UH linebacker Tavai named conference Defensive Player of the Week
STAR-ADVERTISER
UH linebacker Jahlani Tavai secured a loose ball fumbled by Tennessee Martin during the first half on Septe. 10 at Aloha Stadium.
University of Hawaii middle linebacker Jahlani Tavai today was named the Mountain West Conference’s Defensive Player of the Week.
Tavai, a sophomore, made 13 tackles, including 10 solo stops, in the Rainbow Warriors’ 34-27 road victory over Air Force in double overtime.
“Awesome,” defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said. “He deserves it.”
Tavai made the defensive calls — and changes — against Air Force’s deceptive triple-option offense.
“He had to make the audibles,” Lempa said. “He was in charge of that. He had to change up whatever the changeup was. He had to make sure everyone was on the right page and going in the right direction.”
Tavai played outside linebacker and rush end in the Warriors’ 3-4 defensive scheme last year. After head coach Nick Rolovich and Lempa were hired nearly a year ago, the Warriors switched to a 4-3 defense. It was decided that Tavai would be a good fit at the play-calling position in the middle.
Rolovich said it was evident early that Tavai would be a positive leader.
“If you spend a few minutes with Jahlani, you know he’s a good person at his core,” Rolovich said. “It’s a credit to his family and how he was brought up. You want a guy you can trust. I think he’s earned the coaches’ trust and his teammates’ trust.”
In Mountain West games, Tavai is the leader in tackles, averaging 11.0 per game.
3 responses to “UH linebacker Tavai named conference Defensive Player of the Week”
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Awesome way to play Jahlani! Congrats on the honors; You’re setting a great example not only to your teammates but to the youth of the Islands. Keep up the great effort!!! Go Warriors!!!
The day after the UH football team’s tough Homecoming loss to UNLV, the TV broadcast of the UH Wahine volleyball match showed Jahlani entering the Stan Sheriff Center along with some of his teammates. Jahlani was obviously limping and it must have been hard for him to summon up the energy to attend the match but he made the effort to support the volleyball players who had attended the Homecoming game the night before. I’m glad he went on to play so well against Air Force and be recognized for it.
That big guy in the middle of the d-line (Rassmussen?) was a big contributor as well. He was a rock, clogging up the middle of the line and keeping the linebackers clean. Bottom line, congratulations to Tavai for some well deserved recognition, congrats to the Warriors to a big team win.