Leo Abellera’s team motto during his first stint as Keaau football coach was simple and practical: just have fun.
As impractical as it may sound, it wasn’t long before reaching that goal became complicated.
“We started winning,” he said. “The pressure to keep on winning, and you forget to have fun and are more worried about winning.
“Same approach here. Let’s have fun, but let’s try to win a game. One game.”
Abellera helped build Keaau High and its football program from the ground up. He’s taught math at the school since it opened its doors in 2000, and he guided the Cougars to their first winning season in 2005.
So perhaps he’s the perfect choice for the BIIF’s biggest rebuilding project.
Abellera originally thought he was signing on to come back and be an assistant, but one thing led to another, and his second tenure as coach starts with the Cougars looking for their first victory since 2013.
“That’s (what) drew me back,” Abellera said after Wednesday’s practice.
Keaau has fielded a football team since 2001, and their modest glory years undoubtedly occurred during Abellera’s first four seasons. From 2005-08, the Cougars won at least six games each season and trailed only Kealakehe in the Division I pecking order. In his five seasons at the helm, the Cougars went 27-17.
“We’ll put all the best guys on defense and try to scratch out one or two scores with whatever we have left,” he said. “That’s kind of my philosophy.
“We’re going to try and spread the ball around.”
Just 1-25 the past three seasons under two different coaches, Abellera points to academics and attitude as the first two building blocks. As a ninth-grade teacher, he knows when he’s losing a student’s attention.
“We’ve got an (academic probation) problem. We’re not hiding that,” he said. “We’ve got a grade problem we’ve got to fix.
“Our hopes could be dashed right there.”
Abellera, who spent three seasons as a defensive back coach at Kamehameha-Hawaii, got the job in March, and he was encouraged by the team’s dedication in spring practice. Voluntary summer workouts weren’t as well-attended since many students had jobs, but conditioning started July 18 with approximately 80 players, and about half of them are ticketed for the junior varsity squad.
Teams around the state just donned pads on Monday.
“We’ve got a lot of young linemen, and I see a lot of potential,” Abellera said. “The kids have been working hard and are very coachable. I think it’s just getting the kids to be believe and be positive.”
“If we stick to that, the wins will come.”
He and his small staff don’t have a preseason game to work with before their season-opener Aug. 27 at home against Hawaii Prep, but they’ll scrimmage other teams to help fill the void.
All things being equal, Keaau should have the requisite numbers to compete, but finding a pipeline is key.
During the spring, the Cougars held two football clinics for eighth-graders at Keaau Middle School to build a bridge to the high school football program, and Abellera envisions bringing back a policy in which players for Pop Warner’s Puna Panthers could get into games for free by wearing their jerseys.
“We’re trying to get the middle school kids to transition to here instead of going to Hilo or Waiakea,” Abellera said.
While the program is looking for a fresh start, Abellera vividly remembers his first victory in 2005, a 7-6 squeaker against Honokaa.
“They missed a two-point conversion late,” Abellera said. “The guy dropped the ball.
“We reached the championship game and I had to shave my head, but Kealakehe torched us in the championship game.”
The long road back could be just as memorable.
