3 Aiea coaches
face alma mater
Three former Damien players are coaching for Aiea tonight as the two schools tangle in the First Hawaiian Bank Division II state football championship game. Kickoff is 5 p.m. at Aloha Stadium.
Mike Morishige, a wide receivers coach for Na Alii, played varsity ball for the Monarchs in 1973 and '74.
"We were the first Damien team to beat both Saint Louis and Punahou in the same year," Morishige said. "We did it in 1973, when Mosi Tatupu played for Punahou."
Morishige played various positions, including running back, kick returner and linebacker for the Monarchs.
"I'm happy for Damien to be in this championship game," he said. "They're not used to getting this kind of recognition."
Morishige has spent some time talking to his son, Aiea junior linebacker Marcus Morishige, about his days at Damien.
"He's practicing on a million-dollar field right now," Mike Morishige said about his son. "Damien never had the best facilities. The next day after a rain it would be one big mud pile."
Two other Aiea coaches -- assistant defensive coordinator Punahou Aina and defensive backs coach Chris Smith -- played for the Monarchs in the 1990s.
"When I was there, we had a lot of pride, even though we weren't winning many of our games," said Smith, who was a defensive back at Damien and Willamette University. "We still came out fighting and ready. The Damien team now still has that attitude. They won the last two games of their season that they had to win and two playoff games. And they were a pretty big underdog against Kapolei, so it shows you what kind of heart they have."
Smith thinks Aiea's success this year is due to team chemistry, something he said just wasn't as strong a year ago.
"It carried us through all of our tougher games," he said.
Aina, who went on to play for the University of Hawaii, is the son of former longtime Damien coach Wally Aina.
"Everybody's been asking me how I feel coaching against my alma mater in such a big game," Punahou Aina said. "Yeah, I have mixed feelings. I was a water boy and a ball boy and ended up playing there. It would have been a great experience to be a fan in the stands watching Damien play someone else, but I feel fortunate to be part of this whole event. We're challenging the school that made me the type of person I am today."
Aina played a bunch of positions for the Monarchs -- running back, tight end, wide receiver, slotback, linebacker, strong safety and return specialist.
"I've seen a lot of tape of Damien and I'm impressed," he said. "They've got a good, sound offense and a defense that makes you pay if you make a mistake.
"I see us as having the potential to be a championship team. We stack up well against them. It's a matter of not beating ourselves because Damien will be waiting for us to make a mistake."
All-star football next week: The Hawaii Union Builders Football Classic is next Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Aloha Stadium.
Two teams -- to be coached by Kapolei's Darren Hernandez (West) and Iolani's Wendell Look (East) -- have been formed from a pool of some of Oahu's best seniors.
The OIA is already split along East and West lines, so three ILH teams were added to each side. Kamehameha, Punahou and Damien are in the West and Saint Louis, Pac-Five and Iolani are in the East.
Hoops classic coming up: The Iolani Classic basketball tournament is set for Dec. 15-20.
The 16-team field has eight Hawaii teams -- Kalani, Mid-Pacific, Moanalua, Punahou, Waimea, Kalaheo, Kapolei and host Iolani -- to go along with eight mainland squads -- Fairley (Tenn.), Mt. Vernon (N.Y.), Fairfax (Calif.), Oak Hill (Va.), Hamilton (Ariz.), Montrose (Md.), St. John's (Washington, D.C.) and Dr. Phillips (Fla.).
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