PREP FOOTBALL
Te’o piles up more honors
One door opens, and then another, and another.
For Manti Te'o, it was another award. The Punahou School senior was voted top linebacker in the All-Poly Football Camp yesterday at Bountiful High School in Utah.
More than 50 volunteer coaches - all from the college ranks - instructed athletes from across the nation at the three-day camp. The coaches then selected top players at each position, including Te'o and Farrington defensive end V.J. Fehoko.
Te'o, with 29 scholarship offers at last count, was not a surprise selection. Fehoko, who will be a junior this fall, certainly was. The 6-foot, 215-pound Governor simply outplayed older players.
"He was definitely a standout. You can't judge that kid from his height, no way," camp director Alema Te'o said last night. "There's no way you can leave him alone. The intensity level that he brought, the guy's just gifted."
Fehoko was among nearly 50 players from Hawaii at the camp. Projected as an outside linebacker at the next level, Fehoko's performance at the All-Poly camp opened doors in a big way. Oral scholarship offers came from BYU, Boise State, Colorado, Stanford, Texas Tech, UCLA and Utah.
The camp, in its fifth year, began with a combine on Thursday. Full contact in pads was a part of each day's activities.
"There's a lot of competition, but I'm not surprised," said Fehoko, whose older brothers Whitley and Sam were Star-Bulletin All-State picks. "I feel good. I worked hard for this, and there's more to come."
Alema Te'o wasn't surprised with the coaches' selections.
"We had some very good linebackers. Overall, that might have been our strongest position," he said. "Manti and V.J. are likable kids. Mild-mannered, great kids to be around. On the field, the beast comes out in those boys and they're animals."
Two factors that make the All-Poly camp intriguing to recruiters are constant contact and adjusting on the fly.
"A lot of kids fall through the cracks because they're so used to what their schools run," Fehoko noted.