The Baldwin Bears, not in the Star-Advertiser Football Preseason Top 10?
Strange, indeed. But when coaches and media put their minds together to sort out the list — long before a single scrimmage or nonleague game — they probably came to this conclusion. The Bears lost their head coach (A.J. Roloos) during the summer, and some of his staff departed. Add to that the graduation of all-everything offensive weapon Keelan Ewaliko, the cowboy-quarterback extraordinaire now at the University of Hawaii.
What’s left? Quite a bit, actually. Linebacker Jordan Hoiem is one of the top recruits in the state with multiple scholarship offers in hand. The Bears have little competition, at least in the past decade, when it comes to Division I football in the Maui Interscholastic League. With a round-robin schedule that includes D-II schools — including powerhouse Lahainaluna — the Bears will get their chance to prove naysayers wrong.
Baldwin and Lahainaluna split their games last season, and with a busload of returnees, the Lunas, guided by co-head coaches Bobby Watson and Garrett Tihada, got the nod in the poll with a No. 10 ranking.
Kaiser was actually ahead of Baldwin in the point totals. The Cougars lost key players like Kai Gonda (Weber State) to graduation, but the full force of Fitou Fisiiahi is back and stronger than ever. Fisiiahi, being coveted by Pac-12 schools like Oregon State, is fully recovered from a foot injury and has dropped more than 30 pounds to 231. The linebacker has down-lineman power, defensive-back speed and an unparalleled aggressiveness on the field, thanks to his years playing rugby.
The Cougars also have a good problem at quarterback, where Konawaena transfer Lii Karratti is in a battle with sophomore Kahi Neves. Add to that a plethora of incoming transfers to coach Rich Miano’s program, and the blue and gold have the attention of alumni, new fans and critics alike.
The biggest snub might be of Campbell, which had the same point total in the voting as Baldwin. The Sabers, with Isaac Hurd back at quarterback, are unpredictable offensively thanks to his legs. But it’s their defensive line that has drawn kudos early in the preseason. Campbell’s D-line gave two-time defending state champion Kahuku all kinds of problems during a scrimmage last week.
A scrimmage is just a scrimmage, but it’s been a long time since any defense gave Kahuku’s heralded offensive line that kind of trouble.
Other teams that received votes in the Preseason Top 10 were Kealakehe, Kapolei, Moanalua and Nanakuli.
