Friday, January 1, 1999

Iolani's Igber and St. Louis'
Siofele were the class of high
school football this year

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

It's fun to imagine what Iolani running back Joe Igber's season might have been like if he'd had a bigger line to run behind and a passing game that really worried the defense.

If he was Joe Siofele's teammate at St. Louis, would he have scored 40 touchdowns last season? Would the new state career rushing record be over 5,000 yards?

Very likely.

Offensive Player of the Year
JOE IGBER
Iolani

But the 5-foot-7, 190-pound Igber played for undersized, over-achieving Iolani and made maximum use of his elusive talents to set six state rushing and scoring records.

Three of his offensive linemen weighed less than he does.

Igber is the Star-Bulletin's All-State Offensive player of the Year for the second year in a row.

Siofele, the 6-2, 235-pound Samoan fire-knife dancer who played outside linebacker for the 13-time Oahu Prep Bowl champion Crusaders, is the Defensive Player of the Year.

Joe Igber's records State career rushing mark at 4,472 yards. State record in career touchdowns (56) State record in career points (336) State record in single-season touchdowns (27) State record in single-season points (162) State record for single-game rushing yardage (352 vs. Pac-Five).

Siofele, a two-time all-state selection, put an exclamation mark on a consistently brilliant season by making five tackles for losses in the Prep Bowl and sacking Kahuku's quarterback twice.

Igber established the state career rushing mark at 4,472 yards and missed the state single-season mark by eight yards. He had 2,017.

His other state records are career touchdowns (56), career points (336), single-season touchdowns (27), single-season points (162) and single-game rushing yardage (352 vs. Pac-Five).

"We're always undersized and undermanned, yet Joe put up remarkable numbers," Iolani head coach Wendell Look said.

Defensive Player of the Year
JOE SIOFELE
St. Louis

"He just embodies everything that you want to see in being a great athlete," Punahou head coach Dan Morrison said. "He has the strength, the speed, the quickness and football intelligence."

Igber also is a genuine student-athlete. He shaped a 4.0 grade point average during the fall quarter while he was setting records on the field.

"He epitomizes everything you'd want to have in a young man," said Morrison, who also is a teacher at Punahou. "There are a lot of great athletes in the world, but it's the mature, intelligent ones like Joe Igber who take it to the next couple of levels."

The measure of a running back with Igber's numbers is whether or not he can do it against the teams that really matter.

Igber did it against St. Louis. In two games with the Crusaders, he rushed for 352 yards. He gained 204 yards in a breathtaking 77-42 loss on Oct. 16. His 48 first-quarter yards that night exceeded the average yield by the St. Louis defense in its previous four games.

Siofele had that quality that endears a player to his defensive coordinator: His mere presence on the field could rattle an offensive scheme.

Other players in St. Louis's defensive unit were able to execute at high efficiency because offenses were so preoccupied with Siofele.

Like a jungle cat, he was always there -- lurking, prowling, ready to sprint and capture anything that tried to get past him.

Siofele has exceptional range, strength, and instinct.

"He's big and strong and he can run," Look said.

Coach of the Year
SIUAKI LIVAI
Kahuku

"He makes plays all over the field, if you watch him. He was a rushing outside linebacker who played the wide side. We ran away from him but he still made a lot of plays."

Morrison said he watched Siofele even when he wasn't coaching against him and found he never let up. The jungle cat never looked domesticated on the field.

"I think Siofele was one of the better (prep) players in the nation this year," Morrison said.

He, too, is a good student and has entertained recruiting offers from Stanford.

Siuaki Livai and his son, Siuaki Livai Jr., are a rare father-son combination on an all-star team.

The elder Livai, who took over the Kahuku program in 1996 after Doug Semones left for Fred vonAppen's staff at the University of Hawaii, led the Red Raiders to the Oahu Interscholastic Association title and a national ranking.

The No. 18 ranking in USA Today's Super 25 marked the first time that a public school football program in Hawaii had achieved such national recognition. The younger Livai is one of the state's top offensive line prospects.

Igber, Siofele and St. Louis's junior slotback Gerald Welch are the only repeaters on the all-state first team.

The First Team

Offense

QB	Timmy Chang		St. Louis	6-2	180	Jr.
RB	Joe Igber		Iolani		5-7	190	Sr.
RB	Talamoni Talamoni	Kahuku		6-0	204	Sr.
SB	Gerald Welch		St. Louis	5-9	190	Jr.
WR	Kris Cuaresma-Primm	Pac-Five	6-2	160	Sr.
TE	William Sao		Kahuku		6-2	231	Sr.
OL	Toniu Fonoti		Kahuku		6-4	300	Sr.
OL	Francisco Tipoti	McKinley	6-6	310	Sr.
OL	Siuaki Livai Jr.	Kahuku		6-3	310	Sr.
OL	Vincent Manuwai		Farrington	6-4	270	Sr.
AP	Chad Mahoe		Kamehameha	5-7	160	Sr.

Defense

DL	Tamotu Tagoai		St. Louis	6-3	280	Sr.
DL	Houston Ala		Kamehameha	6-1	215	Jr.
DL	Lance Samuseva		Farrington	5-11	265	Sr.
DL	Puna Vendiola		Kahuku		5-7	208	Sr.
LB	Joe Siofele		St. Louis	6-2	235	Sr.
LB	Winston Keliikipi	Waianae		5-10	195	Sr.
LB	Pati Mailo		Kahuku		6-1	240	Sr.
LB	Watson Hoohuli		Kamehameha	5-11	185	Jr.
DB	Junior Wong		St. Louis	5-6	145	Jr.
DB	Una Latu		St. Louis	5-9	170	Jr.
DB	Tavo Tupola		Kahuku		6-3	192	Sr.
DB	Hyrum Peters		Kahuku		5-8	160	Sr.

Coach of the Year: Siuaki Livai, Kahuku

Second Team

Offense

QB	Wayne Fonoimoana	Kahuku		6-0	176	Sr.
RB	Noah Campbell		St. Louis	5-11	210	Sr.
RB	Duane Miller		Waianae		5-8	190	Sr.
R	Kaui Ho			St. Louis	5-5	170	Sr.
R	Puni Ellis		Kamehameha	5-10	165	Jr.
R	Zachary Lui		McKinley	6-0	170	Sr.
OL	Lyle Castro		St. Louis	6-0	260	Sr.
OL	Tuufuli Masoe		Kahuku		5-11	280	Sr.
OL	Uriah Moenoa		Iolani		6-2	300	Jr.
OL	Brian Tomihama		Pac-Five	6-5	317	Sr.
OL	Shayne Kajioka		St. Louis	6-4	340	Sr.

Defense

DL	David Kapololu		Kamehameha	5-11	245	Sr.
DL	Elai Evaimalo		Waianae		6-0	225	Sr.
DL	Joshua Vigil		Maui		6-3	270	Jr.
DL	Makaha Wolfgram		Kailua		6-1	270	Sr.
LB	Roger Majit-Gorian	Kailua		5-9	175	Jr.
LB	Isaiah Alameda		Kamehameha	6-1	190	Jr.
LB	Keoki Barit		Iolani		5-9	200	Jr.
DB	Enoch McKeague		St. Louis	5-8	175	So.
DB	Blair Suzuki		Punahou		5-9	165	Sr.
DB	Baba Martin		Kamehameha	5-7	150	Jr.
DB	Oscar Marcos		Damien		5-11	170	Sr.