CLEARING THE CLIPBOARD
VIRGINIA OFFERS SCHOLARSHIP TO TAGOVAILOA-AMOSA
Kapolei defensive tackle Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa received his 10th Division I FBS college scholarship offer on Thursday.
The offer from Virginia came five minutes before he attended a press conference at Aloha Stadium held to announce the first annual Polynesian Bowl, a high school all-star game on Jan. 17 that Tagovailoa-Amosa will be participating in.
The other nine offers are from Air Force, Army, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Navy, UNLV, Oregon State, Utah State and Vanderbilt.
Hawaii Prep World’s list of football recruits can be seen here.
Tagovailoa-Amosa talked about the mini roller coaster the fifth-ranked Hurricanes have been on, losing in a big way to Waianae and then rolling over Mililani, two other opponents in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Top 10.
“Our offense is doing well,” he said. “We’re pretty positive about everything as far as wins and losses. We’re taking everything seriously, but we’re not going to take a loss to the point where it’s going to affect our game.”
Tagovailoa-Amosa also gave his thoughts on Saturday’s Kahuku at Bishop Gorman game in Las Vegas: “I think it’s going to be a good game. Of course everyone wants the underdogs to win. I have some cousins that play on Bishop Gorman as well. As far as who’s going to win, I’m really not sure. I think I’m going to be rooting for Kahuku only because they are really underrated and we need to expose the talent we have in Hawaii.”
ARCENEAUX IS OUT FOR FOOTBALL AND HOOPS SEASON
Punahou junior wide receiver Cole Arceneaux injured his ACL in a 56-14 victory over Kamehameha on Sept. 1, his mom Nicole Arceneaux said Wednesday night.
She said her son will miss the rest of the football season as well as basketball season.
Last year, as a sophomore guard, Arceneaux helped the Buffanblu to a state Division I runner-up finish.
Arceneaux’s dad, Darnell Arceneaux, is the former Saint Louis and University of Utah standout quarterback and a former head coach at Saint Louis and Mililani. He is the offensive coordinator for Occidental College of Los Angeles and is in town this weekend for the Tigers’ Division III football game Saturday against Pacific at Kamehameha’s Kunuiakea Stadium.
UNUTOA DOESN’T LOSE TO BROTHER
Mo Unutoa, the senior left tackle for the ninth-ranked Kapaa Warriors, was at Aloha Stadium for the Poly Bowl press conference Thursday.
In going 4-0 so far, the two-time defending Kauai Interscholastic Federation champion Warriors have scored 122 points and given up only 6.
Unotoa, who is 6 foot 5 and 285 pounds, was asked if the team realizes they are in the Top 10 out of 45 Hawaii high school football teams.
“We don’t really think about rankings, but we do want to get a top seeding when states come around,” said the son of former NFL offensive lineman Morris Unotoa. “The focus this year is coming together as one, being more closer with one another — not just as an offense or a defense, but as a team.”
The Warriors were leading Radford 16-14 at halftime of the Division II state championship game a year ago and wound up losing 30-16.
Unotoa’s little brother, Elijah Unutoa (who is 6-4), is a starting guard for Kapaa this year, but Mo won’t admit to ever losing to him in drills.
“Never,” he said, laughing. “I got a little height on him, but he’s heavier than me … 300 now.”
Mo Unutoa plays a little at defensive end, too, and he’s thrilled to be playing in the Poly Bowl.
“This is really special,” he said. “It’s an honor to be invited to the first Polynesian bowl.”
KAISER HIRES ABALOS TO COACH BOYS SOCCER
Layne Abalos is the new boys soccer coach at Kaiser, according to Cougars interim athletic director Bryan Almadova.
Abalos, a Waiakea graduate from the Big Island who has lived on Oahu for 10 years, has 25 years of coaching experience in various sports at the youth and high school level.
“He has the grassroots approach to the program,” Almadova said. “He knows the kids and the parents that we work with out in Hawaii Kai.”
Almadova said there were lots of highly qualified applicants for the position, which was vacated after last season by Marco Antonio Gloria, who moved to Sweden.
KAISER TO GET FIELDTURF AND RUBBERIZED TRACK
Almadova also mentioned that the Kaiser campus will be getting a new football field with Fieldturf and a rubberized track.
He was not sure of the cost, but he said it will be more than $4 million.
“It’s been a long time in the making, but I’m 99.999 percent sure it’s going to happen now,” he said.
Groundbreaking is expected to be in mid-October, after the Cougars’ last football game, and the Department of Education is evaluating the bids now, according to Almadova.
“It’s supposed to be done by June,” Almadova said. “That’s the plan. We’re hoping for ealry July at the latest, so the football team has its home field to practice on.”
The Kaiser boys and girls soccer teams will practice at neighborhood parks.
Kaiser is the next in a line of schools to get the upgraded rubberized track and Fieldturf. The improvements have been made at Mililani, Leilehua and Castle, and are still being made at Farrington, Pearl City and Waipahu.
Campbell, Radford and Moanalua are among the other schools who have had recent upgrades to their fields and track, but the fields are grass and not Fieldturf.
TRUMBO RETIRES AS KONAWAENA ATHLETIC DIRECTOR
Konawaena athletic director Bill Trumbo retired before the start of this school year, according to Big Island Interscholastic Federation executive director Lyle Crozier.
Trumbo’s years with the Wildcats were preceded by his time as the athletic director at the University of Hawaii Hilo.
“I have known William Trumbo for around 20 years,” Crozier said. “I first met Bill when he was at UH Hilo and I was the AD at Konawaena and I have found him to be a good and reliable friend. He’s always got a positive attitude and handles situations with the coaches and the athletes quickly and with respect. Bill will have many more years of contribution to the Hawaii student-athletes in his new position as executive director of the Big Island Sports Academy.”
Konawaena girls basketball coach Bobbie Awa has been assigned to the post of interim athletic director. Awa has seven Division I state titles as the Wildcats’ coach.
“Bill is not really retired,” Awa said, jokingly. “He is already running clinics with the Big Island Sports Academy.”
Awa also mentioned that she intends to apply for the permanent Konawaena AD position.
The school is going through the hiring process and is expected to pick a new AD in October.
In other Big Island news: Mike Costales is the new athletic director at St. Joseph, replacing Rene Martin, and Dr. Clemente Hudson is the interim in AD at Pahoa, temporarily replacing Ron Tomosada, who retired.
Costales is a St. Joseph graduate and Hudson is originally from Georgia.
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