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Wednesday, November 22, 2000
Bulldogs At a high school serving a diverse community, a winning football team can be a unifying force.
or underdogs,
Kaimuki still
tough
Undermanned and overworked,
Kaimuki is a close knit team that
has won and lost together
OIA All-Stars chosen
By Dave Reardon
Star-BulletinAnd unity is one of the few advantages the Kaimuki Bulldogs appear to have as they head into Friday's semifinals of the 2000 Chevron State Football Championships.
"We're very close. Everybody cruises with each other, no matter if you're from Palolo, or Kapahulu. We play basketball together, or we do our homework together," noseguard Kaulana Kaluna said. "It helps us overcome obstacles."
Most of the season they have won together, too. But because of lack of depth and numerous injuries, no one would blame the Bulldogs if they officially changed their nickname to Underdogs.
That's exactly what they are among the final four teams.
Kaimuki (10-3) plays Kahuku (11-2) and defending champion St. Louis (13-0) meets Waianae (12-1) on Friday at Aloha Stadium.
The Red Raiders and Crusaders are both heavy favorites to win and meet a week from Friday in a rematch of last year's inaugural state championship game.
If you play one-of-these-teams-is-not-like-the-others, the Bulldogs stand out from the other three like their bright green and yellow uniforms.
The names of the others come to mind quickly when thinking about the best year after year in Hawaii high school football. While Kaimuki has had a decent team once in awhile, it never did play in the Prep Bowl.Recent history doesn't bode well, either. Kahuku walloped Kaimuki, 60-18, in the regular season, and 40-0 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association tournament (which Kahuku went on to win for the second consecutive year).
The Bulldogs' talent is unquestioned. It's just that Kaimuki has only 41 players compared with 96 for Kahuku, 71 for Waianae and 108 for St. Louis.
And many of those 41 Bulldogs are banged up.
Kaimuki coach Ron Oyama admitted it's a tough task to prepare his team for Kahuku, but said the Bulldogs are far from conceding."It's hard, but these kids have made up their mind," Oyama said. "When they face difficulties they seem to come together.
"In fact, problems seem to spark our club."
Last week's first-round victory at Hilo was a good example. Starting quarterback Jordan Caires did not start due to a shoulder injury. OIA offensive MVP Justin Faimealelei, normally a wide receiver, replaced him.
After injuries sidelined three running backs, Faimealelei moved to running back and Caires went in at quarterback.
Even Kaluna, the defensive star last week with three sacks, had to suck it up. He suffered a bruised wrist."Kaulana's been nicked up all season, but he's a true Bulldog and won't come out," trainer Nat Pada said. "The kids know the situation with the limited numbers, so sometimes they don't disclose their injuries and I have to find out from another source.
"There's been a lot of patchwork. It's been a long season."
If the Bulldogs are to have any chance at all of making it one game longer, they must take care of the ball.
"We point out how many turnovers we had against Kahuku (seven in the playoff game)," Oyama said. "Kahuku has a great defense, so they caused some of them. But some we could prevent.
"Since we've played them two times we know what they will do. I think the familiarity will help us."
In the regular season game, Kaimuki took a 10-0 lead, but it didn't last long.
"They've got depth and great athletes," Oyama said of the Red Raiders. "They're big and fast and that's a deadly combination."
Kahuku placed six players on the OIA Red Division all-star football team, as selected by the league's coaches. OIA All-Stars chosen
Kaimuki's Justin Faimealelei is the Most Valuable Player on offense, and Waianae's Lia Atuatasi was chosen the defensive MVP.
See below for complete first and second teams and honorable mentions for the OIA Red and White Divisions.
