WAILUKU - For the last seven years - and nine of the last 10 - the Maui Interscholastic League football crown has been nearly the sole possession of Baldwin High School. In 2012, the realistic question is: Can the Bears
break an Oahu stronghold on the Division1 state-championship game? Six times the Bears have been to the state semifinals and six times they have
been eliminated - last season's 35-0 loss to Punahou made Baldwin's collective
scoreboard 203-79. No team from outside Oahu has
ever made a D-I state
final.
Article Photos
Baldwin High School’s Keelan Ewaliko was the Maui
Interscholastic League
leader in rushing and passing last season.
This
season, with a huge game against Saint Louis looming Saturday at Aloha
Stadium, Baldwin appears geared for a potential breakthrough. The Crusaders are
ranked sixth in the state by scoringlive.com, while the Bears are
10th.
Baldwin, the the only MIL team not to play a game yet this season, has
64
players on its roster, 11 more than any other MIL team.
"It is going
OK," Bears coach A.J. Roloos said Wednesday. "We have been
practicing for
the last month now and beating up on each other is not fun. The
kids are
progressing slowly. They are excited to play this weekend against Saint
Louis, so that is huge for us. It is a good game for us to see where we are
at."
The Bears return five starters on offense, and the list begins with
third-year starting quarterback Keelan Ewaliko. The two-time Maui
Interscholastic League Offensive Player of the Year, who has verbally committed
to the University of Hawaii, was the first player to win the league's
passing
and rushing titles in a single season in 2011, and named to the
All-State third
team by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser last year.
"We are
super stoked, it is not very often you can play a team like Saint
Louis in
Aloha Stadium," said Ewaliko, who is 16-0 in MIL play as a starter, but
2-4
against nonleague foes. "For them to want to play us, it means a lot. Right
now, we are looking pretty good."
Three of his starting receivers - Kyson-Lee
Kaiama, Larry Gines and Ryan
Garces - return, as does offensive line
starter Alika Ezera.Fact Box
Football Preview:
Baldwin
The Maui News
has looked at each of the Maui Interscholastic League's five
football teams
this week, heading into the start of regular-season play today.
The final
preview is of Baldwin:
2011 record: 9-2 overall, 8-0 MIL (lost in Division I
state semifinals)
Returning starters: 5 offense, 6 defense
Offense:
Spread
Defense: 4-4 base
*****
DAY BY DAY
Monday-King
Kekaulike
Tuesday-Kamehameha Maui
Wednesday-Maui
High
Thursday-Lahainaluna
Today-Baldwin
MIL Football schedule Today's
Game
Maui High vs. Kamehameha Maui at War Memorial Stadium, 7
p.m.
Saturday's Games
St. Louis vs. Baldwin at Aloha Stadium (nonleague),
5 p.m.
Lahainaluna vs. King Kekaulike at War Memorial Stadium, 7 p.m. Friday,
Aug. 31
Lahainaluna vs. Kamehameha Maui at War Memorial Stadium, 7
p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 1
Baldwin vs. Maui High at War Memorial Stadium, 7
p.m.
The defense may be even more imposing. Senior lineman Miki Fangatua, a
first-team MIL All-Star last season, already has a scholarship offer from
Weber
State, and junior linebacker Jordan Hoiem has four - from Hawaii,
Nevada-Las
Vegas, Utah and Utah State. Senior lineman Semisi Malafu, junior
linebacker Teva
Eldridge, and senior defensive backs Abraham Reinhardt and
Brandon-Lee
Delcastillo also return as starters for the defense.
Baldwin
outscored eight MIL opponents 298-41 last season, had four shutouts
and
gave up more than one touchdown only once.
"We will find out Saturday night,"
the 6-foot-1, 248-pound Fangatua said of the Saint Louis game. "We can't wait to
hit somebody else."
Lahainaluna won the MIL crown in 2004 and shared it with
Baldwin in 2009, but
last season the Bears beat the Lunas - a Division II
state semifinalist - 40-0
and 41-0. Since the middle of the 2004 season,
Baldwin is 58-2-1 in MIL
play.
Roloos played a little coy when
discussing Saint Louis, which lost its opener
to second-ranked Farrington
39-33 last week. Baldwin beat Farrington in the
state quarterfinals last
season on a last-minute touchdown run by Ewaliko.
The Crusaders play Bishop
Gorman of Las Vegas, ranked 28th in the country and
No. 1 in Nevada by
maxpreps.com, next week.
"The kids are excited to play Saint Louis and, of
course, Saint Louis is
looking by us because they got Bishop Gorman next
week," Roloos said. "We are
just going to go out and do our thing and
whatever happens, happens."
Four prominent Baldwin alumni are assistant
coaches this season.
Jordan Helle is handling the quarterbacks. Kawika Kahui,
a former standout at
San Diego State who was a practice squad player for
the San Diego Chargers, is
in charge of defensive linemen. Cody Nakamura,
who played at Weber State, is the
wide receivers coach. The newest addition
to the coaching staff is Kai Maiava,
fresh off a standout career at UCLA
and coaching the offensive line.
"I'm having a lot of fun, it feels good to
get back out here and help out,"
Maiava said. "I am just trying to get
them as ready as I can. Hopefully we will
come out Saturday against Saint
Louis and show them what we got. So far I am
liking what I'm seeing, they
give a lot of effort, they are tired but they are
giving us all they got,
so I can't complain."
With only Ezera as a returning starter, the learning
curve is high for the
offensive linemen.
"I am just trying to show them
the techniques that got me to where I have
gotten," Maiava said. "We are
just taking baby steps really. You can't throw it
all at them at
once."
* Robert Collias is at [email protected]
© Copyright 2012 The Maui News. All
rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
been eliminated - last season's 35-0 loss to Punahou made Baldwin's collective
scoreboard 203-79. No team from outside Oahu has
ever made a D-I state
final.
Article Photos
Baldwin High School’s Keelan Ewaliko was the Maui
Interscholastic League
leader in rushing and passing last season.
This
season, with a huge game against Saint Louis looming Saturday at Aloha
Stadium, Baldwin appears geared for a potential breakthrough. The Crusaders are
ranked sixth in the state by scoringlive.com, while the Bears are
10th.
Baldwin, the the only MIL team not to play a game yet this season, has
64
players on its roster, 11 more than any other MIL team.
"It is going
OK," Bears coach A.J. Roloos said Wednesday. "We have been
practicing for
the last month now and beating up on each other is not fun. The
kids are
progressing slowly. They are excited to play this weekend against Saint
Louis, so that is huge for us. It is a good game for us to see where we are
at."
The Bears return five starters on offense, and the list begins with
third-year starting quarterback Keelan Ewaliko. The two-time Maui
Interscholastic League Offensive Player of the Year, who has verbally committed
to the University of Hawaii, was the first player to win the league's
passing
and rushing titles in a single season in 2011, and named to the
All-State third
team by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser last year.
"We are
super stoked, it is not very often you can play a team like Saint
Louis in
Aloha Stadium," said Ewaliko, who is 16-0 in MIL play as a starter, but
2-4
against nonleague foes. "For them to want to play us, it means a lot. Right
now, we are looking pretty good."
Three of his starting receivers - Kyson-Lee
Kaiama, Larry Gines and Ryan
Garces - return, as does offensive line
starter Alika Ezera.Fact Box
Football Preview:
Baldwin
The Maui News
has looked at each of the Maui Interscholastic League's five
football teams
this week, heading into the start of regular-season play today.
The final
preview is of Baldwin:
2011 record: 9-2 overall, 8-0 MIL (lost in Division I
state semifinals)
Returning starters: 5 offense, 6 defense
Offense:
Spread
Defense: 4-4 base
*****
DAY BY DAY
Monday-King
Kekaulike
Tuesday-Kamehameha Maui
Wednesday-Maui
High
Thursday-Lahainaluna
Today-Baldwin
MIL Football schedule Today's
Game
Maui High vs. Kamehameha Maui at War Memorial Stadium, 7
p.m.
Saturday's Games
St. Louis vs. Baldwin at Aloha Stadium (nonleague),
5 p.m.
Lahainaluna vs. King Kekaulike at War Memorial Stadium, 7 p.m. Friday,
Aug. 31
Lahainaluna vs. Kamehameha Maui at War Memorial Stadium, 7
p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 1
Baldwin vs. Maui High at War Memorial Stadium, 7
p.m.
The defense may be even more imposing. Senior lineman Miki Fangatua, a
first-team MIL All-Star last season, already has a scholarship offer from
Weber
State, and junior linebacker Jordan Hoiem has four - from Hawaii,
Nevada-Las
Vegas, Utah and Utah State. Senior lineman Semisi Malafu, junior
linebacker Teva
Eldridge, and senior defensive backs Abraham Reinhardt and
Brandon-Lee
Delcastillo also return as starters for the defense.
Baldwin
outscored eight MIL opponents 298-41 last season, had four shutouts
and
gave up more than one touchdown only once.
"We will find out Saturday night,"
the 6-foot-1, 248-pound Fangatua said of the Saint Louis game. "We can't wait to
hit somebody else."
Lahainaluna won the MIL crown in 2004 and shared it with
Baldwin in 2009, but
last season the Bears beat the Lunas - a Division II
state semifinalist - 40-0
and 41-0. Since the middle of the 2004 season,
Baldwin is 58-2-1 in MIL
play.
Roloos played a little coy when
discussing Saint Louis, which lost its opener
to second-ranked Farrington
39-33 last week. Baldwin beat Farrington in the
state quarterfinals last
season on a last-minute touchdown run by Ewaliko.
The Crusaders play Bishop
Gorman of Las Vegas, ranked 28th in the country and
No. 1 in Nevada by
maxpreps.com, next week.
"The kids are excited to play Saint Louis and, of
course, Saint Louis is
looking by us because they got Bishop Gorman next
week," Roloos said. "We are
just going to go out and do our thing and
whatever happens, happens."
Four prominent Baldwin alumni are assistant
coaches this season.
Jordan Helle is handling the quarterbacks. Kawika Kahui,
a former standout at
San Diego State who was a practice squad player for
the San Diego Chargers, is
in charge of defensive linemen. Cody Nakamura,
who played at Weber State, is the
wide receivers coach. The newest addition
to the coaching staff is Kai Maiava,
fresh off a standout career at UCLA
and coaching the offensive line.
"I'm having a lot of fun, it feels good to
get back out here and help out,"
Maiava said. "I am just trying to get
them as ready as I can. Hopefully we will
come out Saturday against Saint
Louis and show them what we got. So far I am
liking what I'm seeing, they
give a lot of effort, they are tired but they are
giving us all they got,
so I can't complain."
With only Ezera as a returning starter, the learning
curve is high for the
offensive linemen.
"I am just trying to show them
the techniques that got me to where I have
gotten," Maiava said. "We are
just taking baby steps really. You can't throw it
all at them at
once."
* Robert Collias is at [email protected]
© Copyright 2012 The Maui News. All
rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.