Prep Beat

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Thursday, November 25, 1999

Unbeaten Baldwin
up against Kahuku in
state semifinals

By Randy Cadiente
Star-Bulletin

Can you name the only team in the 1999 Chevron State Football Championships with an unblemished record?

No, it's not St. Louis.

And it's not Waimea either, even though the Menehunes are undefeated.

Baldwin, champions of the Maui Interscholastic League, is 11-0 and will try to make it an even dozen when it takes on Kahuku tomorrow night at 8 in the featured game of the state championship doubleheader at Aloha Stadium. Waimea, at 6-0-1, will take on the Crusaders of St. Louis in the opener at 5.

CHEVRON STATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS Semifinals: St. Louis vs. Waimea, 5 p.m.; Kahuku vs. Baldwin, 8 p.m., tomorrow, Aloha Stadium. Championship: Saturday, Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m., Aloha Stadium.

"They're (Baldwin) not 11-0 for nothing," Farrington coach Harold Tanaka said.

Tanaka should know.

The Governors went to Maui to battle the host Bears in the first-round of the playoffs last week and came away not only beaten (25-19) but impressed as well.

"They're big, physical and on defense, they run to the ball well," said Tanaka. "And their running back, Nolan Wada, he's for real, too. His moves in the open field ... he made us miss a couple of times. Their quarterback (Steven Hafoka) is good, too.

"Their open-field skills are real good," added Tanaka. "Just as good as anybody in the OIA."

Kahuku, however, is not just any team.

By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Kahuku running back Kala Latuselu fends off a
Konawaena tackler during the Red Raiders'
state playoff quarterfinal victory.

The Red Raiders ran through, around and sometimes over all of the teams in the Oahu Interscholastic Association to finish the regular season at 10-1. Their only setback came at the hands of Waianae.

Senior Kala Lataselu is the key for Kahuku.

Last week against Konawaena, the 5-foot-11, 200-pound running back carried the ball 12 times for 133 yards and two touchdowns. In the OIA semifinals on Nov. 6, Lataselu had 98 yards on 17 attempts and scored on runs of 4 and 6 yards in the Red Raiders' 29-0 rout of Farrington.

But Kahuku is by no means a one-man team.

Stop Lataselu, and then you have to contend with Orlando Wong, who not only can play quarterback, but wide receiver as well.

"For us, if we execute our plays well, we'll do OK," said Kahuku coach Siuaki Livai. "If not, we're in trouble.

"But we're 100 percent. We're ready to go. We're suiting up a lot of people and we're ready to rumble.

"They (Baldwin) have a lot of confidence in themselves because of their record," Livai added. "They're going to be great."

The final is set for Saturday, Dec. 4, at Aloha Stadium beginning at 7:30 p.m.