Aloha to football season

After surviving Hell Week, what better way to reward yourself than by

heading for paradise?

That’s exactly what the Edison High School football team has done,

as the team landed in Oahu on Sunday to begin preparations for its

2005 season opener.

Friday, the Chargers will begin their season by taking on

defending Hawaii state champion Kamehameha at Kamehameha High.

The game starts at 7 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time. The Edison junior

varsity takes on the Kamehameha junior varsity team today.

In addition to game preparation throughout the week, the team will

do some sightseeing and, on Saturday, take in the USC-Hawaii game at

Aloha Stadium.

“It’s just a great trip to take, one where a lot of parents come

along,” Edison Coach Dave White said. “It also serves as a great

bonding experience. I hope that the team jells and comes together.

“We’re all really excited about the trip. It’ll be a great

experience.”

Despite potential distractions during the week, the Chargers

haven’t lost sight of Friday’s season opener against the defending

Interscholastic League of Honolulu football champions.

The trip marks the seventh time in the last 23 years that the

Edison football program has played in Hawaii, the first coming in

1982, when the Chargers pinned a 44-13 rout on host Punahou. In six

previous trips to the Islands, Edison has posted a 5-1 record.

“We’re really anxious to get the season started,” said Romney

Fuga, a 6-foot-2, 270-pound senior offensive and defensive tackle.

“We have a feeling we’re going to have a great season, and this is

the first step.”

Fuga said he has lots of family living in Oahu, many of whom will

be able to watch him play.

“I’m excited to be playing in front of them,” Fuga said. “We want

to prove ourselves. We ended last season on a sour note, so this year

we’re hungry.”

Edison finished the 2004 season with a 6-5 record.

The season ended with three close losses to rival Fountain Valley,

Esperanza and Loyola, the latter in the first round of the

CIF-Southern Section playoffs.

Much is expected of the Chargers in 2005. Eleven starters are

returning, including all-league players in Fuga, quarterback Brian

Shrock, linebacker and running back Davey Baldwin, running back Gabe

Moreno, and wide receiver and defensive back Jimmy Flanagan.

Edison will battle a Kamehameha-Oahu team that won its first

Interscholastic League of Honolulu football championship in 25 years.

By winning the title for the first time since 1979, Kamehameha ended Saint Louis High School’s string of 18 straight league football

championships.

Yet Kamehameha will be without William Souza, its head coach the

past nine years, for the 2005 season. Souza stepped down from his

post to attend Oregon State University this fall as a graduate

assistant coach.

In nine years at the school, Souza compiled a 79-25-2 career

record. In 2004, he led the Warriors to a 10-1-1 record en route to

winning the league title and the school’s first Hawaii High School

Athletic Assn. championship.