Radford football team
feeds off coaches’ enthusiasm
Radford may be the most underrated football team in the state.
The Rams are 5-2 overall and 5-1 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association White Conference, and they host Kapolei with first place on the line in the regular-season finale Friday.
They clinched a spot in the OIA White playoffs with last week's 21-14 victory over Kalaheo.
"The kids are feeding off the coaches' enthusiasm for the game," Radford first-year coach Fred Salanoa said. "The players are really enjoying coming out to play and learning from a lot of the good coaches that we have."
The Rams excel on defense, yielding 58 points in six league games under the tutelage of Thor Salanoa, Fred's brother.
Phillip Elisara, Lino Kavika and Jason Opetala make up a solid linebacker corps, while Jordan Rellin, Dennis Medina, Derrick Douglas and Trevor Maldin supply the coverage in the backfield.
Wide receiver Sunny Belcher is the Rams' biggest offensive weapon, and quarterback Stephen Baughn and lineman Lincoln Kakiva are among the other offensive leaders.
"What I've wanted and what the team wanted is the opportunity to get into the playoffs," Fred Salanoa said. "The kids were really excited about going into and after last week's game. It was our homecoming and it was against a bunch of ex-UH guys (coaches) that I know really well.
"Now that we've made the playoffs, the kids are really hungry once more with a chance at tying for first place."
Football clinchers: Kahuku (7-0, 6-0) in the Red East and Mililani (7-0, 6-0) in the Red West clinched OIA conference titles with victories last weekend. Both had previously earned playoffs spots.
Kailua (5-1-1, 4-1-1) earned a spot in the OIA Red playoffs by tying Farrington, while Pearl City (5-2, 4-2) also qualified despite having a bye last weekend.
The two other East spots will be determined this weekend, and one of three teams -- the Govs (3-3-1, 3-2-1), McKinley (4-3, 3-3) and Castle (5-2, 4-2) --will be left out.
Farrington plays Kaimuki and can get in with a win, which would leave the Castle-McKinley loser out.
The Govs can still get in with a loss, but only if McKinley loses.
In the OIA West, two berths are up for grabs among three teams -- Nanakuli (5-3, 4-3), Waianae (3-4, 3-3) and Leilehua (4-3, 3-3) --and a four-way tie is possible if Pearl City loses to Waipahu.
Pearl City qualifies even if it loses because of its two victories against the other three teams. Waianae would advance to the playoffs in the four-way-tie scenario for its 2-1 head-to-head record, while Nanakuli would get the final berth over Leilehua because of its head-to-head win over the Mules.
If there's a three-way tie, Leilehua and Waianae would qualify over Nanakuli because those two teams would have better records in games against common opponents.
Over in the OIA White, one of four playoff spots remains and the last qualifier will be the winner of the Kalaheo (3-4, 3-3) vs. Kaiser (3-4, 3-3) game. Kapolei (7-0, 6-0) and Aiea (5-2, 5-1) sewed up berths two weeks ago before Radford joined the club last weekend.
Raiders, Warriors ranked: Kahuku (7-0, 6-0 OIA) and Kamehameha (6-0, 4-0 Interscholastic League of Honolulu) entered the Tony Poll national rankings this week.
The Red Raiders are No. 22 and the Warriors are No. 25.
In the poll's West Region rankings, Kahuku is No. 4 and Kamehameha is No. 6.
Trojans among unbeatens: Going into last night's match against rival Leilehua, the Mililani boys volleyball team was one of the few undefeated teams left on Oahu.
Coach Kauanoe Eldredge and the rest of the Trojans (8-0) want to "take the next step," which means an OIA championship.
A year ago, Mililani lost to Pearl City in the league's title match.
"We definitely need to keep up our intensity and never let down," Eldredge said. "And we can never take any teams for granted because we have no idea what the East teams are like. We want to get over the hump."
The Trojans are led by setter Brandon Caban, middle blocker Puna Neumann and outside hitter Aaron Fujimoto.
BACK TO TOP |
Athletes of the Week
Boys
>> John Morris, Punahou football: Completed 22 of 36 passes for 330 yards, but the Buffanblu lost to Saint Louis.
Girls
>> Larissa Nordyke, Punahou volleyball: Had eight kills, eight aces and six digs and hit .538 in a win over Christian Academy.
Honor Roll
Football
>> Hyrum Moors and Dustin Huddy, Kahuku: Moors rushed for 156 yards and Huddy ran for 119 yards in a win over Castle.
>> Jon Medeiros, Kapolei: Passed for 222 yards in a win over Aiea.
>> Raynold Stowers and Shuan Agustin, Iolani: Stowers rushed for 203 yards and Agustin had 10 tackles and an interception in a tie against Pac-Five.
>> Andrew Nakihei, Maui: Rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Pac-Three.
Bowling
>> Shaun Hamamura, Mililani: Rolled a 264 in an OIAWest match.
>> Jarret Mizo, Roosevelt: Scored a high series of 680 in an OIAWest match.
>> Jodi Ann Gum, Pearl City: Rolled a high series of 641 in a victory over Aiea.
>> Jeremy Yasutake, Damien: Scored a high series of 630 in a loss to Punahou.
Volleyball
>> Musie Olevao, Kahuku: Had 10 kills in a win over Kailua.
>> Kawika Shoji and Kyle Pape, Iolani: Had eight kills each in a victory over Kamehameha.
>> Corey Spence, Seabury Hall: Had 18 kills, 12 digs, five blocks and two aces in a win over Molokai.
>> Ashley Kau, University: Combined for 16 kills, 22 assists and 13 digs in wins over Sacred Hearts and St. Francis.
>> Jarrett Fujita, Saint Louis: Had 15 kills in a win over University.
Cross Country
>> Kainoa Guerin, Baldwin: Was the first boys finisher at the Punahou Invitational.
>> Emily King, Moanalua: Finished first in the Punahou Invitational girls race.
Air riflery
>> Celena Shin, Waipahu: Scored a 255 in a win over Campbell.
>> Eric Okamoto, Saint Louis: Shot a 267 in a win over Punahou.
Hawaii School Web Sites
