.Last October,Kapolei beat Kahuku for the first time in an OIA playoff game. Two years ago, Kapolei recorded a first-ever win over then-West regular-season champion Waianae.
For their part, the Trojans have been coming along after battling arguably one of the toughest schedules in the state for the first month of the season when they played Castle, Saint Louis, Leilehua and Waipahu.
Mililani, which took a 2-1 record into last weekend’s game at home against Nanakuli, also features one of the state’s most exciting players in all-around specialist Taz Stevenson. Stevenson, who is also a track standout for Mililani, does a lot of his damage on special teams as a return man.
“On special teams, not kicking it to him would be part of the game plan,“Hernandez said.“They move him around so much it’s difficult to put one player on him. He creates matchup problems for any team.”
After enduring some injuries earlier in the season, the Hurricanes are the healthiest in a long time, according to Hernandez. Standout linemen Chad Lopati and Luke Spencer are both back in the lineup after missing games with injuries and were key components as Kapolei held off Waipahu in its overtime win Sept. 19.
Linebacker Cyril Ontai II remains the Hurricanes’defensive leader and is having a senior season to remember, most recently collecting 10 solo tackles in the win over Waipahu. Offensively, he rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown on 13 attempts from his fullback position.
Also among the Hurricanes’ points of emphasis for Friday’s game is to win the special teams battle.
“We have to be real solid in the kicking game. Special teams plays have doomed us in the games that we lost.”
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