Brien Ing | SL

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Brien Ing | SL

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Its not difficult to understand why Konawaena head coach Brad Uemoto might refer to his players much more on a first name basis than last, especially when you consider the five Alani's he has on a roster of just over 50.

"I'm not sure that we've ever had five members of a family on our team before," laughed Uemoto of the Alani's on his squad, Keoki, Jasen, Loku, Xavier and Tyren.

Of the five, the most recognizable name is Keoki, a second year starter at quarterback for the Wildcats who's blossomed into quite a gunslinger, nearly doubling the passing yardage from his sophomore campaign (1654 yards in 2021 to 2933 in 2022) while making huge strides in touchdown to interception ratio (20-14 TD-INT in 2021 to 36-9 in 2022).

"Keoki is obviously one of our most important players on offense," said Uemoto. "His sophomore season was his first year of high school football and he learned so much having a ton of success but also struggling at times. He's put in a ton of work after last season and made some incredible strides coming into his junior year."

On the defensive side of the ball is where you'll find Jasen and Loku, who have a combined nine tackles for loss on the season.

"Jasen and Loku both play on the defensive line and are in a solid rotation," remarked Uemoto. "Loku was one of our main defensive lineman coming into the season. Strong and physical like his brother AJ that played for us a few years back." 

Rounding out the siblings are Xavier and Tyren.

"Xavier is in his first year with us as a senior and Tyren is also in his first year as a freshman," said Uemoto. "He (Tyren) was our playmaker on the JV and got promoted to varsity a few weeks ago and will be a full time contributor on special teams."

Loku spoke about what it means to all be the same team.

"it is fun having them all here because we're more motivated to come practice and be around," he said of the dynamic, to which Keoki added, "we all kind of grew up around football and on the same teams."

That isn't to say that no sibling rivarly exists.

"I always compete against this guy (Loku) in practice," laughed Keoki. "He tries to sack me everyday at practice and I'm not about to let that happen." 

"This guy likes to joke around all the time," said Loku of Keoki. "And I'm always trying to catch this guy."

Both Loku and Keoki have high praise for what's in store for the youngest Alani.

"Tyren is small but he doesn't care about his size, he just goes out there and plays," said Keoki.

Playing with so many siblings already has built in family pride and camarederie, but the difference is basically none when speaking about the bond the Wildcats share as a team.

"This whole team been together for a long time," said Keoki. "Ever since Pop Warner or like elementary, we've always been really close with each other."

"It works out perfect for us,' said Loku. "Having all of us together as brothers (on the team), we're actually a really close family so it just makes it that much more fun coming out here with all of them."

Konawaena begins Division I state tournament play on Nov. 19 when it hosts the winner of Aiea-Lahainaluna in a semifinal game at Julian R. Yates Field. Game time is set for 7 p.m.