LOOKS like the University of Hawaii has given local football fans even more reason to watch the preps. Prep Bowl should
draw a big crowdIn fact, when St. Louis and Kahuku finally hook up in the Prep Bowl on Nov. 27, the gatekeepers of the ILH and OIA can expect more than the 25,000 who showed for last weekend's UH-BYU debacle at Aloha Stadium.
Even with cable pay-per-view available, that game will draw -- and draw bigtime.
Never before have two teams nationally ranked in the same season met in the Oahu Prep Bowl.
St. Louis made it to No. 14 in USA Today's "Super 25" before dropping out a few weeks ago. Kahuku is No. 18 again in the poll for the third straight week.
Throw in the $10,000 Hershey's kick at halftime, and there's even more reason to be at the Oahu Prep Bowl.
That was one heck of a war last Friday night between Iolani and St. Louis, and it actually lasted for about three quarters.
Who'd a thunk it?
Don't see too many 77-42 finishes.
It was one of those times I really wished the ILH would allow its games to be televised.
Everyone should've had the chance to watch all-staters Joe Igber (Iolani) and Gerald Welch (St. Louis) lay down tracks.
Igber, the state's all-time rushing leader, gave the Rainbows' coaching staff even more to think about as he sliced through the Crusaders' first-string defense like a butcher's knife.
And make no mistake about it: Even though St. Louis is no longer nationally ranked, the Crusaders' defense remains one of the best in the nation.
SO, chalk up high marks for Igber in maneuverability and acceleration. He earned them with his 204 yards against a defense that was allowing only 45 team rushing yards a game.
Welch and Igber are as different as night and day in their style.
Welch isn't pretty, but he sure makes you want to watch. A lot of emphatic descriptions come to my mind when he grabs a pass in a crowd. Brutal, mean, nasty, and hell-bent are just a few.
Have you ever seen how this 5-foot-9, 190-pounder hangs on to a reception and destroys would-be tacklers en route to the endzone?
Looks like he's running with the bulls in Pamplona.
By the way, next time you see a St. Louis defender make an interception and run it back, watch the blocking he gets. Blocking wins football games, and the Crusaders resemble heat-seeking missiles the way they immediately find their targets to escort a runback.
As a result, Leslie Wong (41 yards) and Enoch McKeague (55 yards) managed touchdowns after their pickoffs last weekend.
IN the game that preceded Iolani-St. Louis, I got a chance to really appreciate what Pac-Five receiver Kris Cuaresma-Primm can do. This is the state high jump champ who is the centerpiece of Don Botelho's relentless passing offense.
No one has to teach him to get up there, hang on, and turn short screen passes into substantial gains. He may not have as much fire pouring from his nostrils as Welch, but Cuaresma-Primm has some definite Division I characteristics.
UH take note. Size, athleticism, vertical leap are just a few. Like Igber, he also has strong academic credentials.
By the way, for those who didn't read the statistics Saturday morning, Pac-Five quarterback Paul Futi threw the football 59 times.
And this kid said his throwing elbow was dislocated last April.
Ouch.
"That's what a quarterback is all about," he said after his 269 yards helped the Wolfpack upset Kamehameha.
Uh-huh. Like I said, Ouch.
Pat Bigold has covered sports for daily newspapers
in Hawaii and Massachusetts since 1978.
