Kobie Russell, a sophomore utility player on the Waipahu football team that was taken off the field in an ambulance in the Marauders’ loss to Farrington Saturday night, is doing okay according to his head coach, Eric Keola. 

“Kobie’s doing okay. He was in the emergency room last night, but he came out. The concern was with his ribs but he’s okay,” Keola said Sunday afternoon.

The play that caused the injury was on an interception return by Russell in the second quarter. On Russell’s runback, a Farrington player hit him late while out of bounds. Russell was attended to on the sideline before getting taken off the field by the paramedics. With 23 players out with academics and injuries to key players during the game, Waipahu coach Eric Keola decided to forfeit the game.

“It was actually a tough game to start with because we had a lot of players out (with probation) – so we had people going both ways. When we had some injuries to key players, we decided there’s no way we can continue. If we put in people that don’t know what they’re doing, that will just lead to more injuries,” Keola explained.  

The initial concern with Russell was that it was an internal injury, something to do with his spleen. Fortunately for Russell, there was no internal injury and x-rays on his ribs came out negative. Russell was able to leave the hospital Saturday night and even was able to pick up his belongings at the Waipahu locker room.

Keola says that Russell will be held out in the Marauders’ contest against No. 5 Kahuku this weekend, but could suit up as soon as the Aug. 29 contest against Castle.