Locals take part in upset
They did not get on the field during the game, but Hawaii's two members of Kansas State's offensive line were no less thrilled to be part of the Wildcats' sensational upset of No. 1 Oklahoma on Saturday.
Right tackle Peni Holakeituai, a 1996 Waipahu High School graduate, and center/guard Jesse Keaulana-Kamakea, a 1999 Kailua High School grad from Waimanalo, are key back-up players for Kansas State.
"It feels good inside, a kid from the islands upsets the No. 1 team in nation," Keaulana-Kamakea said in a phone interview.
"We got inscribed watches right after the game," Keaulana-Kamakea said. "I felt like I won the Super Bowl or a national championship game."
By demolishing previously unbeaten Oklahoma 35-7, Kansas State won the Big 12 Conference championship and a bid to the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State on Jan. 2 at Tempe, Ariz. It is Kansas State's first BCS Bowl.
"It's hard to explain the environment, the excitement of the crowd of 80,000-plus (at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.) screaming out 'K State,' 'K State,' " Keaulana-Kamakea said.
"It's something you will always remember and cherish the rest of your life."
Keaulana-Kamakea was signed by Kansas State in 2002 after he had started every game for two years on unbeaten, national championship junior college teams at City College of San Francisco.
Holakeituai went on a Mormon church mission after he graduated from Waipahu in 1996 and then played at Ricks (junior) College in Idaho for two years, where he caught the eye of K-State coach Bruce Snyder.
"I'm still floating," Holakeituai said last night, "but tomorrow we come back down and get back to work for the bowl game."
Both Hawaii players accepted their roles as backups. "We knew where we stood and we were ready to go if something was to happen to the guys in front of us," Holakeituai said.
Offensive line coach Bob Stanley praised both as "very hard workers, dependable about their work ethic."
Keaulana-Kamakea is the backup for all three interior offensive line positions -- center and both guards. "He is a good person and a good football player, a fierce competitor," Stanley said. "He was our insurance policy at center."
Both Holakeituai and Keaulana-Kamakea will graduate in May with degrees in criminal justice.
Holakeituai's goal is to work for the FBI.
Keaulana-Kamakea hopes to get a free-agent invitation to a pro football camp. "I'll give it my best shot," he said.
When football is over, Keaulana-Kamakea said, "I will come home and maybe get into coaching and bring a little bit of the K-State atmosphere" to Hawaii.
"I want to dedicate the Big 12 championship to all my family on both sides," he said. "I am always thinking about them."
The Hawaii Grown Report is published in the Sunday Star-Bulletin. To nominate a student athlete, e-mail homegrownhawaii@verizon.net.
