Arceneaux vows to make
first game as coachThe Saint Louis alum underwent
emergency surgery Sunday
As a college and pro quarterback, Darnell Arceneaux missed his share of starts due to injury.
But this is one football weekend Arceneaux doesn't want to sit out. He insists he'll be on the sidelines for his highly anticipated debut as the head coach of the state's most decorated program tomorrow night despite being hospitalized this week after undergoing an emergency appendectomy Sunday.
"This is the biggest game of their lives," Arceneaux said about his Saint Louis players yesterday while recuperating in his hospital room at Kaiser Medical Center. "There's no way I'm going to miss it."
Since Wednesday, the Crusaders (1-0) have been preparing for tomorrow night's Interscholastic League of Honolulu season opener against Kamehameha (2-0) under Arceneaux's assistant coaches. Kickoff for the game against their biggest rivals is 7:30 at Aloha Stadium.
Arceneaux left Kaiser on Monday and went to practice later that day and again on Tuesday. He was not feeling well Tuesday and his staff and family advised him to return to the hospital, which he did Wednesday. He's expecting to be released today.
"I was spitting up some blood Tuesday," he said. "I didn't want to miss practice (Wednesday), but my family said that I need to take care of myself first before I can help my alma mater. Maybe I should have sat out those two practices (Monday and Tuesday) and waited. Then maybe I'd be better now.
"I've been out for two days now and the rest I've gotten has been good. They (the players) need me more Saturday. Vinny Passas (offensive coordinator) and Eddie Klaneski (defensive coordinator) and the whole coaching staff are taking care of everything, and we're in communication all the time about game preparation. They all know I'm going to be all right come game time."
Doctors are making sure there are no more complications from the surgery and that there is no clogging in the small or large intestines, which can happen after an appendectomy, Arceneaux said.
According to a Kaiser general surgery department staff member, appendectomy patients are usually told to rest for a week before returning to work or engaging in strenuous physical activity. The staffer was speaking in general terms and not specifically about Arceneaux's case.
"At this point, the plan is for Darnell to coach Saturday," Saint Louis athletic director Todd Los Baños said. "The doctors want to make sure things heal properly so they're keeping him one more day. All of our coaches agreed that none of them would pick him up from the hospital if he decided to leave early. They want him to take care of himself."
The school hasn't made a contingency plan should Arceneaux not be able to make it to the game.
"We're pretty positive he's going to be there, but if something does come up, we'll make adjustments for that," Los Baños said.
Senior offensive lineman Bronson Carvalho said the players missed Arceneaux's presence at practice yesterday.
"He's a motivational speaker and he gives us inspiration," Carvalho said. "It was weird when he wasn't there. I didn't know the reason until after practice. The day before he was riding around in a golf cart and not walking around as usual. I thought it was just a different way of observing us. We all hope he's well and comes back to coach his team."
The 25-year-old Arceneaux was a standout quarterback under coach Cal Lee in the 1990s before going on to star at Utah. He was the Hawaiian Islanders' starting quarterback the past two seasons and led them to their first arenafootball2 playoff appearance this summer. He was chosen to succeed Delbert Tengan as the Crusaders' head coach in June. Tengan led Saint Louis to a state title in his only year as coach after taking over for Lee, the state's all-time winningest high school football coach.
