Hawaii No Paradise for Visiting Players : * Football: Team composed almost exclusively of former San Gabriel Valley prep standouts was humbled by Hawaiian team, 38-6.

Adam Metwalli saw it as an opportunity to practice his quarterback skills.

Defensive back Pat Escamilla envisioned it as a chance to play against good competition while experiencing some post-graduate independence in the process.

And many among the 52 football players from Southern California who traveled to Hawaii for an all-star football game June 29 simply looked forward to combining football with fun.

The game matched a Southern California team composed almost exclusively of recently graduated players from the San Gabriel Valley against a Hawaiian team that recruited players from 22 schools across the state.

Not surprisingly, Hawaii easily won, 38-6, before a standing-room-only crowd of 6,000 at Kaiser Stadium in Honolulu.

Despite the result of the game, the event was deemed a success.

Harold George, who organized the trip and coached the California team, said there will be a rematch.

“Of course we wanted to win, but the most important thing was getting the series started,” said George, who has taught at Mark Keppel High in Alhambra for 19 years and was the varsity football coach there from 1983-85. “It’s going to develop into quite a nice rivalry.”

George’s idea for a California-Hawaii game was born last year when a former Mark Keppel player who was coaching high school football in Oklahoma called George and asked if he would be interested in organizing a team for a California-Oklahoma game in Hawaii. George said yes, and enlisted Baldwin Park Coach Tony Zane, Alhambra Coach Gil Ruedeflores and other San Gabriel Valley coaches who helped choose a team that beat Oklahoma, 35-26, in Honolulu.

Earlier this year, George traveled back to the islands and proposed a game between California and Hawaii.

After receiving a positive response from high school officials in Hawaii, he started to assemble his team by contacting area coaches for player nominations.

George sought sponsors to defray some of the costs for equipment and travel, but each member of the team was required to raise $800 to cover air fare, meals and lodging.

The players spent four days at the University of Hawaii preparing for the game and exploring Oahu. Afterward, they moved to a Waikiki Hotel for three days of relaxation.

Metwalli, who played at Claremont High and will participate in the Hall of Fame game July 19 at Citrus College, said he was attracted to the Hawaii trip for several reasons.

“It was a chance to play football and have fun,” said Metwalli, who completed 16 of 29 passes for 173 yards. “I also saw it as kind of advantage because the offensive coaches for the game in Hawaii are the same ones who will be coaching the Hall of Fame game.

“I felt like this would give me a chance to learn the offense and get a leg up on the guys I’m going to be competing against to start in this coming game.”

Escamilla, who lives in San Gabriel and graduated from St. Francis High, said he passed up an opportunity to participate in a Glendale-Burbank all-star game so he could make the trip to Hawaii.

“It’s a new experience to play somewhere different and make some new friends,” Escamilla said. “(When you’re away) you get to know yourself, how you’ll act when you’re on your own. It’s like a pre-college experience.

“And you play against good competition, so that helps you as a football player.”

The Hawaii team, was indeed, very, very good.

While most of the players on the California team are bound for local community colleges, Hawaii’s 46-man roster included 21 players that have either accepted Division I scholarships or been invited to walk on at Division I schools.

Hawaii Coach Cal Lee had led his St. Louis High teams to 54 consecutive victories over a four-year span before Canyon of Country Canyon ended the streak last year.

Lee not only had his entire St. Louis coaching staff assisting him, he also had quarterback John Hao running a potent offense. Hao, who will attend the University of Hawaii next fall, had 2,355 yards in total offense last season.

Hao’s efficiency directing the offense was one reason for the all-star game’s lopsided score. He completed 11 of 13 passes for 334 yards and threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers.

Hawaii, which was penalized 10 times for 125 yards, scored one touchdown in the first quarter, two in the second quarter and three in the third quarter for a 38-0 lead.

California was limited to minus-34 yards rushing. Frustrated, perhaps, by its inability to move the ball and the mounting deficit, the team was penalized 17 times for 150 yards and had two players ejected.

California’s only score came on a 25-yard pass from Western Christian’s Terry Noice to Northview’s Todd Quinsey in the fourth quarter.

Noice completed eight of 16 passes for 111 yards.

Quinsey had seven receptions for 77 yards. George Frazier of St. Francis caught four passes for 67 yards and Ryan Lauper of Los Altos had three receptions for 46 yards.

“They (Hawaii) were big and they did things smoothly,” said nose tackle Pat Konrad, who played at Blair. “We played tough, but they just had too much.”

George said he hopes to close the talent gap next year by expanding the recruiting base beyond the San Gabriel Valley.

This year’s team had a few players from Orange County and Los Angeles. George said he envisions a day when the entire state will be represented.

“It’s a good event that gathers players from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and it’s going to grow,” George said. “It already has a lot of coaches waiting for next year to come around so we can go back and redeem ourselves.”