Favorite HS football players of all time?

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ChadFukuoka
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Re: Favorite HS football players of all time?

Post by ChadFukuoka »

XLT1000 wrote: Thu Mar 17, 2022 12:17 pm
HS Football Fanatic wrote: Thu Oct 28, 2021 5:13 pm @unpaid:

Whoa. Late-'60s. That was certainly before my time. Even so, two names you posted are familiar to me. Jeris White: I remember seeing a photo of him in one of those football mags they sold at games. Didn't he play in the NFL, too? And, I've heard about Levi Stanley.
Also in one of those football mags, I remember reading about Jim Nicholson; he graduated from St Louis School in '68. I think he was a lineman; I don't know if it was on O or D. He went on to play in the NFL.
Then there was Arnold Morgado, who graduated from Punahou School in '70, I think. Think he was an RB.
Both he and Nicholson played for the Kansas City Chiefs, I think, and they were on that team at the same time.
I remember reading about Onosai Tanuvasa, who graduated from Farrington High in '71, I think. He was an all-star RB. There was a special sports section during the fall football season (September-November '70) in either the Star-Bulletin or the Advertiser featuring large color photos of the cheerleaders of various high schools, of all things. They weren't photos of individual cheerleaders, but of the entire squads. I've never seen anything like it since. On the front page of that section was a black-and-white photo of Tanuvasa. It was a frontal action shot showing him running the ball, leaping over an opposing school's player.
Kale Ane, currently HC at McKinley High, graduated from Punahou School in '71, I think. I think he played in the NFL as a long-snapper. Kind of unusual; I mean, how many NFL players from Hawaii were long-snappers?
Hello. Is Kale Ane still at McKinley High School football head coach? This year anyway. It's going to be fall next season. So I meant next season. Samson Anguay used to play for UH football. Is he the head coach for Kapolei or Mililani? I cannot be sure what year he played in high school. RB 5-7.5 ft/inches tall. Or 5-8. Or 5-9. Cannot be certain. Just that I know that name. Some time in late 2000s.
Kapolei's head coach (their only head coach in program history) is still Darren Hernandez. Mililani's head coach is Rod York. I'm not sure if the guy you're talking about is an assistant on either team?

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Re: Favorite HS football players of all time?

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Gee, Gary Campbell SLH c/o 71 gets no love. I remember Campbell and Arnold Morgado battling for the rushing title. I believe Campbell went to Colorado University as a runningback but ended up as linebacker after a knee injury. I remember seeing Campbell rushing for touchdown on ESPN as a freshman. Campbell then played for the Chicago Bears from 77-84. Campbell would go on to becoming a starting linebacker but was hampered by knee injuries his later years.

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Re: Favorite HS football players of all time?

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HS Football Fanatic wrote: Thu Oct 28, 2021 5:13 pm @unpaid:

Whoa. Late-'60s. That was certainly before my time. Even so, two names you posted are familiar to me. Jeris White: I remember seeing a photo of him in one of those football mags they sold at games. Didn't he play in the NFL, too? And, I've heard about Levi Stanley.
Also in one of those football mags, I remember reading about Jim Nicholson; he graduated from St Louis School in '68. I think he was a lineman; I don't know if it was on O or D. He went on to play in the NFL.
Then there was Arnold Morgado, who graduated from Punahou School in '70, I think. Think he was an RB.
Both he and Nicholson played for the Kansas City Chiefs, I think, and they were on that team at the same time.
I remember reading about Onosai Tanuvasa, who graduated from Farrington High in '71, I think. He was an all-star RB. There was a special sports section during the fall football season (September-November '70) in either the Star-Bulletin or the Advertiser featuring large color photos of the cheerleaders of various high schools, of all things. They weren't photos of individual cheerleaders, but of the entire squads. I've never seen anything like it since. On the front page of that section was a black-and-white photo of Tanuvasa. It was a frontal action shot showing him running the ball, leaping over an opposing school's player.
Kale Ane, currently HC at McKinley High, graduated from Punahou School in '71, I think. I think he played in the NFL as a long-snapper. Kind of unusual; I mean, how many NFL players from Hawaii were long-snappers?
Jake and Luke Ingram of Mililani both were L/S in the NFL around the 2010's. Jake played for several team. Younger brother Luke was singed then cut by several teams. Not sure if Luke played a full season.

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Re: Favorite HS football players of all time?

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Tom Tuinei. Waianae. I only saw him play one time during the Prep Bowl against Kamehameha. He was a man among little boys and played linebacker that game. Defensive lineman at UH and in the NFL and CFL.
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Re: Favorite HS football players of all time?

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@My3Cats:

Yes, I remember him, too. He was on the Waianae team that played Kamehameha in the '75 Prep Bowl. He was truly a buttkicker. Waianae lost in a close game; think the score was 14-6 or something like that. I remember Waianae wore blue pants and jerseys, and blue helmets. Kamehameha wore baby-blue pants, white jerseys, and white helmets. Kamehameha's best LB that game was Stanton Akana, but Tuinei was tougher, in part because he was bigger. Tuinei was about 215 lbs, while Akana was about 180 lbs. I mean, Tuinei was big enough to play down-lineman. He was basically a D-lineman playing LB. I think they both made All-Star for their respective leagues (Tuinei for OIA West, Akana for ILH).

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Re: Favorite HS football players of all time?

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Re: Favorite HS football players of all time?

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I think most of our favorite players will reflect our age and generation and/or when we were most in-tune with high school football. With that said, here are my favorite Hawaii HS football players:

1a. Chris Paogofie, multi-position athlete, Waianae - I don't think I've ever seen a better local football player than Paogofie. I don't think he had the grades or desire to play D1 but he could have been an all-american if he wanted to. I did get to see him do damage for Hawaii's AFL2 team at the Blaisedell a few times, though. There's a clip out there of him blowing up multiple blockers on a kick return that was used for his "All-Katoosh Team" highlight.

1b. George Ornellas, slot, St Louis - a generational athlete. Also not interested in college, unfortunately.

2. 90's RBs - Mark Autaia, Adrian Murrell, Randall Okimoto, Joe Igber, Chris Fuamatu-Maafala, Josh White, James Fenderson, John West, Wayne Borges, Lono Manners and a bunch more that I can't remember. It seemed like there were a lot of star RBs in the 90's.

3. Albert Sabog, WR, Kalani - Not sure if he still holds the single-game receiving record, but he had the record for a very long time (300 yds vs Roosevelt in 1991 or something). Sentimental favorite. Also a great bowler.

4. Chevan Cordeiro, QB, St Louis - I will never forget that throw in the state championship game

5. Orlando Wong, multi, Kahuku - He should have been a better college player, but his body never quite recovered from his Mission.

6. Titus Mokiau-Atimalala - my niece was attending Campbell at the time, so I was extra interested in their football team and got to see him play in person enough times to know he was something special.

7. Kila Kamakawiwoole, QB/WR/LB/PK, Kalani/Kaimuki - Dynamic athlete and all-around good guy. It was cool to see him running fade routes while wearing his LB pads for Kalani before he transferred to Kaimuki. Good basketball player, too.

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Re: Favorite HS football players of all time?

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@poidog:

That's true; I was in high school in the mid-'70s, so I remember guys like Tom Tuinei, who played during that era. However, I do recognize all the names you've mentioned, as I had been following high school sports ever since.

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Re: Favorite HS football players of all time?

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The late Jason Keo. Keo had that pop, that quickness the better rbs have. I like that Keo ran violently and with urgency.

As a junior at Damien, Keo led the ILH in rushing when SLH had Fuamata-Maafala and Ornellas.

Played only the last 5 games for Kahuku due to injury. Led all rushers in Prep-Bowl loss to SLH.

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Re: Favorite HS football players of all time?

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XLT1000 wrote: Thu Mar 17, 2022 12:03 pm Favorite High School football players? I think they'll have to go with Al Noga, Farrington Governors. 1982. And I'll pick one more, then that's it for me. Blaine Gaison, 1976, Kamehameha High School, OIA Honolulu. Okay, one more. Rich Miano, Kaiser Cougars, 1979.
@XLT1000:

Yeah, Gaison was from my time. One of his claims to fame is that he was QB for 2 Prep Bowl championship teams: His junior year, they beat Leilehua, and his senior year, they beat Waianae. As for Miano, I think he might have been an '80 grad, as I think he was on the '79 Prep Bowl championship team (and that's the '79-'80 school year).

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Re: Favorite HS football players of all time?

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@XLT1000:

Really? When? Perhaps after Chow left? Actually, Gaison has some cred. He played QB and DB at UH, and also played DB for the Atlanta Falcons.

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Re: Favorite HS football players of all time?

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Personally, when I think of my list of favorite HS players of all-time I automatically think of the defense side of the ball and specifically players who played it with physicality and instinctvely, a crazed animal. I consider myself old school so I do enjoy watching players who can, for the lack of better words, lay a smack or in Larry Priceʻs own words a “KATOOSH!”.

George Kauwalu WAIANAE
Chris Pagofie WAIANAE
Lono Manners WAIANAE
Al Afalava KAHUKU
Leonard Peters KAHUKU
Ku-j Tapusoa KAHUKU
Tigi Hill KAHUKU
Jordan Botehlo ST. LOUIS
Dylan Toilolo ST. LOUIS/KAPOLEI
Micah Paris KAPOLEI
Manti Teʻo PUNAHOU
Kalama Chung PUNAHOU
Jeremy Ioane PUNAHOU
Michael Kahula KAMEHAMEHA MAUI
Kaluka Maiava BALDWIN
Jordan Hoiem BALDWIN
John Lotulelei BALDWIN
Nohea Keahi BALDWIN
Giovanni Stevenson CAMPBELL

Just to name a few… there are so much more but these are the only names I could come up with off the top of my head. Hawaii players are known for their physical brand of football, the list could go on and on…and on. I know the list is a bit of a modern one but I am a 03ʻ graduate and I didn’t really watch football until I was out of school.

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Re: Favorite HS football players of all time?

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Kama Bailey and Jeremy Ioane is 2 of the best highlight tapes i have seen from the Islands

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Re: Favorite HS football players of all time?

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HS Football Fanatic wrote: Mon Mar 21, 2022 9:32 am @My3Cats:

Yes, I remember him, too. He was on the Waianae team that played Kamehameha in the '75 Prep Bowl. He was truly a buttkicker. Waianae lost in a close game; think the score was 14-6 or something like that. I remember Waianae wore blue pants and jerseys, and blue helmets. Kamehameha wore baby-blue pants, white jerseys, and white helmets. Kamehameha's best LB that game was Stanton Akana, but Tuinei was tougher, in part because he was bigger. Tuinei was about 215 lbs, while Akana was about 180 lbs. I mean, Tuinei was big enough to play down-lineman. He was basically a D-lineman playing LB. I think they both made All-Star for their respective leagues (Tuinei for OIA West, Akana for ILH).
Ron Marciel tried that with Harris Matsushima by moving Matsushima from DT to MLB for Matsushima's senior year. Matsushima just didn't have the natural instinct/intangibles of a MLB. Matsushima did go on to become a starting DT at the University of Hawaii. Matsushima and John Woodcock were as solid a pair of DT as any in UH history.

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Re: Favorite HS football players of all time?

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BowTow wrote: Fri Apr 28, 2023 1:22 pm
HS Football Fanatic wrote: Mon Mar 21, 2022 9:32 am @My3Cats:

Yes, I remember him, too. He was on the Waianae team that played Kamehameha in the '75 Prep Bowl. He was truly a buttkicker. Waianae lost in a close game; think the score was 14-6 or something like that. I remember Waianae wore blue pants and jerseys, and blue helmets. Kamehameha wore baby-blue pants, white jerseys, and white helmets. Kamehameha's best LB that game was Stanton Akana, but Tuinei was tougher, in part because he was bigger. Tuinei was about 215 lbs, while Akana was about 180 lbs. I mean, Tuinei was big enough to play down-lineman. He was basically a D-lineman playing LB. I think they both made All-Star for their respective leagues (Tuinei for OIA West, Akana for ILH).
Ron Marciel tried that with Harris Matsushima by moving Matsushima from DT to MLB for Matsushima's senior year. Matsushima just didn't have the natural instinct/intangibles of a MLB. Matsushima did go on to become a starting DT at the University of Hawaii. Matsushima and John Woodcock were as solid a pair of DT as any in UH history.
@BowTow:

You're not going to believe this, but I met Matsushima in '81, at the UH Real Estate department. He often hung-out there with a couple of students, and I was taking a Real Estate class that year. If I recall correctly, he was a '74 St Louis alumnus. Therefore, he was in the ILH school that played in the first Prep Bowl, in '73. They lost to the OIA school, Waianae, 6-0, I think. By the score, we can assume the game was a defensive struggle, with each school's D punching the other school's O in the mouth. I think Waianae's coach was Larry Ginoza.

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