Mustangs To Play Kekaulike
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usKalaheo head football coach Chris Mellor went deep into his Rolodex recently to line up an opponent for this weekend.And while the team may have given up a home game in the deal, no one is complaining around campus - especially among the players, who will face King Kekaulike Friday night.
They were scheduled to play Big Island Interscholastic Federation foe Kohala at Kailua High Saturday night, but their opponent had to cancel because their roster was too small. That set Mellor to work on the administrative end.
“We just looked around and struggled to find a game,” said Mellor, whose team went 7-3 in the OIA White Conference in 2008.“I think I called every school in the state. We didn’t want our boys to miss out on an opportunity to play a game.”
Travel is not new to the Mustangs. They traveled to Moraga, Calif. and the Saint Mary’s campus to take part in a football camp with seven other high schools last month. That trip, which was paid for by fundraising, cost $32,000. While he acknowledged that the program will have to come up with more funding, the change in venue and schedule for week one will likely work in Kalaheo’s favor, given the increase in cohesiveness that often goes with travel. Moreover, King Kekaulike, which won a Division II state championship in 2006, has been a far more successful program than Kohala.
“We don’t know much about them yet, but we hear they’re good,” he said.
Mellor is perhaps more comforted by the number of veterans on his two-deep roster. “Experience is everything in high school football.We have a lot of key players back. These kids have never known another system, so it’s pretty much a continuation of what we did last year. Our team is comparable to last year’s. We did well in competing with the other schools in California, and we seem to be clicking on all cylinders right now.”
Senior quarterback/free safety Phil Tauai leads the way with his play on both sides of the ball. A threat with his feet and arm, Tauai will be the centerpiece in the split-back, veer offense.
“His experience is huge - he’s been there before,” Mellor said of the third-year varsity starter. “He’s just a good all-around kid. He could play anywhere (on the field), and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was our leading tackler.”
Tauai’s brother Eddie also is back and will play running back and linebacker, while tight end/linebacker Eki Atanoa gives the Mustangs another game-breaker on offense.
Kalaheo also is eyeing big things for Eki’s younger brother, lineman Sua Atanoa, who will become the first player of the Mellor era to start both ways as a freshman this weekend.
Defensively,the Mustangs feel good about their overall speed. “We’ll definitely have one of the faster teams around,” said Mellor,“although we’re not too big. The kids have a good understanding of our system, and we’re always diligent in studying our opponents.”
Kalaheo also returns veterans Jesse Carney, Zach Lovelace, Torin Kringel and Elijah Mataele, as well as place-kicker Don Woo Kim, an exchange student from Korea, who is coming off a solid junior season that saw him place among the state’s scoring leaders.
“He came in a little rusty, but yesterday he was booming 50-yarders,“Mellor said.“He practices hard. He definitely has the (leg) strength to be one of the premier kickers in the state.”
On the heels of the Maui trip, Kalaheo goes to Moanalua Aug. 21 for its OIA White Conference Opener. Their first home game is Aug. 28 versus Kaiser at Kailua High School.
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