Punahou looking to bounce back in the ILH race

Punahou QB Nick Kapule hands the ball off to a running back during practice. Kapule will have a slew of returning receivers to throw to in 2016. Michael Lasquero | SL

The Punahou football team missed out on the big dance in 2015.

After reigning supreme over the Interscholastic League of Honolulu for four years, Punahou's string of league titles ended when it dropped back-to-back games to Saint Louis to end their season. With a new season on the horizon, the Buffanblu are working diligently to avoid the same let down for the second straight year.

"We're taking it like you would when you don't win. It's a tough pill to swallow" said Punahou coach Kale Ane, who enters his 18th season at the helm. "Congrats to Saint Louis, they played great (in those games). We had a chance to battle back at the end, which we're really happy about, but we didn't get quite to where we wanted to and we have a lot of work on so we're excited about the upcoming season."

The feeling of falling short isn't lost on Ane's players either.

"As of this year, we're not the ILH champs so it puts a chip on our shoulder," said senior Alexander Skelton, who plays inside linebacker and fullback. "We feel like we let down our family and friends, all our fans and the people that wore the uniform before us. For us seniors, this is our last season so we have a lot of expectations and we're ready to prove everyone wrong."

Skelton replaces Laakea Look, the 2015 ILH Division I Defensive Player of the Year, in the heart of the Buffanblu's 3-4 defense.

"It's been good. I've been (in variety) since (my) sophomore year so I've been learning a lot from Saitui (Moeai), Ronley (Lakalaka), Kalama (Chung) and Laakea (Look)," said Skelton. "They were good leaders to us; not only for me, but all the linebackers. They taught us a lot of things like to never give up and to be great leaders."

With outside linebackers Seyddrick Lakalaka and Logan Williams returning, and safety Ryan Dominick moving down to play in as a rover, linebacker should be a position group that the Buffanblu can depend on in 2016.

Another big hole that Punahou will have to fill is at running back with three-year varsity running back Wayne Taulapapa moving on to play for the University of Virginia. Taulapapa rushed for 3,264 yards and 52 touchdowns in his prep career.

"Wayne is tough to replace," said Ane. "He was second in career rushing in our school history. We have a couple of young kids coming up who I think are going to battle for the position. They have unique talents, but replacing Wayne is going to be a group effort."

Some names to look out for at the position that Ane mentioned were Sitiveni Kaufusi, Antonio Cortez Feria and Enoch Nawahine.

Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].