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From a distance, everything looks grand for Jayce Jay-Pedro.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound senior is a difference maker on the gridiron. As an edge rusher, he had a key sack in the late going as the Damien Monarchs rallied for a 27-21 win over Pac-Five on Friday.
The work off the field doesn’t stop. Jay-Pedro has a 3.2 grade-point average. His metrics also spell out a promising future; he runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds and can bench press 225 pounds 10 times.
But it isn’t so easy right now. The pandemic limited his exposure to college recruiters. What could have been a dynamic junior season of growth and video highlights was sideswiped for all football players in Hawaii during the 2020-21 school year.
The distance learning and lack of on-campus training caused by the pandemic didn’t stop Jay-Pedro. He hit the weight room at a neighborhood spot, Aneko Place Gym.
“Mark Repollo, he trained a lot of the football boys. Couple boys that play for Damien and one of the boys from Pac-Five,” he said. “He always preached hard work to us and always pushed us to do our best. He played a big factor in how we’re playing this season.”
This year has been life changing for the young man family and friends call “Jboy.” His father, Kape, died in January after years of battling cancer.
“He had cancer since I was in the third grade. He fought hard for nine years, man. Looking back at it, even though he had cancer super bad and couldn’t walk, he never really showed us he was in pain. He got up every morning, 4:30, and went to work at Hawaiian Cement,” Jay-Pedro said. “I’m forever grateful for him. Paid the bills, made sure we had clothes on our backs, he worked just to make sure when it was his time to go that we would be OK.”
The “we” is also his “why” now. His mother, Chantell, and three older sisters keep a close eye on the youngest of the family. His dream of playing college football is also their dream. That was the heart of some discussions in their home.
“They were saying football wasn’t going to happen again. Football being my main sport, before summer started, my mom was thinking of sending me to Utah, but if we would have a season, we would finish out at Damien,” he said. “When they released the schedule with a full season, immediately I chose to stay home.”
Things got no less complicated when one of his mentors, coach Eddie Klaneski, stepped down.
“It was kind of hard in the beginning. Coach K, he was my man. He always looked out for us. For a lot of us, he was a father figure. He took care of us,” Jay-Pedro said. “We found out that the head coaching job would be given to Coach Bones, we knew we would be in good hands.”
Anthony “Bones” Tuitele has proven to be the right person at the right time for the Monarchs, and for Jboy.
“When his father passed away, I kept in touch with him even though we couldn’t practice. I would call him once in awhile. I was in the same situation in high school. I lost my dad,” Tuitele said. “I kept telling him, at the end of the day, life goes on. You’ve got to make your dad proud, and that’s what he’s doing now. He plays for his dad. He makes his mom proud. He’s staying strong for his mom.”
Jay-Pedro doesn’t have one close friend on the team. He considers every teammate a brother.
“It’s not one person I’m close with. I’m close with the whole team. That’s what’s kind of crazy about this year’s team. Everybody’s super close with each other. There’s no bad blood between anybody. We try to hang out with each other at school, outside of school. We’re a super tight team, all 28 of us,” he said.
Nearly two years since their last game, the Monarchs rely on seniors like Jay-Pedro.
“Overall, he’s a leader. A lot of the boys look up to Jboy not only because he’s a senior, but he has the most experience. He’s been playing in this program ever since he was a freshman. Our relationship is close. He can tell the boys, coach will be hard on us because he wants the best for us. He understands the way I coach and he can tell them, don’t take things the wrong way,” Tuitele said. “He’s not a very vocal kind of person. He leads by example.”
Down the road, Jay-Pedro expects to move from defensive end to outside linebacker in college. He just wants an opportunity. For now, he and his teammates are soaking in all the game action they can get.
“A lot of the boys on our team, football is their main sport. Our coach asked if we want to play OIA teams, and we said, of course. We missed football. We want to get as many games as possible to make up for last year,” he said. “Just to get out and play every week is a blessing. We’re just surprised after every game. Whoa, I can’t believe we played a game in Hawaii.”
JAYCE JAY-PEDRO’S FAVORITES
Nickname: “Jboy.”
Jboy’s favorite movies: 1. “Greater,” 2. “Cars,” and 3. “The Sandlot.”
Favorite food: Steak. “Medium rare, rib eye. My brother-in-law (Alika Ramseyer-Ho) makes the best.”
Favorite music artist: Drake.
New life skill: driver’s license, construction.
“During quarantine we added an extension to our house. We extended my mom’s room out. We all had our piece. I had to carry all the supplies up, put in the flooring, work on the drywall. It took four months, I think. Pretty fast.”
Shout outs: “Shout out to my family for always loving and supporting me. Shout out to Mark Repollo, he trained a lot of the football boys, couple boys that play for Damien and one of the boys from Pac-Five.”
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