HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – With the high school football regular season over, two of Hawaii’s best teams face off on Saturday with Kahuku hosting Campbell.
However, in an interesting late-season development, the Red Raiders welcomed a transfer from one of the top programs in the country.
Rookie midfielder Matai Fuiafa heads to Laie having already made a name for himself at nationally ranked St. John Bosco.
In his first-ever college start, he pulled out all the stops with over 300 receiving yards and three touchdowns in a win over Florida powerhouse Chaminade-Madonna.
“Matai did very well at St. John Bosco, which is the number two school in the country. We wished he could have played against Mater Dei and played that game before we left, but the opportunity was not going to wait for me for another two weeks,” said Matai’s father, Robert Fuiava. .
Fuiava Ohana had to make the difficult decision to move to the islands in the middle of Matai’s first year when the opportunity arose for the family, and the move was made quickly – all within a matter of days.
“I talked to him about it on Friday and he said let me pray about it. He woke up Saturday morning, and he was like, ‘Daddy, something is calling me to the islands,'” Robert Voiava said.
The Fuiava family is already familiar with the North Shore, and they felt the Reds’ big love for the game when Bosco visited Kahuku last season.
“I’ve always loved Kahuku ever since we came out here and lost last year, of course we were bitter because no one likes to lose, but just seeing that environment. We went to buy shirts for ourselves and one family went out of their way to buy shirts for us,” said Lupaki Fuiafa, Matai’s older brother. So that was a big deal for us.”
(Lubaki Voyava)
While it’s unclear whether or not he will see the field on Saturday, Mathai has already been working on his relationship with star defensive back and receiver Mana Carvalho.
Either way, he knows playing time must be earned.
“A lot of people think he just went there and won the position and it’s his, that’s not true, he still needs to perform this week during training, we don’t give alms,” Lubaki Voiava said.
The hardest transition Matai has faced has been learning the rules of the game – and even though he has been thrown into the mix, he already feels at home.
“These guys are just for me personally, just being around them is very motivating and very impressive for the coaches on the coaching staff because these guys are really well behaved,” Lubaki Voiava said.
The Fuiafa family tells Hawaii News they now plan to move to the islands in a few years anyway.
For now, the team is looking forward to Matai’s first match with the defending champions.
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