Sabers Teem With New Blood

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Tumoana Kenessey

One in a series of spring football reports.

With a roster made up mostly of underclassmen, the Campbell football team is assured the distinction of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red West’s “mystery team.”

That would be in terms of personnel, of course. With or without the fresh faces, the Sabers’ style of play is well-known after all.

“It’s no secret - we want to run the ball,” said Sabers head coach Tumoana Kenessey, whose program has thrived with the Wing-T offense. “Running the ball has never been a problem. The more time of possession we have, the better for us. We don’t want to be in a shootout, like we were with Kapolei.”

Although Campbell has always played well physically, contact was limited for much of last week as a precautionary measure. The Sabers held a 45-minute full-contact scrimmage last Wednesday and held briefer scrimmages Thursday and Friday to close out spring practice. Under the OIA’s guidelines, schools were allotted a two-week period to hold 10 practices.

The spring was especially beneficial for Campbell, which will have several newcomers in the starting lineup come August. After moving up to Division I last fall, Campbell finished 3-5 overall (1-5 in the OIA Red West) in 2006. The Sabers, who won both the Division II OIA and State titles in 2004, have made the post-season in four of the past seven years.

Campbell football player Kevin Faller.
Photo by Nathalie Walker,
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“Spring is big for us because it helps us to evaluate and identify what we have and what we don’t have and what we have to do to be successful,” Kenessey said. “We’re a young team, and it shows in our practices. It takes some time for them to get used to the speed they’ll face (at the varsity level), and your young kids have to dedicate time in the weight room and transfer that to the football field.”

In most years, the MVP of the Campbell team is the Sabers’offensive scheme itself - the Wing T. The Sabers’ junior varsity team also runs the same offense, making for a smooth transition for players moving from the JV to the varsity level.

“They have familiarity with the system, so it’s a matter of adjusting to the speed,” Kenessey said. “We still believe in it (the Wing-T). We’re always tweaking it a little bit every year.”

Although 72 players took part in the spring, depth is a question mark as the Sabers head into their summer passing leagues, according to Kenessey.

“Defensively, we have a lot of linebackers and defensive backs. Offensively, we have 12 receivers and 10 running backs, but we have very few linemen. Our problem is that we don’t have enough depth in the right areas. That’s our challenge.

“We’ll have to re-evaluate our personnel. I’m not big on two-way players. We don’t believe in it. We’re better off if we can avoid training a player at two positions, but we’ll do it if we have to.”

In the area of athleticism, Kenessey sees the Sabers holding their own. “We’re quicker and faster overall, and we’re ahead of where we were at this time last year.”