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Before the multitude of scholarship offers, on a field far, far away, Tevarua Tafiti left his mark on the 2019 football season.
Then a 6-foot-3, 208-pound sophomore, the highly versatile defensive playmaker scooped up a fumble and dashed 70 yards to the end zone as Punahou pulled away for a win at Kapolei. In a preseason win at Long Beach Poly (Calif.), he stunned his own coaches.
“He dominated their big tackles,” inside linebackers coach Anthony Debold said. “He just made them look silly, but he’s a humble kid — makes the play, gets back, doesn’t beat his chest.”
Tafiti was the lone sophomore voted by coaches and media to the Star-Advertiser All-State first team in ’19. Onlookers on the continent noticed Tafiti, too.
The offers began to flow. First Hawaii, then current Punahou head coach Nate Kia’s alma mater, Utah. Washington. Arizona State and the momentum never really stopped. Oregon. Michigan and Wisconsin. Nebraska. Then, Notre Dame, on June 11, 2020. Five weeks later, Stanford came calling for Tafiti, who has a 3.4 grade-point average.
He kept busy with workouts through the lockdowns. During the fall of ’20, Tafiti traveled the PTP Showcase in Utah and amassed 13 sacks for the Hawaii Red team.
After that event, Tafiti summed it up.
“It was fun. Our team was fired up and everybody wanted to hit. Hawaii came to play. There was a lot of (trash) talking, but Hawaii boys just talk with their pads,” he said.
There was not a sound out of Tafiti about external matters, even after he committed to the Stanford Cardinal.
“He’s kind of quiet, keeps to himself and he’s really nice. And really humble,” quarterback John-Keawe Sagapolutele said. “He was in my Hawaiian language class last year. It was cool, but we’ve been friends for a long time, so it kind of felt regular, going to school with your friends.”
Sagapolutele is one of the top players at his position in the state. The daily competition within the Buffanblu squad is an iron-sharpens-iron scenario.
“The way he plays the game is the same way he practices — always giving his best, going 100 percent every day. We go against the defense every day except the day before the game. Teva and the D-line, they always surprise me every day,” Sagapolutele said. “He’s an athlete who can make plays all around the field, so it’s hard to deal with him at practice. Honestly, I can’t think of anyone like Teva. He’s a really good athlete and person on and off the field.”
Punahou is 1-1, with a win over Kamehameha and a loss to Saint Louis. Leadership is key for a relatively young roster, which is why Tafiti is one of the seniors Kia relies on.
“Teva’s most impressive trait is his humility. He is the best player in his class, the best player on his team, has all the accolades one could ever hope for. Yet he has never let any of it go to his head. He doesn’t get caught up in frivolous things,” Kia said. “He really has his priorities aligned.”
Tafiti gets major support from family, including his grandmother, Winona Lee.
“My grandma tells me things about school, politics and everything. She makes the best prime rib, usually for someone’s birthday or a holiday,” he said.
This fall, ILH football is back in action. Punahou is leaning on its veterans, including Tafiti, who is now 225 pounds and hasn’t lost a step. He returned a Saint Louis fumble 50 yards for a touchdown on Saturday to keep the fourth-ranked Buffanblu in a battle with the No. 1 team in the state.
“Sophomore year, he was a little lighter and they played him more as a linebacker. He’s still very, very athletic. He could run and cover. They were solid all the way across,” Saint Louis coach Ron Lee said of the ’19 version of Tafiti and Punahou’s stellar defense. “Now, he’s bigger, stronger and they’re using him at various positions. They’re trying to put him in the right places at times. It shows how athletic he is.”
Using Tafiti as a royal chess piece makes life more difficult for opposing offensive coordinators.
“He makes plays. He’s smart, and the biggest thing is he’s always around the ball. You can’t classify him as a linebacker or defensive lineman. Using him all over is making him a better all-around player,” Lee added. “In college, he’ll probably be a down lineman. If he was strictly a rush guy, he’d be incredible.”
Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez has gotten plenty of looks at Tafiti as on opposing coach and as a color commentator on TV.
“Tafiti can do it all. He reminds me of Manti Te’o. He can bulk up and be a defensive end or be a do-it-all standup outside linebacker,” Hernandez said.
Lee has a comparison of his own.
“He reminds me a little bit of Nick Herbig. Nick is really smart. He played one position and he’s definitely one of the top linebackers at Wisconsin. I really feel that he’ll be in the NFL. That kid is smart and he can run. He’s 215, 220 at the most. That’s what I see in Tafiti,” he said. “Don’t get too heavy. Don’t be a tweener.”
Kia, a former standout defensive end at Punahou and Utah, believes Tafiti is creating a new standard in a new era.
“In some ways, he’s the modern hybrid defender, and yet he’s also very much the old-school football player,” Kia said. “He is unique to me, but I’m certain many Punahou players will be compared to his standard — both on and off the field — for years to come.”
TEVARUA TAFITI
>> His favorite food: Grandmother Winona Lee’s prime rib.
>> GPA: 3.4
Did you know?
>> Tafiti changed his number from 10 to 18.
>> Since the beginning of his sophomore year, Tafiti has gained 22 pounds.
>> Stanford was the seventh school from the Pac-12 Conference to make a scholarship offer to Tafiti.
>> His father, Matthew, played football at Waianae.
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