WAIMEA — In Hawaii Prep Academy football’s full-pads practice last Friday in the afternoon heat, the team was brimmed with confidence.
Each position group worked with a coach on separate parts of the practice field, playing with an energetic force that was matched by the enjoyment of being around each other.
“This year we have a little more culture, and every position group has a coach now,” head coach Lincoln Kalama said during practice. “We tend to have a little more fun, which is the goal — we’re just trying to have fun out here.”
While Ka Makani is enjoying its preseason practices, it recognizes the challenges of the upcoming season, which begins Saturday, Aug. 19 against Honoka’a on the road. After finishing 6-4 and third overall in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division II in 2022, Kalama has high expectations for his young team this season.
“We’re young, but we’re very confident and they’re very positive — upbeat,” he said. “We’re looking forward to getting on the field and practicing, or hitting somebody different.”
“We have a young team, but I think we have all the talent here,” senior linebacker Ekela Livingston said.
Livingston also emphasized his excitement to help lead the team’s young roster as a newly veteran on the squad.
“I’m looking forward to leading as a senior this year,” he said. “I remember my first year playing and looking at the older players as my bigger brothers, so it’s great to be in that kind of role now.”
Last season, HPA ran an offense that produced 20.4 points per game. Scoring over 35 points four times over the course of 2022, Ka Makani is hoping to build off of those performances into the new season. Kalama stressed the importance of his group’s line as being the catalyst of the offense in 2023 — and plans to run the ball often as part of the attack.
“I think our running game is going to be pretty good, especially with our new offensive line coach,” Kalama said. “Our offensive line is going to be our strength.”
HPA’s new offensive line coach, Max Unger, will lead Ka Makani’s loaded unit — which features right tackle Andre Sebastian, right guard Kion Nikkhoo, center Greyson Shin, left guard Ethan Matsuoka and left tackle Iki Lincoln as the primary starters.
With the strong line, Kalama plans to run a type of Chip Kelly offense that was run at Oregon — which entails a run-first, pass-after system.
“Last year, we were more of a spread offense,” he explained. “We also have returning receivers and running backs so I think offensively, we should be better.”
In terms of leading the unit, sophomore quarterback Hayden Kalama — Lincoln’s son — will run the offense for HPA for the second straight year. Kalama is confident in his son’s ability to build off of his late-season improvement in 2022.
“He did a great job towards the end of the season,” Kalama said, referencing the offense putting up 155 points over the last four games. “He’s still green around the corners, but pretty fairly confident.”
The other side of the ball is where Ka Makani struggled last season, allowing 23.3 points per game and giving up 30-plus points in all four of its losses. In the early part of the season, Kalama is hoping to address those weaknesses to suit them for later in the season — where the games begin to mean a little more.
“Hopefully we can be a little bit more aggressive on defense — our corners have gotten a little stronger from last year,” he said. “Overall, our linebackers and defensive backs are playing a lot better (in preseason practices).”
Regardless of how either side of the ball performs, Kalama wants his players to get more out of the season aside from wins and losses. While he looks forward to playing division rivals such as Honoka’a and Kamehameha, he wants his team to value the aspects of collaboration and team-building, too.
“Winning is always what counts but if I can teach them something that revolves around life lessons, then that’s always great,” he said. “Also preaching grades before the game and always learning, always pursuing, moving forward and always being positive.”
“Everybody shows up every day, and we give it our all every day,” Livingston said. “I think we have a really good chance of beating a lot of these teams.”
