Continue your football career or enter the real world to start providing for your newborn daughter.

That was the decision facing Waianae alumnus Jaylen Gonzales earlier this year.

The Whitworth (Wash.) senior linebacker, with the urging of his now fiancée, decided to return to play one more season with the Pirates and was rewarded this week when he and teammate and former high school classmate Rudyjay Keopuhiwa were named to the All-Northwest Conference first team.

“I was super proud, and as soon as I found out I called my dad,” Gonzales said Tuesday. “The ultimate reason why I came back to play football was to have him and my mom catch a couple more of my games.”

Gonzales, one of 14 players from Hawaii on the Whitworth roster, was a first-team All-NWC selection as a sophomore in 2018.

He had played in just six games over nearly three full years before the start of the season in September.

He broke his arm in the third game of his junior season, causing him to miss the rest of the year.

Last year, the season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Whitworth played in four games in the spring and Gonzales played in three of those games, but he was dealing with a hamstring injury that limited his ability to play.

“It was just great coming into this season because I was healthy,” Gonzales said. “We were out there and I was talking to a lot of the players about this but a lot of the conference games, I hadn’t played these teams in like three years, and so I was super stoked and excited and grateful just to be healthy enough to play.”

Gonzales made 59 tackles this season with 6 1/2 tackles for loss, an interception, five pass breakups, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

The Pirates finished 7-3 overall and in fourth place in the NWC at 4-3.

Keopuhiwa, a defensive lineman, earned all-conference recognition for the first time. A 2017 Waianae alumnus like Gonzales, Keopuhiwa led the Pirates with six sacks and eight tackles for loss, and finished with 39 total tackles from his interior lineman position.

“I think my senior season went pretty well. It was super fun and I’m proud of not only myself but everybody on my team,” Keopuhiwa said Tuesday. “It’s an amazing feeling.”

Both Gonzales and Keopuhiwa came home at the start of the pandemic and finished the year taking classes online.

Keopuhiwa said he had a ladder and some cones and went to the beach to stay in shape while he was home for roughly five months.

“Maybe even run a lap or two,” he joked.

The Pirates closed the season with a 16-10 loss on Saturday to George Fox, which finished second in the league behind Linfield (Ore.).

Keopuhiwa had a sack and three tackles in the game, and the Pirates had the ball first-and-goal in the final two minutes but couldn’t take the lead.

“I felt the emotions knowing it was my last game, but honestly, it was just an amazing game for everybody,” Keopuhiwa said. “It was such a good game and I was just proud of what happened no matter the outcome because everyone did good.”

Here’s a look at the rest of the football players honored by the Northwest Conference who graduated from high school in Hawaii:

>> Jerusalem To’oto’o, Waianae ’17: The Whitworth (Wash.) senior receiver was named to the All-NWC second team. To’oto’o was the Pirates’ top receiver this season, catching 31 passes for 444 yards with two touchdowns.

>> Kalen Akiu, Kamehameha ’17: The George Fox senior offensive lineman earned his first All-NWC honor, making the second team after anchoring the center position for the Bruins this year.

>> Bailey Lee, Kamehameha ’20: The Linfield (Ore.) freshman offensive lineman earned All-NWC second-team honors starting at left guard for the undefeated Wildcats in his first full season.

>> Cameron Chang, ‘Iolani ’17: The Lewis & Clark (Ore.) senior defensive lineman tied for the team lead with 3 1/2 sacks and made 28 tackles with two forced fumbles.

>> Kalen Davis-White, Hilo ’20: The Pacific Lutheran sophomore linebacker earned second-team, All-NWC honors after leading the Lutes with 65 tackles and adding 9 1/2 tackles for loss and four sacks.

>> Cody Bollig, Kamehameha ’19: The Whitworth (Wash.) sophomore offensive lineman was named All-NWC honorable mention. Bollig started every game at left tackle until the season finale.

>> Colby Rhinelander, Saint Louis ’20: The Pacific Lutheran sophomore defensive back was named All-NWC honorable mention. Rhinelander had a team-high four interceptions, returning one for a touchdown, and collected 41 tackles and five pass breakups and recovered two fumbles.