Pac-10's hungry Beavers arrive today

Many Oregon State players with Hawaii ties will play vs. UH

Significantly less shoyu chicken, loco moco, macaroni salad and rice will be dished out this week at Local Boyz in Corvallis, Ore. The Hawaii-style plate lunch eatery will be missing some of its best regular customers.

As of yesterday, 10 Oregon State football players with island ties were scheduled to make the trip home today with their Beavers teammates. Oregon State (8-4) plays No. 24 Hawaii (10-2) at Aloha Stadium on Saturday in the regular-season finale for both teams.

"They can put it down pretty good. The coaches pick up from here once a week, too," said Local Boyz manager Rocco Marchesi, son of owner and Kalani High School graduate Roy Marchesi.

"It's pretty good, I'm there twice a week. It's a good place for us to hang out," said safety Al Afalava, a former Star-Bulletin All-State player from Kahuku, who now starts for the Beavers. "But the first thing I'm going to do is hit Papa Ole in Hauula for hamburger steak."

Then he plans on hitting some Warriors. The weekly game notes for Oregon State identify the 5-foot-11, 198-pound sophomore as the team's hardest tackler.

"That's been the mentality for me since high school. I just like hitting. It makes me feel good," said Afalava, who has 29 stops and an interception this season. "When I got to the college level, I realized hitting isn't going to be as easy because the players are bigger, faster and more physical."

Two other Kahuku graduates, left guard Jeremy Perry and fullback Micah Strickland, are among the local players returning home this week. Perry was a freshman All-American last year, who has battled injuries this season, but has returned to the starting lineup. Strickland plays when the Beavers use a blocking back.

Sophomore offensive tackle Tavita Thompson (Saint Louis) and junior defensive end Naymon Frank (Roosevelt), both reserves, join them on the two-deep chart.

The other Beavers with Hawaii ties are all freshmen: wide receivers Aaron Nichols (Kamehameha) and Lahaina Olsen-Kuroda (Aiea), offensive lineman Ryan Pohl and Steven Rodenhurst (both Kamehameha), safety Suaesi Tuimaunei (Kahuku) and quarterback Mana Silva (Kamehameha-Hawaii).

An Oregon State spokesman said yesterday that not all 11 players were expected to make the travel roster of around 70, but that could change.

Afalava, who missed considerable time with a concussion this year, was in long enough against USC to make four tackles in the Beavers' 33-31 upset of the Trojans.

"It was the greatest feeling ever. I'd never been in such a loud stadium before. When the clock ticked down to zero, it was even better than beating Saint Louis," Afalava said, referring to his junior year at Kahuku, when the Red Raiders beat the Crusaders for the state championship.

Thompson would rather forget the 27-26 outcome, since he was a Saint Louis senior lineman at the time. He hopes to attend the rematch of the schools Friday in the Division I state championship game.

Then he'll return to Aloha Stadium on Saturday, and Thompson knows he and his teammates -- especially the ones from Hawaii -- will be the focus of some negative attention.

"It's going to be weird," he said. "My first time in that stadium with a booing crowd."

Thompson is the cousin of former UH running back Afatia Thompson, and Afalava's uncle, Kesi, was a Hawaii defensive tackle.

Both players said their relatives didn't try to influence them to become Warriors. In fact, Kesi Afalava tried to get Al to go to BYU.

"I based my final decision on conference-wise, coaching-wise. It felt like family here," Afalava said. "And the Pac-10 conference is one of the toughest in the nation."

Afalava said he knows most of Aloha Stadium will be against him Saturday. But he estimates close to a thousand of the expected sellout crowd of 50,000 will be rooting for him and his teammates.

"Family, friends, Oregon State fans," Afalava said. "And a lot of Kahuku fans. I call them my family, too."

Ilaoa on the mend:

Although he said he has some "doubts," UH coach June Jones said he thinks running back Nate Ilaoa will be able to play Saturday despite a bruised heel suffered last week against Purdue.

Ilaoa, who leads the Warriors in rushing, all-purpose yardage and touchdowns, did not practice yesterday. First-team reps were taken by Reagan Mauia.

R.J. to RB?:

The Warriors coaches are thinking of moving second-year freshman linebacker R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane to running back in the spring.

Ilaoa and Mauia both exhaust their eligibility at the end of this season.

"Whatever I can do to help the team," Kiesel-Kauhane said. "I played mostly defense, but some running back in high school."

Kiesel-Kauhane, a 5-foot-11, 225-pound Aiea graduate, has two tackles in three games this year, mostly on special teams.

Exposure:

UH players and coaches are being interviewed this week for Saturday morning's ESPN's College Gameday program.

"I think a pretty significant feature is in the works," said Neil Everett, ESPN SportsCenter anchor, who is the former KGMB sports director. "I lent them some Hawaiian music (by former UH player Henry Kapono Kaaihue) to use with the piece."

Correction:

Around 45,100 tickets for Saturday's game had been distributed by the close of business yesterday, UH associate athletic director John McNamara said. That leaves around 5,000 available.

The Star-Bulletin reported yesterday a statement by Jones at his Monday news conference that only around 1,000 tickets were remaining