A season to remember
Courtesy of Mr. Dalton Sue
December 16, 2009 • Tawni Murphy
Filed under Sports
The varsity football team finished their season with an overall record of 12-2, capturing the Interscholastic League of Hawaii Division II Championship as well as the First Hawaiian Bank/Hawai’i High School Athletic Association Division II Football State Championship.
The team has been undergoing hard-core training, conditioning, and practices since the summer and has been able to come together and make this a season to remember.
“As an underclassman I got to experience the excellent guidance of the coaches and captains which led our entire team to an unbelievably exciting and memorable season,” said junior Cody Petro-Sakuma. “This year was the first year that when I was on the field I could look left, right, behind and in front of me, and know that the other ten brothers on the field and 50 plus on the sideline, has my back regardless of the situation.”
The team had many firsts this season starting with being the first team to manage being kicked off the field during their first week of practice.
“Initially, we worked hard over the summer, but during the first week of practice we got kicked off the field for certain events,” said senior Everett Vasoncellos. “However, we took this event as a way to get better, and we worked our butts off.”
Also included on the team’s list of firsts was being the first ‘Iolani team to beat the Kamehameha Warriors in over five years.
“We caught them at just the right time,” said head coach of the Raiders, Wendell Look, referring to their win against the Warriors. “It was the first ILH game of the season, so they (Kamehameha) were still trying to find themselves. We all know how dominant Kamehameha is, and being able to beat them shows how strong our team is.”
This year’s team is also the first team to have beaten two Division I teams (Kamehameha and Punahou) in the same season.
“Beating Punahou on our home field was probably the best game that they have played all season,” said Look. “The guys had the focus and the desire to beat them and when they did, you could see the satisfaction and confidence on their faces.”
Not only has the team been under the confident leadership and guidance of Coach Look, but the Raiders have also felt the same one team spirit from their team captains, seniors Jarrett Arakawa, Seali’i Epenesa, and Andrew Skalman.
“We just really wanted to set a good example for the rest of out team,” said Skalman. “Our team is very young this year and we wanted to show them what it was like to be on a successful team and what it takes to do so.”
“Us captains were the ones that coach Look came to when there was a problem and we would take care of it. When times were tough we would talk to the guys and encourage them to keep playing hard and finish strong,” said Epenesa. “They listened to us and this was probably the closest team I have ever been on.”
Besides the influence from coach Look and the team, everyone is also under the influence of the wonderful coaching staff.
“The coaching staff has been incredibly influential to me,” said senior Micah Baclig. “They are the hardest working staff in the state, and I appreciate them spending so much time away from their family and jobs to coach us.”
Not only was this season a season of firsts, but it was also a season of repeats. ‘Iolani captured the ILH Division II Title. The team then went on to capturing the State Division II State Championship for the third year in a row on Friday, Dec. 4 with a win against Kaua’i.
Although the first half was full of a bunch of uncharacteristic turnovers in the first half, the team was still able to take charge after the half, and come out victorious.
“The coaching staff and I went in during the half said a few things to the team, and then walked out. The guys were able to talk amongst themselves, and take care of what they knew needed to be done,” said Look.
“As a team,” said senior Sean Nada, “we had to gather ourselves and focus on what we had to do and simply execute.”
The season had many firsts for first time team member, senior,Larson Leu.
“Every experience of this season was a first for me because everything was new, I’m glad I came out to experience everything,” said Leu. “I was influenced by the bond of the team because we all went through the same adversities and conditioning.”
Seniors Kaena Moose, Sean Nada, and Micah Baclig played in the Aloha Prep Bowl’s Hawaii Goodwill Senior Bowl between the East and the West.
Additionally, senior Andrew Skalman played Aloha Prep Bowl’s Hawaii/Polynesia-Mainland Bowl between Hawaii players and players from the Mainland.
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