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Jacob Gaudi

Iolani football  •   #3    

Find the football and it's likely that Jacob Gaudi is nearby. 

Such was the case last Friday, when the Iolani senior intercepted a pair of passes and returned one of them for a pick-six in his team's 56-41 win over visiting Radford at Kozuki Stadium in the 57th annual Father Bray Memorial Football Classic. 

Gaudi, a 5-foot-10, 188-pound hybrid defender, put the finishing touches on the victory for the Raiders (2-0) with his 70-yard interception return for touchdown with about seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.

"It's always nice when the defense can score, but it's because he put himself in the right spot and he caught the ball," Iolani coach Wendell Look said of Gaudi, a third-year varsity player and second-year starter. 

"Most defensive guys will bat the ball down, but he caught the ball and then that's what was impressive was how he just kind of turned on the jets and went down the sideline and went untouched and yeah, I think that was it," Look said of Gaudi's score, which extended the Raiders' lead to 55-27. 

"After that it was done, but the impressive part was his speed. His speed has really improved this year and that comes from the track training that he did this spring, but now I know he can run that fast, so he better move that fast, too," Look laughed. 

Gaudi ran the 200- and 400-meter dash events for the Iolani track and field team last spring. While his speed has improved in the past year, Gaudi's nose for the ball has always been a strength of his, according to his coach. 

Look describes Gaudi as an omnipresence for the Raiders defensively. 

"I think you'd see an active player; He's always on the move, always around the ball, he understands where he needs to be and gets himself into the right position," Look said. "He's very mobile; He can run the field and I think he's pretty much in the right places at the right time to make plays and I think the part where his role has changed a little bit this year is where he's gotta be the guy."

As a junior last season, Gaudi was tabbed as an All-Interscholastic League of Honolulu all-star linebacker and also picked up First Team All-Hawaii honors. He was one of three Iolani defenders named to the All-Hawaii First Team, alongside fellow-junior Asher Matsui and then-senior Stirling Sakashita, who was voted as All-ILH Defensive Player of the Year by league coaches. 

"I think last year (Gaudi) was in more of a supporting role: a little bit on the perimeter, bringing him off the edge, playing the outside a little bit," Look described. "This year, he's that heart in the middle of the defensive scheme and so he needs to be — along with the other guys: Asher and the Moriokas (Bronson and Brayden) and Haa (Dela Cruz) — they need to be in the right places for us to have the right fit all the time and then from there, then they need to go and make plays and (Gaudi) understands this. He knows what the defense is and that's why I said, he's always in the right place at the right time to make a play."

Gaudi goes from a supporting role to a lead one as he steps into the role vacated by Sakashita — and previously by former All-Hawaii Defensive Player of the Year Lanakila "Meki" Pei, who is now with the University of Hawaii football team after he began his collegiate career at the University of Washington. 

"He's filling in Stirling's spot and not only on the field, performance-wise, but as a leader, too," Look said of Gaudi, one of four team captains, along with Matsui, Dela Cruz and quarterback Micah Hoomanawanui. 

"We got a good captain group with those guys. They've been through it, they know what it takes to get where they wanna get to, so hopefully they'll keep putting their own little touches and personality to it and to this team and we'll take it one day at a time," Look said. 

In addition to his two picks, Gaudi also registered a pair of tackles in the backfield, including one sack. 

And then there's his duties on special teams. 

"He's on pretty much every special teams unit," Look pointed out.

He went on, "I was kind of joking with him (Monday) that we've never had so many guys cramp up before and he was one of them, but he did play 80-plus plays on defense, not including special teams and we don't have much depth so he's on all the special teams, all the defensive reps, so I was kind of joking that he played a lot of reps out there."

One of Gaudi's responsibilities on special teams is punting. 

"He took over punting for Mason (Mizuta) last year, kind of midseason because Mason sprained his ankle and this year it really clicked and he's hitting some bombs, so I would kind of look at that as a part of the game where he contributes in that phase. His punting has really, really gotten better and I would say he's one of the better ones in the state," Look stated. 

Despite the many hats that he wears for the Raiders, Gaudi is well-tempered to manage the ups and downs of a long season. 

"I don't think he takes himself too seriously. That does mean that he's not an intense kind of player. He's a guys that knows how to have fun and likes to have fun, but the maturity part of it is that he knows when he needs to be serious and when it comes time to work, he goes to work and that's what makes it enjoyable to work with him," Look said. 

Iolani opened the season with a 62-27 win over Kaiser before last weekend's high-scoring affair against Radford. Look's team has won its last 13 games since falling to Hilo in heartbreaking fashion in the 2019 Division I state final. But the veteran coach knows this season has little to do with last year's 11-0 campaign that was capped off with a convincing 38-0 win over Lahainaluna in the title game. 

"There's no complains as of now, (but) it's early and early on in my career I learned that you don't want to be known as a group that is early ripe and early rotten, because if you're rotten toward the end they'll throw you away, so hopefully they'll understand that and they'll take it one game at a time and one day at a time and know that it's a long season and we're trying to get better every day," Look recited. 

"Even with Jacob, there's things he can get better at on the field and off the field, in terms of being a leader, but I think they understand what the standard is for us and what the process is for us, so they're figuring out how to do it their way," Look said. 

Gaudi and the Raiders, who remained at No. 6 in this week's ScoringLive Power Rankings, are idle this week before they visit Castle (0-1) on Aug. 26 in their final non-league tune-up before ILH plays begins on Sept. 9. 

FOOTBALL 

Frank Abreu, Kamehameha-Maui — Caught five passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to Kamehameha-Hawaii

Hunter Acia, Keaau — Caught six passes for 94 yards and three touchdown passes and also intercepted a pass in a win over Kalani 

Liatama Amisone, Kapolei — Threw for 192 yards and three touchdowns on 12-of-14 passing without an interception and ran five times for 71 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Farrington

Zedekiah Anahu-Ambrosio, Konawaena — Intercepted two passes and made two tackles on defense and also caught seven passes for 53 yards on offense in a loss to Granger (Utah)

Dane Bannister, Keaau — Ran for 101 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries and caught three passes for 72 yards in a win over Kalani 

Bobby Best, Pearl City — Scored on a 26-yard interception return in a loss to Damien 

Ian-Jay Cabanilla, Lahainaluna — Had eight carries for 109 yards and a touchdown and also caught a touchdown pass in a win over Hilo

Dawson Coover, PAC-5 — Caught four passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Kalaheo 

Camren Flemister, Leilehua — Scored on a 79-yard interception return in a loss to Waipahu 

Kekaha Graham, Saint Louis — Threw three touchdown passes in a win over Kapaa 

Michael Hayslett, Radford — Ran for 120 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries in a loss to Iolani 

Darien Hoeppner-Corales, Leilehua — Caught four passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to Waipahu 

Christopher Holt, Kalani — Caught nine passes for 104 yards in a loss to Keaau 

Gavin Hunter, Mililani — Made eight tackles, intercepted a pass and broke up two others in a loss to Mission Viejo 

Kodi Kaai, PAC-5 — Threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns on 12-of-21 passing without an interception in a win over Kalaheo 

Blade Kaululaau, PAC-5 — Ran for 138 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries in a win over Kalaheo 

Keao Kawaakoa, Iolani — Ran for three touchdowns and caught another in a win over Radford

Titan Lacaden, Saint Louis — Caught two touchdown passes in a win over Kapaa 

Tobey Lau, Kamehameha-Hawaii — Ran for three touchdowns in a win over Kamehameha-Maui 

Caleb Lauifi, Waipahu — Had one sack and a fumble recovery in a win over Leilehua 

Jabiel Lauvao, Mililani — Made eight tackles, including five for losses and two sacks in a loss to Mission Viejo

Iosepa Lyman, Punahou — Ran for two touchdowns in a win over Moanalua 

Joshua Manu, Waipahu — Threw for 365 yards and two touchdowns on 20-of-35 passing without an interception and ran for another score in a win over Leilehua 

Tyrese Miller, Radford — Caught seven passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to Iolani 

Diego Pettypool, Keaau — Threw for 228 yards and three touchdowns on 16-of-27 passing with one interception and ran for 121 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries in a win over Kalani 

Ezekiel Rodrigues, Mililani — Made 11 tackles in a loss to Mission Viejo 

Travis Ross, Punahou — Intercepted two passes, broke up two others and made 2 1/2 tackles in a win over Moanalua 

GianCarlo Ruffo, Punahou — Made four tackles, including three for losses and two sacks in a win over Moanalua 

Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, Campbell — Threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns on 9-of-13 passing without an interception in a win over Kailua 

Nela Taliauli, Iolani — Caught six passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Radford 

Kaulana Tihada, Lahainaluna — Ran for 169 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries in a win over Hilo 

Malachi Torres, Keaau — Made 12 tackles, including three for losses and one sack in a win over Kalani 

Trez Uemoto, Konawaena — Made nine tackles, including two for losses and one sack in a loss to Granger (Utah)

Liatama Uiliata, Waipahu — Caught 10 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown and intercepted two passes, including one he returned 79 yards for a score, in a win over Leilehua 

Edward Whaley, Leilehua — Recorded two sacks in a loss to Waipahu 

Alai Williams, Punahou — Ran for two touchdowns in a win over Moanalua