Impressive Play Steps Up Lopati’s Football Career
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usOne play may not make a season - certainly not in a mere scrimmage - but it can certainly alter a career.
Kapolei High coach Darren Hernandez was already expecting junior Chad Lopati to have a “break-through"season after enduring an injury-plagued campaign as a sophomore that saw him make his mark nevertheless.After watching him turn a busted play (on a punt attempt) into a 95-yard touchdown against Castle in a scrimmage recently, Hernandez decided to expand Lopati’s role.
“We thought he had a chance to run for the first down,“Hernandez said of Lopati’s run. “Then he cut back, and they couldn’t catch him. We were like ‘wow’! As a new wrinkle, we’re going to use him in short yardage situations (on offense). He’s a load at 6-2, 235 (pounds), and he’s one of the fastest guys on the team with a 4.6 (time in the) 40(-yard dash). We were looking for a banger, so we think he’ll do well for us in the Red Zone.”
Lopati is a defensive-end/line-backer in Kapolei’s 3-4 defense. A year ago, nagging injuries allowed him to dress for only four games, but he still managed a pair of interceptions, five sacks and six tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
“He’s a play-maker,” said Hernandez, whose team opens its regular season at 6:30 p.m. Friday versus McKinley at Roosevelt stadium.“He’s been flying under the radar until now.”
For his part, Lopati is embracing the chance to carry the ball for the offense.“He was excited about it when I told him,“Hernandez said. “He just wants to play football.Any opportunity he can get on the field, he’ll take.”
Lopati and his teammates will be looking for a measure of revenge Friday night, having lost 28-14 to the Tigers last season, a game that, in retrospect, may have turned both schools’ respective seasons. McKinley went on to a breakthrough season that included a playoff appearance under then-first-year coach Bobby Grey as well as a regular-season upset over eventual state champion Kahuku. Conversely, the Hurricanes were slow out of the gate last year before a late run helped them make the post-season.
“All excuses aside, they took it to us last year,” Hernandez said of McKinley.“They were very talented, physically. They’ve lost some good seniors (to graduation), but they still return a nice nucleus, and their junior varsity team was outstanding, so we expect them to be even better this year.”
Defense was McKinley’s forte last year. Like the Hurricanes, the Tigers employ a 4-3 defense.
“They have a very aggressive and fast defense,“Hernandez admitted. “They fly around to the ball quickly.They have the kind of people who can run you down from behind. We’ll have to execute very well on offense.”
Senior quarterback Mason Koa leads the way for a Hurricane offense that also features receivers Nate Dixon, Gen Priest, Chase Alcott and Shenon Moore in addition to Aki.
“(Mason) Koa acquitted himself very well in our scrimmage, throwing for a touchdown, running for a touchdown and catching a touch-down pass,” Hernandez said. “He was a triple-threat.
“The offense is coming along.We were clicking in our scrimmage against Castle. What I like is that they’ve all had their moments, and it hasn’t just been one (go-to guy).”
Defensively, the Hurricanes are led by linemen Trent Nakata and Othaniel Maiava, linebackers Cyril Ontai and Tim Brown, and Kalae Parish and strong safety Keliiholokai Aki in the secondary.
In The Spotlight: Exposure is at an all-time high for the Kapolei program. The Hurricanes made a state-best five TV appearances on OC-16 last fall, and their pre-season game with Damien over the weekend was also shown. Still ahead, Kapolei plays televised games versus Aiea Sept. 8 and Mililani Sept. 15.
Contact Jack Danilewicz at{encode="jackster.1969@yahoo.com" title=" .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)"}
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