ka'ahupahau706 wrote:Yes they could've won with only the run game. I totally agree, they have 8 other state championships in the state championship era to prove that. That fumble started the snowball that they couldn't recover from. They were in control of that game up until that point.
ILH JV doesn't really mean anything, you win a title there doesn't mean you'll win on Vars. I'm pretty sure every year STL win's that title with 3 State Title's to show for it. I'm not counting prep-bowl because everyone in the country knows they won that bout hands down. Silofau does graduate but did he really play much this year? I didn't hear his name at all the whole season so I thought he was injured or something. Ronson Young was their best runner and he graduates. Their defense is a very solid bunch though. Their DLine too me will be their strongest unit. Tuitele and company were solid this year!
Yes Punahou was veteran squad Kapule and Suguturaga were both POY in the ILH. They were stacked in regards on offense. All of their receivers were seniors and Kapule was a senior. But they return another solid group that will be seniors and juniors at the receiving corp from what I seen that would have started any other place as well. Kapule will be replaced by Stephen Barber who currently holds an offer from UH and other interests from other D1 schools. He's a tough QB and could honestly have started at any other school this past year as well. Punahou JV is always terrible but for some reason on Vars they produce. All starters on Oline and RB returns. As for defense, they graduate 5 starting seniors I believe. With a handful of solid players on Defense coming up from what I heard.
Kamehameha will always be one of those teams who has the athletes but no coaching. So we'll see what they can produce next year. You just cant count them out of the conversation until you see them play one of the other ILH teams. Yam and Young are solid so however Abu utilizes them will be interesting.
Kapolei will be scary if June Jones comes back, but from what I heard from their coaches, he's there to stay regardless if Lee retires. STL doesn't have the money to pay him big time to coach there, I'm pretty sure Kapolei isn't paying much either so he's there for the love of coaching, guarantee. Also I think in his position him and Hernandez are building a program and I think that's what Jones enjoys. He's done it before with UH. STL is already at the top of the pedigree and he was already helping at STL prior to Kapolei. I'm sure Jones is helping everyone grow at Kapolei. But you never know in High School football. He could take the position and he would win every single game probably and it's closer drive for him. You never know. I wouldn't be surprised if he takes the job, but as of now I heard he's there to stay. Also if Lee retires, I would think one of their assistants would take the job? I think one of their assistants at STL was running the team when Lee was in the hospital.
@ka'ahupahau706:
Yeah, I guess I agree that a JV title doesn't necessarily add-up to a whole bunch of beans, whether in the ILH
or the OIA. I think one reason is that on the vars, everything--the players
and the plays--moves faster than on JV.
I guess you've made a case for Punahou taking the ILH next year. I
hope St Louis wins it instead.
As for Kamehameha, I hope Maafala does a better job next year. Actually, I don't think he sucks, but when you're up against guys like Cal Lee, well...
I think Kamehameha's D played very well for most of the season, and Maafala doubled as DC. You mentioned Young at QB; I had forgotten about him. Yeah, he's pretty good too. I think he's the better runner than Yam, whereas Yam is the better passer? Or was it the other way around? Anyway, yes, Kamehameha returns a good one-two punch at QB next year,
and their best RB.
Yes, I, too, heard that Jones has $, so $ isn't a consideration for him. However, I'm really surprised to hear that he might be "committed" to Kapolei. I mean, aside from Tau, I don't see why he should feel compelled to stay there. I mean, he's not an alumnus of the school, for one. In fact, Jones graduated from high school
29 years before Kapolei High was even
founded. I appreciate that Jones might want a part in building a program, but Kapolei has already been playing football for some thirteen years. Obviously, I can't speak for Jones, but I would
hope he would gravitate to a high-school that offers him an
HC position. Again, I think Jones is simply too prominent a coach to limit himself to an
OC. I think he
deserves to be an
HC. We're talking
high school football, and to me it seems almost "below his dignity" for Jones to be anything less than an HC. But again, I can't speak for him.