Hawaii secures Utah EDGE transfer Ka’eo Akana away from UCLA commitment

Hawaii secures Utah EDGE transfer Ka’eo Akana away from UCLA commitment

Jan 13, 2025

EDGE Ka’eo Akana poses for a photo with Hawai’i football head coach Timmy Chang, Hawai’i defensive ends coach Jordan Pu’u-Robinson and Akana’s nephew Kash.

Hawai’i secures Utah EDGE transfer Ka’eo Akana away from UCLA commitment

BY MICHAEL LASQUERO | HSRN
PUBLISHED JANUARY 13, 2025

Ka’eo Akana used to follow brothers Bubba and Chase to high school football practice for Saint Francis School in Manoa Valley District Park growing up.

Now at 21 years old, Akana is coming full circle as he will be taking classes in Manoa as a member of the University of Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors in 2025.

Akana comes to the Hawai’i football team via the transfer portal with two years of eligibility after spending three years at Utah. He previously committed to play for UCLA on Dec. 17 of last year, but spent his winter break at his family’s home in Pauoa Valley.

“My plans for the future are to stay home and play for the home team,” Akana told HSRN on Monday. “It’s just a great opportunity to play in front of my friends and family.

“You can’t beat home. Home is still home and that will always be what we live for. We want to defend the rock, and that’s what we’ll do.”

Ka’eo Akana tackles a ballcarrier in Aloha Stadium during the 2019 high school football season. | Photo credit: Michael Lasquero for ScoringLive

The 6-foot-3, 233-pound pass rusher was a 4-star prospect out of high school and was rated as the No. 1 player in the state from the 2022 class by 247Sports. Because Saint Francis School closed down in 2019, Akana finished his prep career at Roosevelt and also earned OIA and ScoringLive All-Hawaii Division I Defensive Player of the Year honors in his senior season.

Akana will reunite with former Roosevelt and Saint Francis defensive end Jackie Johnson III on the Rainbow Warriors. Johnson, who began his collegiate career in the NAIA playing for Lawrence Tech in Michigan, recorded five sacks in 2024 and was recently placed on scholarship.

“It was always a dream of ours to play at home in front of our families and play together so that was good for me and Jack to reunite,” Akana said.

Relationships forged with the Hawai’i coaching staff also played a factor in Akana’s decision. Head coach Timmy Chang and other members of the staff made Akana feel like a priority when they had lunch with him at Kim Chee II in Kaimuki on the first day of the portal period.

Defensive ends coach Jordan Pu’u-Robinson also impressed Akana with his acumen and expertise in Akana’s position group while associate head coach and linebackers coach Chris Brown already had a relationship with Akana from Brown’s time at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas when the Akana family considered sending Akana there during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“They just welcomed me with open arms and loved me, loved my family and that’s all you can really ask for, is that love and that relationship,” Akana said.

“Coach Pu’u-Robinson, he’s a really good coach. He coaches hard and I feel like that’s what I need so it should be good. Yeah it’ll be fun.”

During the winter break, Akana also trained with renowned strength coach Marcus-Lawrie Kimura and former Hawai’i defensive end Jonah Kahahawai-Welch and reconnected with longtime mentor and Roosevelt defensive coordinator Jon Kahooilihala.

“The training has been good,” Akana said. “The field work with Jonah, we do that three times a week and then Marcus is every day, so yeah we’ve been going at it.

“Just being back in Hawai’i, you know, there’s no other feeling. It’s Hawaii, and this is our home, so you can’t beat this.”

Hawai’i football begins spring practice on Feb. 3.

3 takeaways following Hawai’i football’s heartbreaking Week 1 loss to UCLA

3 takeaways following Hawai’i football’s heartbreaking Week 1 loss to UCLA

Sep 1, 2024

The Hawai’i defense celebrates after getting a stop during a 16-13 loss against UCLA. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

3 takeaways following Hawai’i football’s heartbreaking Week 1 loss to UCLA

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 1, 2024

HONOLULU – From the joys of victory to the despair of defeat. 

The University of Hawai’i gave a Week 1 scare to brand new Big 10 Conference member UCLA on Saturday, but ultimately ran out of gas as the Bruins came from behind for a 16-13 victory. The loss for the Rainbow Warriors, who entered the day as 14-point underdogs, evened the record at 1-1 as they enter the first of three bye weeks in the 2024 schedule. 

Brayden Schager took multiple hard hits throughout an up-and-down day for the senior quarterback while the Hawai’i running game struggled again. Defensively, the Rainbow Warriors “played with hair on fire” in the opening 30 minutes before showing cracks in the armor in the 3rd quarter. 

While the loss leaves a bad aftertaste, UH showed reasons this squad is better than last year’s unit. Without further delay, here are three takeaways following Hawai’i’s Week 1 loss against UCLA: 

Self-inflicted wounds still outweigh the physical ones for Hawai’i 

Hawai’i suffered various injuries throughout Saturday’s physical contest as starting QB Brayden Schager and starting tackle Luke Felix-Fualalo, among others, came up limping in the 3-point loss to the Bruins. While the injuries had an impact in Hawai’i’s ability to maintain the lead in the final 30 minutes of action, the bigger issues for UH remained mental ones. 

The Rainbow Warriors committed 10 penalties for an extra 97 yards to UCLA throughout the day, lost the turnover battle in the 2nd half and failed to connect when needing to move the chains. The first interception thrown by Schager bounced off Pofele Ashlock’s hands before being hauled in by UCLA, but the throw was behind the sophomore wideout in traffic. For a team trying to pull off the first win in the last 15 tries against current Big 10 members, little mistakes added up to a major problem. 

The second pick was a worse decision by Schager, who attempted to throw as he was hit deep in Hawai’i territory and was intercepted just before the end of the 3rd quarter. The Rainbow Warriors were backed up after UCLA tracked down Tylan Hines at the 11-yard line after he decided to take the kickoff from just outside the endzone instead of signaling for a fair catch and touchback. 

The defense had an excellent afternoon in the heat but made their fair share of mistakes as well. Of the 10 penalties for Hawai’i, half came while the defense was on the field, while the offense committed three and special teams had a pair. 

Talent is no longer the question for Hawai’i. All three phases for UH showed moments of glory in the contest against UCLA, but a shaky 2nd half and too many missed chances in the 1st half sank the Rainbow Warriors from floating to the top of the Mountain West and dropped them to 1-1. 

The defense can still produce against “Bigger, Faster, Stronger” 

One of the main questions following the flashes of excellence for Hawai’i’s defense in Week 0 was how the unit would fare against higher level opponents than FCS program Delaware State. In the first real test for Dennis Thurman and the Rainbow Warrior defense, the unit held strong. 

While the pass rush took a small step back after a five-sack week, Hawai’i defended well against the run throughout the afternoon on Saturday. The Rainbow Warrior defense received a 71.3 grade against the run from Pro Football Focus after holding the Bruins under 100 yards rushing, similar to how the unit rated to end last season in wins over Nevada and Air Force. UCLA was held under 100 yards rushing just twice last season while Foster oversaw the running back room, struggling only on the road against Utah and late in the season against Cal and eclipsing 150 yards in 10 contests. 

Hawai’i also produced a pair of takeaways – both coming from members of “The Lion’s Den” – as linebackers Jalen Smith and Logan Taylor got their first and second career interceptions, respectively. Despite not finishing sacks, the pass rush for the Rainbow Warriors was able to produce some significant pressure throughout the 1st half that led to an extremely shaky Ethan Garbers performance. 

In a Mountain West Conference that is as loaded with skill-position talent as any year in recent memory (hello, Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty’s 267-yard, 6-touchdown Week 1 performance), it was vital for Hawai’i’s defense to be up to the task when talent got bigger.

The good news: they were and look like they will continue to be up to the proverbial task as the season progresses. 

The offseason punter drama may have been a blessing in disguise 

Phew, now THAT is a sentence. 

After starting punter/place kicker Matthew Shipley hit the transfer portal to enjoy his final season of eligibility elsewhere, Hawai’i cycled through a few different options at the punting position via the portal themselves. Originally gaining the commitment of Division III All-American Cameron Shirangi, Hawai’i saw the former Pomona-Pitzer standout exit for USC after spring camp when the Rainbow Warriors got Australian Rules Football player James Rendell’s word to join the 2024 squad. 

After Rendell, who has the nickname “Thor” for his thunderous punting power, flipped his commitment to play for Notre Dame, Hawai’i was stuck back at Square One. The Rainbow Warriors moved quickly, gaining Ball State punter Lucas Borrow’s commitment on the same day to fill the spot. 

The graduate transfer has been everything Thomas Sheffield and the special teams could want out of the punter spot, gaining praise for his keen ability to place the ball on his kicks despite not having the power to pound the ball 70 yards in the air. In the opening week against Delaware State, the Australian punter sliced through swirling winds for eight outstanding punts. 

He continued his field-flipping ways into Week 1’s contest against UCLA and even added a fake punt conversion where he took off for a 19-yard gain on Hawai’i’s first offensive drive. His run, which saw him end the day as UH’s top rusher, extended the drive to help Hawai’i score the day’s first points. 

While Hawai’i’s offense continues to work out some early-season kinks, Borrow has helped put the defense in spots to defend a longer field and proved why he was placed on the preseason Ray Guy award watch list with the best punters in the nation.  

Not too bad for a May addition to the roster. 

3 takeaways from Hawai’i football’s Week 0 win over Delaware State

3 takeaways from Hawai’i football’s Week 0 win over Delaware State

Aug 25, 2024

Hawai’i WR Tylan Hines takes a punt back 44 yards to the house for UH’s first punt return TD since 2012; The ‘Bows beat Delaware State 35-14 on Saturday. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

3 takeaways from Hawai’i football’s Week 0 win over Delaware State

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED AUGUST 25, 2024

HONOLULU – Welcome back, college football. 

The Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors opened the 2024 season with a 35-14 victory over visiting Delaware State on Saturday night, starting the year with a win for the first time since the 2020 season. Brayden Schager tallied four total touchdowns (2 pass, 2 rush), Tylan Hines provided Hawai’i’s first punt return touchdown in more than a decade and Dennis Thurman’s defense got home five times as all three phases had some fun in CFB’s opening weekend. 

It wasn’t all pretty for the Rainbow Warriors, but Saturday provided plenty of glimpses into some of the key figures for UH’s 2024 slate. Here are three takeaways following Hawai’i’s Week 0 win against Delaware State: 

The ST unit has taken a noticeable jump from last season – and not just in the return game 

How about some love for the special teams? 

Fans don’t need reminders on the shakiness of the third phase of the game over the past couple seasons for Hawai’i (hello, ‘23 Vanderbilt game), but UH gained a pair of impact makers in the offseason that changed quite a bit for the unit’s ceiling. Combine that with two seasons of foundation-building for others on special teams and something special is born. 

First, former RB-turned-WR Tylan Hines made his long-awaited return to the field for the Rainbow Warriors after dealing with injuries last season that forced the dynamic playmaker to redshirt. He wasted little time showing off what his recovery could mean for Hawai’i in the return game, ending the opening quarter with a 44-yard punt return touchdown to open up a two-score lead. 

The Rainbow Warriors celebrate in the end zone after Tylan Hines (2) punt return TD gave Hawai’i a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

While the TD was exciting (it was UH’s first punt return score in 12 years), Hines showed off good instincts in the swirling winds on when to field punts and when to leave it alone. The wideout fielded three punts, averaging over 20 yards on his returns, while letting the other nine DSU punts settle without the risk of muffing them. Of the 14 drives for Hawai’i, only four started inside its own 25-yard line. 

The same could not be said for Delaware State, who was constantly starting drives with poor field position due to the combination of new UH punter Lucas Borrow’s elite placement on kicks and the unit’s gunners doing an excellent job getting down the field on punt coverage. The Hornets started all but three drives inside the team’s 25-yard line and three times started from inside their own 10. 

Borrow drew the praise of special teams coach Thomas Sheffield earlier in the week because of his ability to place the ball consistently and continued racking up compliments after the game from head coach Timmy Chang. 

“I thought Lucas [Borrow] … there was a lot of good pinning down the opponent down inside the 10 and that’s a huge factor,” Chang said of the punter from down under following the game. “He plays holder [for kicks] as well so you know, he’s double-duty-ing … [in the first half] when we needed to back guys up and make it challenging for them to come out [on a return], his field position really helped us.” 

His partner in kicking, Kansei Matsuzawa, went a perfect 5-for-5 on extra point attempts but did not attempt a field goal in the season opener after winning the kicking contest during fall camp. 

The unit as a whole left Chang pleased, seeing the head coach state postgame that his belief is that “special teams is going to help us win games.” 

The defense has a new DAWG – and he is only one piece of an aggressive front 

While much of the national discussion around Hawai’i revolves around a typically potent Run-N-Shoot offense, conversations in Honolulu have continued to trend towards the defense under the direction of longtime football veteran Dennis Thurman. With the return of most of the starting defense along with leader of the Lion’s Den’s player conglomerate in senior linebacker Logan Taylor, buzz had risen regarding the point-stoppers rather than the point-scorers. 

Saturday, it was a different face from last year’s main contributors. Sophomore linebacker Jamih Otis, one of the products of the Bishop Gorman-Hawai’i football pipeline that associate head coach Chris Brown has helped formulate, dominated on night one of the season to the tune of a team-high 11 tackles (8 solo), 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack in his first taste of extended run for UH. 

It was confirmation of what multiple coaches had been saying throughout fall camp: while Taylor may be the present and Otis may be the future at linebacker for Hawai’i, the talent of Otis has shown the future might be here already. 

UH sophomore LB Jamih Otis celebrates a fourth down during the ‘Bows 35-14 victory against Delaware State. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

The rest of the defense showed out throughout the evening, too. Five different defenders registered a full sack on Saturday for Hawai’i while the defense racked up 11.0 TFLs and forced a fumble for good measure while shutting out DSU over the final 26 minutes of game action. 

While Delaware State looked more talented than the unit was a year ago, the Hornets are likely to be the worst team on Hawai’i’s schedule. There were plenty of positives for the defense, but competition turns up quickly as UCLA comes to town next week to play the Rainbow Warriors. It will be about posting consistency against higher quality opponents next. 

Hawai’i’s offense needs 2nd receiver to emerge to reach desired heights 

Given the circumstances, Hawai’i’s passing game on Saturday was better than the numbers would indicate. 

Brayden Schager finished the night completing 50 percent of his passes (17-of-34) for 203 yards as Hawai’i struggled to get the deep game going with the intense winds and on-and-off rain from Tropical Storm Hone approaching the islands. Outside of Pofele Ashlock (5 rec, 81 yards), there was a significant lack of returning receivers with chemistry and production for Hawai’i after the suspension of star WR Steven McBride. 

Kentucky transfer Dekel Crowdus attempted to fill the gap left behind by McBride’s absence, enjoying a solid debut with three catches for 49 yards, highlighted by his 29-yard touchdown catch at the start of the 4th quarter for the first “Schager Bomb” score of the year. 

Even Crowdus looked off at times though, taking a couple of quarters to connect with Schager after the two looked to be on different pages on a couple deep ball tries in the first half. Outside of Ashlock and Crowdus, not a single UH player tallied more than two receptions. 

It was a bit obvious at times as well. Hawai’i punted eight times in total and six times in the first half. After scoring only seven offensive points (Tylan Hines had a 44-yard punt return touchdown for the other score) in the first half, Schager addressed the team about the mediocre performance. 

While the running attack helped buoy the offense through drops and misthrows (Landon Sims totaled 58 yards across 10 carries), it would be fair to have concern with the passing attack’s ceiling in 2024 without McBride after seeing the unit struggle against a lackluster DSU defense. 

Some of the performance can be written off due to some extreme weather conditions with the winds but not the entirety of it. Schager looked to be on a different page than some of his targets at times and UH was unable to get playmaker Tylan Hines into the offensive mix outside of a jet sweep that was called back due to a penalty. 

Hawai’i got away with a sloppy offensive performance and lack of chunk plays against an inferior Delaware State team out of the FCS but won’t be as lucky against UCLA or the Mountain West’s best. For a team looking to return to bowl game contention in the Rainbow Warriors, Week 0 is an excellent lesson in winning while understanding improvements are needed. 

Mana Wahine Wednesday: Hawai’i women’s water polo utility player Jordan Wedderburn

Mana Wahine Wednesday: Hawai’i women’s water polo utility player Jordan Wedderburn

Mar 27, 2024

Big West water polo player of the week Jordan Wedderburn in action in a home conference matchup. | Photo Credit: Ku’ulei Agbayani, HSRN

Mana Wahine Wednesday: Hawai’i women’s water polo utility player Jordan Wedderburn

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED MAR 27, 2024

HONOLULU – From the stunning “City of Gold” in South Africa to heavenly Hawai’i, Jordan Wedderburn has enjoyed the journey that water polo has carried her on. 

She’s been a quick learner, picking up the sport in high school and taking the path she never truly expected. 

“Growing up [in South Africa], water polo wasn’t really a big sport, so I never really knew what it was until I moved high schools and my new high school that I went to offered water polo and I kind of wanted to try it,” Wedderburn said. “The rest is history; I just went from there.” 

While she’s grown to love the sport now, that same passion wasn’t necessarily there from Day 1 in the pool. 

“At first, I did swimming, and I did netball at home – which is kind of like basketball for those that don’t know. I was kind of just like it ‘oh well, it seems like it’s both of them put together and I’m kind of average at both of them, so I’ll try it out,’” Wedderburn recalled. “I actually hated it, like my first practice I hated it.” 

Yet thankfully, her parents would not allow the then-13-year-old to give up after a single day of the sport, encouraging her to return the next day and give it a week’s worth of a chance. 

That week didn’t change her mind, but it gave her parents enough time to think of a way to keep her in the sport for that season. 

“I went for the first week of practice which was like the worst week of practice ever because it was just conditioning,” Wedderburn laughed. “I didn’t want to carry on, I actually said to my parents that [I was done and didn’t want to go back]. They were like ‘Well, you’ve committed now so you have to go back for the whole season.’” 

After some encouragement from her parents, the young water polo player went back to the pool, making friends that kept her interest in the sport before she finally began enjoying water polo in her later years of high school. By learning the rules of the game, strategies and developing chemistry with her team, Wedderburn quickly developed into an excellent player. 

In four years at the varsity level, she helped lead her squad to back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2020 in the Reef Cup and Old Petrian Tournaments, taking care of business in the classroom as well after receiving the academic award for her junior and senior years. After graduating in December 2020 from high school, Wedderburn had to make a choice between continuing her water polo career or turning focus fully on her studies. 

With the help of the coronavirus shutdown of the world and a strict lockdown in South Africa, Wedderburn decided she wanted to continue her career in the pool in the states and began to apply and reach out to schools with water polo programs, though one place sat in her mind. 

“Hawai’i was always in the back of my mind because … I met one of my teammates now, Bernadette Doyle, at World Champs in 2019 and I had heard that she played at the University of Hawai’i, and I was like ‘Wow, that’s so cool,” the junior utility player remembered. “I reached out to [head coach Maureen Cole] and we chatted a little bit and the rest is history. They offered me a spot on the team, and I was like ‘Okay, it’s Hawai’i, why would I say no?’” 

The junior utility player for Hawai’i women’s water polo has enjoyed success ever since joining the program ahead of that 2022 season, never seeing a schedule eclipse six total losses in two and a half years. She made her debut in her freshman season in Michigan, immediately making a mark by recording her first two points. In all, her first year at the college level was a success with 24 total points recorded (15 goals, 9 assists). 

Her growth continued from there, appearing in all 27 matches during Hawai’i’s 2023 season, seeing the Rainbow Wahine go 21-6 and falling in overtime of the Big West Championship game to UC Irvine, 10-9. In her sophomore season, the South African utility player proved to be a force for UH, scoring 40 goals (3rd-most among Hawai’i players) through the season while posting three hat tricks. Most matches, fans could count on Wedderburn scoring at least once as she put the ball in the back of the net in 21 of those 27 contests. 

That success has parlayed itself into an even better junior season for the South Africa native, already up to 27 goals scored in just 16 matches, including four hat-tricks in some of the Rainbow Wahine’s biggest outings of the season. Following her outstanding performance against USC back on March 16, when the junior utility recorded her third hat-trick of the season to help deliver Hawai’i to a two-game winning streak against the University of Southern California for just the fifth win in program history against the Trojans and first home victory in 21 meetings in Honolulu, Wedderburn was named the Big West Water Polo player of the week for the first time in her career. 

The junior was the record-breaking fifth Rainbow Wahine player this season to be honored, snapping the previous record of four, coming back in the 2013 season. Wedderburn joins Bia Mantellato Dias, Bernadette Doyle, Lucia Gomez de la Puente and Daisy Logtens as Hawai’i players to receive the honor this season. 

Despite the first selection of her career by the conference, the bigger accomplishment in the mind of Wedderburn was helping deliver the Rainbow Wahine’s first two-game winning streak over USC ever, snapping a 27-game losing streak against the West Coast powerhouse in the process. 

“It was insane,” she recalled. “I think we just really got the ball rolling really well in the beginning of the season, obviously with a couple big wins against Stanford, USC and some close games against UCLA as well. It’s just getting that confidence that you do belong up there with the best teams, you know?” 

Once was cool, but twice? 

“Just to [beat USC] again, it kind of just solidified to us that we do have a real good chance of going pretty far this season and we are in reach of our goals. We just need to keep working hard and pushing hard and hopefully everything will work out for us,” she continued. 

The Rainbow Wahine were ranked 3rd in the nation, behind only UCLA and Cal, in the Collegiate Water Polo Association rankings released last Wednesday, March 20. New rankings are released each Wednesday by the committee. Hawai’i won both matches this past weekend, putting on a pair of dominant displays with a 20-4 win over Cal State Fullerton and a 12-4 victory over CSUN. 

Hawai’i returns to action on Friday, March 29 inside the Duke Kamehameha Aquatic Center, hosting UC San Diego with the match scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. HT.