Coach's words: "You can expect a hard-working group of young men that love to compete. Everyone in Division I in the OIA should be evenly matched and have competitive matchups on a weekly basis; it should be fun." - Vince Nihipali

SL's take: Nearly a year and a half after he landed the job, Nihipali will finally get the opportunity to coach his first game with Moanalua, a program coming off of a 10-win season and an OIA championship in 2019. Nihipali, a former standout Kamehameha linebacker, has his roots on the defensive side of the ball and he has high expectations for Chavez, a high-motor 'backer who will also serve as the middle safety in three-deep coverage schemes. Two other LBs, Keale O'Sullivan (5-11, 185, Sr.), a former DB, and Mesi Maae (6-1, 215, Sr.) provide further versatility in a deep and talented position group. Maae excels at hand fighting at the line of scrimmage and has the quickness off the edge to be a menacing pass rusher for opposing offensive linemen. The secondary will rely upon Canaan Rosenberg (5-5, 130, Sr.) and Dreden Meyers (5-8, 145, Sr.) at the CB spots and the duo of Tristin Kim (5-8, 155, Sr.) and WR-turned-DB Isaac Ishikawa (5-6, 145, Sr.) at safety. The receiving corps is headlined by McCaddy, who has verbally committed to Boise State as a hybrid receiver and safety; expect him to see some time in the defensive secondary for Moanalua this fall, too - especially on third-and-long situations. Nihipali expects Saint Louis-transfer Jayce Bareng (5-7, 135, Fr.) to make an instant impact as a playmaking slotback to complement McCaddy's presence on the outside. Defenses will have to respect Bareng's speed on the jet motion play-action fake - which figures to open up some passing lanes for Malloe. The lefty slots in as the starter at QB and will operate behind an experienced offensive line made up of five seniors in LT Mauga, LG Ethan Naleieha-Betiru (6-0, 235), C Logan Eteuati (5-11, 275), RG Saletai-Aneki Alauni-Toloumu (6-1, 290) and RT Goo Sun. Cameron Johnson (5-10, 170, Jr.) will be a Swiss army knife of sorts; in addition to his duties at RB, Johnson will also be utilized as a wildcat QB and is expected to play some linebacker on defense as well.

SCHEDULE

Fri Oct 15	Damien *		W, 26-6
Fri Oct 22	Aiea		W, 28-25
Sat Oct 30	@   Castle		W, 49-26
Fri Nov 05	Waipahu		L, 21-14
Fri Nov 12	@   Kailua		W, 21-7
Fri Nov 26	@   Roosevelt		W, 27-21
Sat Dec 11	Aiea		L, 17-14

league games bold *non-league **HHSAA tournament

2019 TEAM STATS