Kalani’s Kazuto Moribe never had more fun on a soccer field than he did last week, and it is doubtful he’ll ever top it.

Moribe, who thrilled crowds with his big leg and reckless style at last year’s state tournament, returned to the pitch six months after blowing out his knee in a club game. He didn’t get to play, but going through drills at halftime of a friendly at Radford was enough.

"I was having so much fun at that halftime, just kicking the ball and having so much fun," Moribe said. "I was just so happy, just dribbling and shooting. Then, the next Tuesday I was so hyped up, I just couldn’t wait until school ended so I could run around at practice. I missed it so much."

Moribe arranged to go to a mainland soccer tournament with his Abunai club team and had a UNLV coach interested in seeing his game in person. And it was all taken away with the pop of a knee.

"I felt it like buckle out and I heard a loud pop, so I was like, ‘Oh, God,’ " Moribe said. "It was over the scale of 10, I just couldn’t stop screaming on the ground it was so much pain. I was so worried I wouldn’t be able to play high school again."

While his friends were on a plane to show their stuff to college coaches, he was laid up, feeling as if the world passed him by. He returned to practice for the first time a week ago, but he still feels more like the ball boy than the big gun.

"Everybody’s skill level is way up there and I am below average at this point," Moribe said. "I can’t even run for 30 minutes. I am pretty sure it will come back, but I don’t know. Nobody knows."

The college coaches who contacted him after states stopped calling as soon as word about his knee got out, so Moribe is looking at this season as all or nothing. He wants to atone for his performance in the state final, when he believes Mililani took advantage of his deficiencies, and he wants to get college coaches to notice him again — one coach in particular.

"I might think of going to UNLV anyway because he was the first one to believe in me," Moribe said. "If he ever calls back, of course. But we have to win to get anyone to call."

The winning might be the hard part. Kalani returns Star-Advertiser Player of the Year Leo Klink, but lost Yoshi Tamukai and Kevin Carroll from last year’s miracle team.

Coach Mike Ching planned on moving Moribe to the front (he was a defender last year) to make up for the talent drain, but now he has to figure out how to get the team in position to contend by the time Moribe comes back. The captain doesn’t see that as a problem at all; he hopes to begin contributing in games next week.

"Hopefully I will be back full strength for states," Moribe said. "I am pretty confident in my team making it through playoffs without me. I’ll just rest up, play little by little and eventually play a full 80 minutes.