Cody Whitehouse
ASU Student Journalist

O'Connor preps for matchup against Hawaii school

August 30, 2018 by Cody Whitehouse, Arizona State University


A total of 12 hours on a plane and 6,000 miles roundtrip all add up to one thing this coming Friday night: A high school football game.

These are the numbers that surround a trip from James Campbell High School, of Hawaii, to the state of Arizona to take on Sandra Day O’Connor.

Campbell enters the state on a two-game winning streak to start the season and will be looking for much more than a vacation on their trip to the valley. The Sabers enter as the No. 5 ranked team in Hawaii and will try to knock off O’Connor after the Eagles fell 17-13 last week to Basha.

Despite a down week in O’Connor’s second game of the year, the confidence in the offense has not wavered, even after a disappointing outing in which the team put up 13 points in the loss.

“We have an outstanding leader in our quarterback, Ethan Moller, who the team and I fully trust and stand behind,” senior receiver Tyler Bergstrom said. “I believe the offense has high standards for each other and will not let one week affect how we play or feel about each other."

O’Connor began the season with a huge win over Mesa as the Eagles put up 52 points behind a four-touchdown effort from  Moller. Moller and Co. dominated every aspect of the opening game and appeared to be one of the top offenses in 6A heading into Week 2.

The Eagles took a step back in their Week 2 matchup against Basha as the offense struggled to get anything going until late into the game. Despite only putting 13 points on the board, O’Connor was within striking distance late before a costly fumble secured the game for Basha.

While the result was a loss, O’Connor came away with keys the team needed to work on if they wanted to be able to compete against Campbell this week.

“I need to do a better job protecting the football,” Moller said. “We need to do a better job blocking downfield and attacking the football when it’s in the air.”

The Eagles will look to spread the ball around in a variety of ways as the team has already had eight different players rush the ball this season and received receptions from six.

This spread attack has led to a variety of weapons at O’Connor’s disposal to use throughout their matchup against Campbell.

“We expect our playmakers Damian Ortiz, Tyler Bergstrom, Phoenix Payton, and Alijah Galbreath to get the ball in open space and make some plays,” Moller said.

On the other side of the ball, it will be Campbell who will be looking continue their winning ways after winning last week 34-7 against Hawaii's No. 8 ranked Farrington

The Sabers are led by senior quarterback Kaniala Kalaola who totaled four total touchdowns a week ago with three coming through the air and the other on the ground.

The Kaniala-led offense has been dynamite throughout the first two games of the season averaging 44 points per game and over 400 total yards of offense.

On the receiving end, it will a pair of brothers in sophomore Titus Mokiao-Atimalala and junior Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala that will look to replicate their success from last week. The duo combined for 212 yards, 119 coming from Titus and the remaining 93 coming from the older Tamatoa. The brothers have combined for five touchdowns on the season and both average around 20 yards per catch.

While the passing attack for Campbell can be lethal, the team can also hurt opponents on the ground. The rushing attack has provided over 170 yards through their first two games of the season behind two lead backs.

The lead backs for the Sabers are junior Sky Lactaoen, who has received the bulk of the carries, and sophomore Peter Manuma. Lactaoen leads the team in rushing with 23 carries for 169 yards and is followed closely by Manuma who has 85 yards rushing while averaging 7.7 yards per carry.

Playing a team from out-of-state for the very first time may lack a sense of familiarity, but the Eagles know what to expect on Friday night from film study throughout the week.

“I’ve watched a lot of film on them and so has the rest of our team,” Moller said. “We expect them to be big and hit hard.”

Both teams will look for their offense to shoulder the load in this one as two senior quarterbacks will look to guide their team to victory. During Campbell’s stay, the team will be hosted by several O’Connor families and take place in activities with the Eagles team.

“With this team coming from Hawaii, Coach (Steve) Casey has stressed we treat them like family and like one of our own,” Bergstrom said.

Despite the hospitality, both teams are looking for the same result Friday night.

“Up until 7 p.m. Friday night, then it’s game time.”