Two days before its scheduled Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II opener, Anuenue has elected to forfeit its Saturday game against Radford at Kaiser Stadium.
Rams head coach Fred Salanoa was notified of the decision on Thursday. Harold Tanaka, the OIA football coordinator, and Anuenue coach Keli‘i Pio Adams confirmed it.
“We’re trying to be optimistic,” Adams said. “We have 23 players and six have been injured since the St. Francis game (a 62-0 loss last Friday. The doctors say that they’ll be out two weeks, so we won’t know for sure who will be back and how many players we’ll have for the game against Kaimuki (scheduled for Aug. 22 at Kaiser Stadium). We may have enough to play that game.”
Adams and Tanaka both said it will be a week to week decision if Anuenue plays.
Adams said that many Na Koa players are underclassmen. Of the 23, four are seniors and two are juniors. Two of the inured players are seniors with shoulder problems, and two are juniors with what the coach termed knee tweaks. A sophomore has a broken arm and a freshman hurt his ankle.
This is the second year in a row Anuenue has pulled out of its OIA opener against the Rams.
Anuenue started its varsity program in 2006 and didn’t forfeit a game until 2010. This will be the fifth game Anuenue has forfeited since the start of the 2013 season, including three games last year.
Radford will make its season debut next Saturday against Roosevelt at the Aiea High field. Radford didn’t play last week either because it scheduled its lone nonleague game (the OIA allows just one nonleague game) on Sept. 11 at Mount Tahoma (Wash.) in Tacoma.
Anuenue’s last win was Sept. 21, 2012 against Roosevelt.
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