State’s best football players selected to All-State team
By Paul Honda phonda@staradvertiser.com
Dec. 25, 2015
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KRYSTLE MARCELLUS / KMARCELLUS@STARADVERTISER.COM
Mililani’s Vavae Malepeai, left, is the Star-Advertiser All-State Offensive Player of the Year, while Kahuku’s Vavae Tata, center, was named Coach of the Year and Kahuku’s Keala Santiago, right, captured Defensive Player of the Year.
For many players and coaches, success has nothing to do with individual postseason honors and accolades.
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For many players and coaches, success has nothing to do with individual postseason honors and accolades.
Nothing more than bells and whistles.
Yet, media and coaches vote anyway, and when they selected Keala Santiago of Kahuku the Star-Advertiser All-State Defensive Player of the Year, they did it with conviction.
The 6-foot, 185-pound safety was a near-unanimous selection after a resounding senior year. He was the quarterback of Kahuku’s shutdown defense with seven interceptions, including two pick-6s.
“Keala is a ball-hawker. We played them two years in a row and he had three picks on us,” Mililani coach Rod York said. “He’s like a coach on the field. You can tell he does a lot of film study because he’s always in the right position. Not only that, he can finish. He puts his offense in good field position or takes it to the house.”
Santiago’s experience, preparation and leadership helped kick-start the Red Raiders to a 13-0 state championship season. Kahuku coach Vavae Tata had high praise for Santiago: “It’s been an honor to coach Keala because the lineage he comes from is distinguished. He is a true student of the game. He is someone you don’t have to worry much about because he is always around the ball. He’s a quiet leader, but when he speaks, everybody listens because he has earned that respect. He has played a lot of football and I can’t wait to watch him during his college career.”
Santiago currently has scholarship offers from Army, Colorado, Hawaii, Navy and UNLV.
“I’m not a person that likes to talk a lot. I like to lead by example than by yelling at people. Share with my teammates whatever I can do to help (make) them better or (make) myself better,” Santiago said. “I pretty much talk whenever something needs to be done or something is important.”
Learning a new system under a new head coach was a major priority, but his position coach — father Louis Santiago, a former Kahuku star athlete — let him know that a great season could be in the making.
“My dad was talking about it all year, what I could do and if I kept it up, then I could possibly be the player of the year. It stuck in my head and I did the best I could, playing the game I love,” Keala said. “I feel very blessed and honored. It all starts with the coaches and my teammates. Without them, this wouldn’t happen.”
Top vote-getters behind Santiago were linebacker Isaac Slade-Matautia of Saint Louis, linebacker Manaia Atuaia and defensive end Bradlee Anae of Kahuku, and linebacker Jordan Loveni Iosefa of Saint Louis.
Voting for Offensive Player of the Year was tighter, but record-breaking Vavae Malepeai of Mililani outpointed Tua Tagovailoa of Saint Louis and Kesi Ah-Hoy of Kahuku.
Malepeai rushed for a whopping 1,930 yards and 28 touchdowns on 227 carries as the defending state champions reached the state-tournament semifinal round. The University of Oregon commit finished his career with 4,549 rushing yards and 71 rushing TDs, both state records.
He will play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 9 at San Antonio. After that, it’s a countdown until graduation and departure to Eugene, Ore.
“I’m pretty sure it’s going to be hectic,” he said after a recent official visit to the Oregon campus. “Everyone was telling me there’s literally no down time. By the time you get home, you’re kind of just exhausted and crash.”
Other top vote-getters were Ace Faumui of Radford, Kumoku Noa of Kamehameha, Kalakaua Timoteo of Mililani, Michael Eletise of Kaiser and McKenzie Milton of Mililani.
Malepeai was all business on and off the field, a throwback kind of playmaker with power and finesse. There was always an element of “Sweetness” to his effort during and in between plays. His coach, York, likened him to another old-school Hall of Famer.
“He’s like a Barry Sanders. He’s humble and does everything right, and he’s a great teammate, too,” York said. “People don’t know this, but he works out two times a day sometimes. He works out seven days a week. That’s probably what separates him from everybody else: his attitude and his work ethic.”
Tata was voted Coach of the Year by a wide margin after guiding the Red Raiders to their first state title since 2012. Tata was especially integral to installing Kahuku’s stingy defensive schemes, which led to seven games of shutting out opposing offenses.
“We didn’t know what was going on or what was going to happen,” Santiago said. “As a team we got together and said that we needed to trust him and buy into his game plan because he really knows what he’s doing, and it worked. He preached to us, ‘Every day, you’re getting better or you’re getting worse. Nobody stays the same.’ We knew it would take a lot of sacrifice and hard work.”
Tata got his players to completely buy into a philosophy of team-first goals. That included a no-frills, smashmouth “Elephant” offensive formation that did not include any wide receivers. Individual glory and media attention are, in his terminology, “bells and whistles.” But he pushed for his entire defensive unit to be on the All-State first team.
As it was, eight of his defensive starters were voted to first team, a number that beat the seven earned by the 2012 Kahuku and 1997 Saint Louis squads.
“What he did is tremendous, coming in his first year,” said York, who was last year’s coach of the year. “All the shutouts and going undefeated. It’s just amazing, but it’s not a surprise. Vae is a very smart guy. Yeah, he’s loaded with talent, but Kahuku hasn’t always finished out on top. For Vae to go through injuries, not having his starting quarterback, it’s a credit to him, his coaching staff and his team.”
Cal Lee, who led Saint Louis to the ILH title and the state-tournament final, and Fred Salanoa of Division II state champion Radford were the other top vote-getters. Also receiving votes were Joseph Wong of Kailua, Walter Young of Waianae, Brad Uemoto of Konawaena, Phillip Rapozo of Kapaa and York.
Malepeai and Tata share a strong bloodline. Malepeai’s father, Amako, is one of Tata’s older brothers. The younger Vavae was named after his uncle.
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