Kafentzis clan keeps coming

By Brian McInnis
bmcinnis@starbulletin.com

If Tyson Kafentzis has anything to say about it, he won't be the last of his family's long line of Hawaii football players.

The Warrior senior linebacker - whose father, Mark, four uncles and a brother, Landon, were defensive backs with the program - is confident the next batch of Kafentzis kids can carry on the family torch. When they're old enough, that is.

"It's probably going to be another 10 years until they're of age, but if Hawaii recruits them I'm sure they're going to get them," Kafentzis said of his half brothers Taren Rosa and Giovanni Kafentzis. "(Giovanni's) about 2 but he's blasting kids already. Taren just got into Pop Warner, he's a quarterback/linebacker. A big ol' horse out there."

Kafentzis, meanwhile, has been getting a solid look with the first team at linebacker since late last week, alongside R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane and Brashton Satele, while all three of the team's starting linebackers (Blaze Soares, Adam Leonard, and Solomon Elimimian) sit out with ailments.

After Kafentzis started 10 games at the position as a sophomore in 2006 (but was relegated to a backup role and saw special teams duty last year) he's determined to make the most of his newfound opportunity.

"Football's a real physical sport," Kafentzis said. "When guys go down, you gotta step up and, luckily at linebacker, we're pretty deep and have a lot of guys with a lot of experience. And we got good guys ahead of us, so when we're not in there getting reps we're getting good mental reps from the first-team guys. I think it's working out great, I'm happy."

He's been the rogue Kafentzis in that he's played linebacker all of his career except for a two-week span last year, while the rest of his football family played safety. He's more than happy to be back at his original position to finish his Warrior career.

"This '8' plays linebacker," he affirmed, pointing at his jersey.

Look what I found

Senior cornerback Jameel Dowling is quiet, but his play did the talking that was necessary yesterday. He intercepted two balls during practice, matching safety Keao Monteilh.

The 6-foot-3 Dowling flashed in front of the targeted receiver on the first and ran it back for a would-be touchdown, then climbed over wideout Greg Salas on a deep route and caught the juggled ball on his back for his second interception of the day.

"Just getting ready for Florida, basically," Dowling said. "Stayed on the ball, stayed focused with it. I think I'm ready for the game, but day by day try to get better until that day comes."

Allen-Jones out

Defensive lineman Cameron Allen-Jones sat out the second half of practice with a tweaked hamstring. He had been in the action with the first group, but decided caution was the best remedy.

"Just relaxing, trying to get back for tomorrow," the 6-2, 275-pound junior said. "Just trying to gather my legs, don't want to push it. I'll be back."