Lineman Satele: 'We never stop fighting'

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Before Hercules Satele could do his senior walk, he needed to take a breather.

Satele, the starting guard for the University of Hawai'i football team, was nearly breathless in the locker room following the Warriors' 35-28 victory over Washington last night at Aloha Stadium.

"We left everything out there," Satele said. "Most teams would have given up. We were down 21 points to Washington. But this team, we never give up. We never stop fighting."

Satele was one of 22 seniors who capped an undefeated regular season in style last night.

After the game, the seniors did the traditional senior walk, greeting fans around Aloha Stadium.

"This is my last game in Aloha Stadium and what a way to go out," he said. "We're 12-0. I'm never going to forget this."

But it was a forgettable first half for Satele and the rest of the Hawai'i offensive line. Self-admitted "screw ups" contributed to the Warriors' falling into a 21-0 deficit in the first quarter.

"We take all the blame," Satele said. "We're here to protect the quarterback, and we didn't do a good job. We had some screw ups and the coaches got on us."

During one timeout, head coach June Jones came out to the field to lecture the offensive linemen.

"He just said to pick it up," Satele said. "We all looked at each other and said that's it. We're not going to let this team beat us in our house."

Now, the Warriors are in line for a historic appearance in a Bowl Championship Series game.

"I don't care where we go, anyplace," Satele said. "This team has been through so much adversity, we deserve to go."

The other 21 Hawai'i seniors are: Colt Brennan, C.J. Hawthorne, Brad Kalilimoku, Ryan Keomaka, Michael Lafaele, Micah Lau, Jason Laumoli, Gerard Lewis, Francis Maka, A.J. Martinez, Myron Newberry, Karl Noa, Timo Paepule, Jacob Patek, Lorgan Pau, Amani Purcell, Jason Rivers, Nate Russell, Rustin Saole, Larry Sauafea and Siave Seti.