Hawaii Grown: College Athletics
Al Chase
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Northwest honors for 6 isle players
Six Hawaii players have been named to the 2006 All-Northwest Conference football team.
» Josh Vierra (Kamehameha '03), a 5-foot-10, 180-pound junior wide receiver for the Linfield Wildcats, was a first team choice.
Vierra caught 35 passes for 631 yards (18 yards per catch) and five touchdowns. He caught a 2-point conversion to give him 32 points, third-best on the team. Vierra also returned 18 punts for 121 yards and one kickoff for 21 yards.
» Keone Tawata (Radford '03), a 5-11, 200-pound junior defensive back for Linfield, was a first-team pick.
Tawata led the Wildcats with 69 tackles, 28 solo and 41 assisted. He intercepted two passes and returned them for a combined 51 yards, broke up two passes, recovered a fumble and had 2.5 tackles for a loss of nine yards.
» Asti Merino (Kamehameha '04), a 5-10, 197-pound linebacker for Menlo, was named to the second team.
He led the Oaks with 65 tackles, 35 solo, 30 assisted, had 10 stops for 46 yards lost, four sacks and recovered a fumble.
» Offensive linemen Levi Wyman (Aiea '03), a 6-foot, 243-pound junior for the conference champion Whitworth Pirates, was an honorable-mention pick.
» Sterling Ohia (Aiea '04) a 5-11, 270-pound junior at Menlo, was another honorable-mention selection.
» Nik Soo (Kamehameha '03) a 6-foot, 250 defensive lineman for Linfield, was also an honorable-mention pick.
Five players earned honors elsewhere:
» Tavo Tupola (Kahuku '99) has been named to the All-Mountain West Conference first team. The 6-4, 300-pound senior left tackle for Utah was the Utes' only first-team offensive player.
» Frank Fernandez (Saint Louis '03) is an All-Ivy League first-team selection. The 6-2, 285-pound senior has been the starting center for the Harvard Crimson since the fifth game of his sophomore season.
» Jordon Dizon (Waimea '04), a 6-foot, 225-pound inside linebacker for Colorado, was an honorable mention All-Big 12 Conference selection. The junior led the Buffaloes with 139 tackles (80 solo, 39 assisted) and had four sacks for 26 yards lost. He was on the field for the more plays (679) than any other Buff defender.
Brian Cabral (Saint Louis '74) is Colorado's inside linebackers coach.
» Tevita Williams (Damien '04), a 6-4, 200-pound defensive back for Missouri Valley College, was an All-Heart of America Conference second-team selection. The Vikings won the league title with an 11-0 record.
Williams had 42 solo and 10 assisted tackles.
» Albert Distajo (Nanakuli '04), a 5-9, 175-pound sophomore linebacker, was named to the All-Frontier League second-team defense. Distajo led the Montana-Western Bulldogs and finished second in the conference in tackles with 38 solo and 60 assisted tackles. He had one interception.
Three others turned in solid seasons elsewhere:
» Todd Kane (Kauai '05), a 5-9, 160-pound sophomore linebacker, played eight games for the NCAA Division III MIT Engineers (2-7). He made five solo tackles, assisted on three others and recovered one fumble.
» David Lautolo (Aiea) played in eight games for the NCAA Division II New Mexico Highlands Cowboys. The 5-11, 240-pound junior linebacker had 10 solo and six assisted tackles. He had 6.5 tackles for a loss of 17 yards and recovered one fumble.
» Alex Smith (Kaahumanu Hou Christian), a 6-1, 220-pound senior defensive tackle, suffered a shoulder injury in the fourth week. He managed six tackles in six games for the Evangel (Springfield, Mo.) Crusaders, an NAIA school.