Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
Two more members of defending state champion Saint Louis School have accepted scholarship offers from the University of Hawaii football team.
Wideout Jonah Panoke and defensive back Kai Kaneshiro told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser they made oral commitments to play for the Rainbow Warriors in 2018. Two weeks ago, quarterback Chevan Cordeiro pledged to sign with the Warriors. All three will be seniors this fall.
Panoke and Kaneshiro are both 6 feet 2 and 185 pounds. At UH’s Elite Camp this month, Panoke ran the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds. Kaneshiro was clocked at 4.56 seconds.
Despite missing five games because of a thumb injury, Panoke caught nine passes for 183 yards, an average of 20.3 yards per catch. In the open division title game, Panoke caught a 53-yard scoring pass from Tua Tagovailoa.
“Tua told me, ‘go deep, bro, go one-on-one, and catch it,’” Panoke recalled. “I ran up there and did it.”
Panoke said he is a longtime UH fan who attended games with his father and sister. He said he followed former UH quarterback Colt Brennan and receivers Davone Bess, Ryan Grice-Mullins and Jason Rivers.
Panoke and Cordeiro have played on the same teams since second grade, when they were on the Kalani Falcons of the Pop Warner league.
“We’ve had a connection since we were little kids, ” Panoke said, adding that he also is “super good friends” with Kaneshiro. Panoke and Kaneshiro received their UH offers following the Elite Camp.
“The UH coaches were really open to us,” Kaneshiro said. “It was such a good experience (to attend the camp). We learned how Hawaii plays and practices. We got to know the coaches. We could see the brotherhood at UH. It’s the same way at Saint Louis.”
Kaneshiro said he agreed to fill a vacancy at free safety last year. “I wanted to help wherever I could,” Kaneshiro said.
This year, he is expected to move back to cornerback. He is projected to play either safety or cornerback at UH.
86
