10 Crimson Bears named All-Railbelt

The Juneau-Douglas High School football team faced some dark days to start their season, but a late-season surge has brought some light, in the form of sparkling awards, to the end of their tunnel.

The Crimson Bears racked up 10 Railbelt All-Conference awards, including five players making first-team honors.

Defensive lineman Enoch Fifita and linebacker Lincoln Maka, both seniors, joined their teammates on the Railbelt's offensive first team.

•Individual Awards

Offensive Player of the Year - Alex Fagerstrom, Juneau. Defensive Player of the Year - Steve Wright, North Pole. Lineman of the Year - Jackson Collins, North Pole. Assistant Coaches of the Year - Rusty Ham and Luke Balash, North Pole. Coach of the Year - Richard Henert, North Pole.

•First Team Offense

Center - Balin Babcock, Colony. Guard - Mike Sewell, North Pole; Matt Lehrbach, Juneau; Daniel Contini, Palmer. Tackle - Matt Packa, Colony; Jack Perkins, Juneau; Clay Tidwell; North Pole. Tight End - Tim Orr, Wasilla. Wide Receiver - Tim Jaronik, Colony; Mitch Swetzof, Palmer. Quarterback - Collin Murphy, Colony. Fullback - Taylor Lewis, North Pole. Running Back - Chris Crane, Wasilla; Alex Fagerstrom, Juneau; Brennan Bohman, Palmer; Dane Ebanez, North Pole.

•First Team Defense

End - Chris Krieg, Colony; Philip Warwick, North Pole. Interior Linemen - Kevin Priestley, Palmer; Jackson Collins, North Pole; Matt Craft, West Valley; Enoch Fifita, Juneau. Inside Linebacker - JD Mitchell, Palmer; Jack Perkins, Juneau; Kevin Ward, North Pole. Outside Linebacker - Lincoln Maka, Juneau; Lee Jones, North Pole; Casey Katchinska, Wasilla. Defensive Back - Alex Fagerstrom, Juneau; Collin Murphy, Colony; Steve Wright, North Pole; Vic Wisel; West Valley.

•First Team Special Teams

Kicker - Phillip Hingst, North Pole; Zach Zegzdryn, Palmer. Punter - Dan Ebanez, North Pole. Kick Returner - John Daly, Palmer. Punt Returner - Brennan Bohman, Palmer. Long Snapper - Aaron Mabee, Lathrop. Utility Player - Alex Fagerstrom, Juneau.

•Second Team Offense

Center - Kevin Priestly, Palmer. Guard - Aaron Mabee, Lathrop; Chris Lafe, Wasilla; Eric Sele, Juneau. Tackle - Matt Craft, West Valley; Jackson Collins, North Pole; Raymond Chapman, Palmer. Tight End - Jeffrey Mitchell, Palmer. Wide receiver - Tillerman Kroon, Wasilla; Matt Jaronik, Colony. Quarterback - Dakotah Smith, Juneau. Fullback - Coleman Ahrens, Palmer. Running Back - Gino Paoletti, Colony; AJ Allen, Lathrop; Eric Antesberger, North Pole; Jacob Claypoole, West Valley.

•Second Team Defense

Defensive End - Ishmael Agae, West Valley; Jake Jackson, West Valley. Interior Linemen - Shane Duque, Colony; Mike Sewell, North Pole; Ransome Kelley, Palmer; Clay Tidwell, North Pole; Eric Fan, Colony. Outside Linebacker - Doug Templeton, West Valley; Coleman Ahrens, Palmer. Inside Linebacker - Brandon Nichols, Lathrop; Alex Innes, North Pole; Balin Babcock, Colony. Defensive Back - Matthew Maka, Juneau; Dane Ebanez, North Pole; Mitch Swetzof, Palmer; Matt Jaronik, Colony.

•Second Team Special Teams

Kicker - Joe Slagle, Juneau. Kick returner - Corey Mock, Wasilla; Dane Ebanez, North Pole. Punt Returner - Dane Ebanez, North Pole; Corey Mock, Wasilla. Punter - Victor Wilson, Juneau. Long Snapper - John Church, Palmer. Utility Player - Dane Ebanez, North Pole; Matt Jaronik, Colony.

•Honorable Mention Offense

Center - Jordan Lewis, Lathrop; Keith Lemay, North Pole; Brandon Shira, West Valley. Guard - Chris Wentland, North Pole; Jed Johnson, Wasilla; Aaron McCauley, West Valley. Wide Receiver - David Richard, Lathrop; Steve Wright; North Pole. Quarterback - Sam McKinstry, West Valley. Fullback - Chris Krieg, Colony.

•Honorable Mention Defense

End - John Daly, Palmer; Matt Packa, Colony; Josh Eriksen, North Pole. Inside Linebacker - James Langendorf, Wasilla. Defensive Back - Tillerman Kroon, Wasilla; Jared Isaacson, North Pole; Chris Crane, Wasilla; Brennan Bohman, Palmer.

•Honorable Mention Special Teams

Kicker - Tillerman Kroon, Wasilla. Punter - Todd Stephens, Lathrop; Tillerman Kroon, Wasilla. Long Snapper - Josh Hollett, North Pole; Tim Orr, Wasilla; JD Mayo, Colony. Utility Player - Vic Wisel, West Valley.

An endless supply of defense for Long Beach Poly's football team

Speed, chemistry and depth -- lots of depth -- help the Jackrabbits dominate on defense year after year.

Eric Sondheimer
October 10, 2008

When it comes to causing havoc during a football game, Long Beach Poly defensive end Iuta Tepa never lets his coaches down.

He's a 6-foot-2, 238-pound disrupter who pressures quarterbacks with a relentless rush, throws down running backs with startling strength and deflects passes as if he were a 7-footer.
"This kid is the total package," defensive coordinator Jeff Turley said. "He's got the desire to make a play every single snap. His motor just doesn't stop."

Changing of the guard

Kahuku grad Kaniela Tuipulotu leads a revamped Arizona D-line

Take a look at the top of the Pac-10 conference football standings.

Expecting to see Southern California or maybe Oregon? How about Arizona State, or even Oregon State?

Kaniela Tuipulotu

» School: Arizona
» Class: Sophomore
» Height: 6-2
» Weight: 280
» Position: Defensive tackle
» High school: Kahuku '07
» Fun fact: Cousin of former
Arizona basketball player
and current Los Angeles
Lakers star Luke Walton.

Every one of those schools has lost a conference game this season, leaving Arizona as one of the last two undefeated teams in the Pac-10.

Yes, THE Arizona Wildcats, who haven't been involved in postseason play since the 1998 Holiday Bowl. It's a program that has a 16-42 league record in the last seven seasons. It's a team whose coach, Mike Stoops, entered 2008 on a seat hotter than the Arizona desert that surrounds the campus in Tucson.

"People didn't give us a chance this year," sophomore Kaniela Tuipulotu said.

Arizona's rival in Tempe, the Arizona State Sun Devils, got most of the attention as the team to challenge USC. But it's the Wildcats who have staked their claim as possibly the toughest challenger to dethrone the six-time defending league champions by starting the year 4-1.

Everybody knew the offense, led by quarterback Willie Tuitama and wide receiver Mike Thomas, would put up big numbers again this season, but the reason behind Arizona's success has been the stunning turnaround defensively.

It begins up front with a revamped defensive line led by Tuipulotu. The 6-foot-2, 280-pound tackle already earned a starting spot in his second year in the program.

As a highly-touted recruit out of Kahuku, Tuipulotu had opportunities to play at Utah and Oregon State, and be surrounded by lots of home-grown players. Instead, he chose the path that got him on the field the fastest.

"I saw myself being able to get on the field early," Tuipulotu said. "The situation on the depth chart at my position was very low, so I just made the decision (to go to Arizona) and it worked out for me."

The starting defensive line for the Wildcats features three sophomores and a junior, but hasn't stopped Arizona from being second in the nation in total defense. The Wildcats are allowing a paltry 226.2 yards per game and have only given up six touchdowns.

It's a quite a turnaround from last year's squad that surrendered more than 370 yards and nearly four touchdowns a game.

"It's just a whole new team on defense this year," Tuipulotu said. "The offense has a couple of years of the new system under their belt, but the whole defense is new. We have a lot of doubters. People didn't give us much of a chance this year, but it's working out so far."

It's easy to pile on a team that hasn't had any level of success since the turn of the century. Stoops took over the program five years ago and was expected to bring the same level of improvement his brother, Bob, brought to Oklahoma.

The Wildcats have yet to post a winning season under Stoops, but started to turn the corner toward the end of last season, shocking No. 2 Oregon at home late in the year.

"It's just more commitment I feel this year than before," Tuipulotu said. "We're a little more tuned in to what we want as a whole team and not individually."

Tuipulotu is part of an increased local presence on the football team that started with Mid-Pacific graduate Brandyn McCall, who graduated last season. Sophomore Lolomana Mikaele (Damien '06) started a game last year, but is currently serving an unspecified suspension.

Quarterback Bryson Beirne (Mid-Pacific '07) is on the roster and Solomon Koehler (Castle '08) is expected to redshirt.

Former California defensive end Scott Smith (Saint Louis '07) transferred in the offseason and is sitting out a year per NCAA rules, bringing the total to five local players on the Arizona roster.

Continue

Strong arms, kinship

When it comes to Samoan Pac-10 QBs, no man is an island

AIGA Foundation founder and president George Malauulu quoted in Arizona Star article on Samoan quarterbacks in the Pac-10.

The Pac-10 has boasted a few successful Samoan quarterbacks. George Malauulu played for the Wildcats from 1989 to 1992. Washington's Marques Tuiasosopo — who is cousins with both Lyle Moevao and Willie Tuitama — was a Rose Bowl MVP.

Of those, only three — Malauulu, Tuitama and Hawaiian Bryson Beirne — have played quarterback.

Malauulu now runs The AIGA Foundation, a group devoted to helping athletes from the United States and throughout Polynesia land athletic scholarships. Aiga means family in Samoan.

Malauulu said Tuitama and Pritchard have the perfect size to play the position, and coaches "are always looking for the prototype player."

Continue to entire article

All-Railbelt team loaded with North Pole players

All-Railbelt selections include

First Team
DL Enoch Fifita (Juneau Douglas) Sr
OLB Lincoln Maka (Juneau Douglas) Sr

Second Team
DE Ishmael Agae (West Valley-Fairbanks) Jr
OG Chris Lafe (Wasila) Sr
S Matthew Maka (Juneau Douglas) Sr
OG Eric Sele (Juneau Douglas) Jr

Polynesian Pipeline Feeds a Football Titan

By JERÉ LONGMAN

Published: October 7, 2008

EULESS, Tex. — Public-address announcers at games for Trinity High, the nation’s top-ranked prep football team, sometimes inadvertently twist players’ names into what Pacific Islanders consider swear words. Anywhere else in this state, the land of “Friday Night Lights” where high school games can draw tens of thousands of fans, such mispronunciations would not be an issue. But the Trinity Trojans hardly fit the familiar image of the Texas gridiron.

A pipeline from the Pacific Island kingdom of Tonga has delivered a Polynesian influence to this town’s churches, markets and championship football team, which won state titles in 2005 and 2007 among Texas’ largest schools. Players of Tongan descent have brought imposing size, strength and toughness to the Trojans — and the need for a roster with phonetic spellings for the announcers.

“That would stop the cursing,” said Ofa Faiva-Siale, projects manager for the Euless Parks and Community Services Department.

Students at Trinity speak 53 languages, and the flags of 31 nations hang in the school’s entrance. The proximity of Euless to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, which is located partly within the city limits, has brought a remarkable diversity to this town of 54,000.

Thirteen of the 24 Trinity players who have made all-state since the 1980s, and 16 members of the current roster, are of Tongan descent.

“When you think of Texas high school football, you think of country kids, farm kids; you don’t expect to see players from the South Pacific,” said Sioeli Pauni, who has two sons on the Trinity team.

The parents of many players work at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport as baggage handlers and food-service employees, facilitating affordable travel on special family occasions. Others are self-employed as landscapers, carpenters and masons. Meanwhile, their sons are resolute linemen and linebackers, who weigh from 200 to 333 pounds and find in football a brisk physical exertion similar to the Tongan national sport of rugby.

Each time he knocks a defensive lineman on his back, Uatakini Cocker, a 6-foot-2, 297-pound offensive tackle, screams: “Mate ma’a Tonga,” meaning, “I will die for Tonga.” Later, the playful Cocker said, he often has to explain his heritage to opposing players and fans in this typical postgame conversation:

“Are you Mexican?”

“Polynesian.”

“Samoan?”

“Tongan.”

“O.K., because you would be a very big Mexican.”

The presence of 3,000 to 4,000 Tongans here has lent an unmistakable touch of Polynesia to Euless and Trinity High. The Hawaiian Market advertises kava root used for a traditional drink. A nonprofit organization called Voice of Tonga addresses concerns about immigration, culture, language and health, and broadcasts a program, including Trinity football highlights, on local cable television.

The Free Church of Tonga, the Tongan First United Methodist Church and the First Tongan Assembly of God Church — three of nine Tongan-affiliated churches in the area — sit on or near South Main Street. A Catholic chaplain, who is Tongan, visits several times a year from San Francisco, but must work his schedule around football season, said Faiva-Siale.

“I’ll call and say: ‘Don’t come this weekend; we’re in playoffs. Only two or three people will show up,’ ” Faiva-Siale said.

Half of Trinity’s 2,189 students in grades 10 through 12 are white, with a roughly equal mix of black and Hispanics and about 275 Asians and Pacific Islanders. This year’s football team is represented by at least eight nations, from Laos to Rwanda. Nine of the 22 starters are Tongans.

“It makes you a better person, learning to accept different people,” said Dontrayevous Robinson, Trinity’s star running back, who is African-American.

Trinity has a Polynesian Club, and Polynesian students frequently join the choir and participate in the arts. Often, they are chosen homecoming king and queen, coaches said. Ukulele music wafts through the school courtyard at lunchtime and between classes. Occasionally, someone wears a traditional lava-lava sarong. Before and after each football game, Tongan players lead a ceremonial team war dance called a haka.

About 10 Polynesian players from Trinity (5-0) are now playing college football.

“I think they set the tone for the whole school,” said Susan Kaufman, who coaches women’s volleyball. “They are self-confident. Their culture is taught to respect authority. They are very big on family and see the team as an extension of the family. They are nonmaterialistic, which means at Trinity, you can be who you are, no matter what your background is. You can have pink hair or a mullet or be a Goth. Whoever you want.”

Euless is also viewed as a haven from gang violence that some Tongans encounter in places like California and Utah, said Fotu Katoa, who was the first Tongan football player at Trinity High and is now Utah’s director of Pacific Islander Affairs. Sione Moeakiola, a Trinity linebacker who was born in Long Beach, Calif., spoke of simple freedoms here, like being able to place a television near a window without risking gunshots fired into the living room.

Katoa said: “Euless is thought of as a safe place where you play football and go to school and work and people have an opportunity to make something of themselves. They fit in and are accepted.”

When the 6-2, 210-pound Katoa first arrived in Euless, early in 1982, a coach spotted him near the trophy case at Trinity and asked if he needed help. “I’m looking for someplace to play football,” Katoa said. The football coach asked where he was from. When he said Tonga, it drew a blank.

“It’s four hours past Hawaii,” Katoa said. A fierce linebacker, he would soon become known as the Hawaiian Punch.

“The first time he hit somebody in spring practice, I knew we had something,” said Steve Lineweaver, then an assistant and now the head coach at Trinity. “He would yell, ‘I love this Texas football.’ ”

Katoa’s younger brother, Sammy, became an all-state linebacker. If the Katoas’ heritage was unfamiliar, their football skill was not. Undoubtedly, their athletic success helped engender the general acceptance of Tongans, said Faiva-Siale of the city parks department, who attended Trinity with the Katoa brothers.

City officials have patiently assisted Tongan residents acclimate to a new culture, Faiva-Siale said. Compromises have been reached to accommodate large family gatherings at funeral rituals that last for days. And the city has promoted alternatives to the slaughtering of pigs at home for open-pit cooking. A mobile health unit helps to provide free flu shots and medical checkups.

“They have been very understanding of the huge adjustment it takes for many people,” Faiva-Siale said, adding that the city has also provided police escorts for Trinity’s football team and signs for fans to wave at games.

Before each game, L. T. Tuipulotu or Cocker, the offensive tackle, leads the Trojans in a haka dance, performing a version of a ritual associated with the Maori people of New Zealand and popularized by New Zealand’s national rugby team. As the team trainer blows a conch shell, the Trinity players crouch and pound their chests and thighs and stomp and shout the preamble to a long-ago battle: “Ka Mate! Ka Mate! (I may die! I may die!)

“Ka ora! Ka ora! (I may live! I may live!)

“He Tehine te tangata puhuru huru (Behold the hairy man)

“Kane ti mai faka la titi te ra! (Who will lead us to victory and make the sun shine!)

“A hupane, A hupane (Up the ladder, up the ladder)

“A hupane, Kapa, Riti te ra! (To the top, the sun will shine in victory!)”

Elikena Fieilo, a 200-pound linebacker and perhaps Trinity’s best player, said the haka was meant to “ignite the breath” of competition. Opponents are not always welcoming. Earlier this season, a rival school band started playing the national anthem during the haka. Others have mocked the dance, but at their peril.

In 2007, Permian High of Odessa, Tex., defeated Trinity, 30-3, during the regular season. When they met again in the playoffs, Permian fans carried signs suggesting the haka was no more threatening than the hula.

“That got us fired up,” Cocker said.

Trinity won the rematch, 38-14, on the way to a state championship.