Waimea head coach Liko Perreira thinks that there’s no secret recipe to get back to the top of the KIF football world.
“The kids gotta believe and play as one unit,” Perreira said.
The 2005-06 Menehune squad has the talent to get back to the promised land, but in past years, where they’ve dominated, it’s been all about hard work and discipline.
Waimea kicks off the KIF football season with the first game of the year on Maui against Baldwin on Friday night.
“I think it’s a good test for us. They’re a division I school and they look like Kaua‘i High,” Perreira said.
A few positions still remain unanswered for the Menehune, who are fielding 34 players on the varsity roster.
The Menehune, who usually field a strong defensive unit, will have to depend on youth to stop opposing offenses.
“We’re a young defensive team with not too many returnees,” Perreira said.
The talk at the Menehune summer camp, according to Perreira, is about coming together and reclaiming the loyalty that made past years so successful for Waimea football.
Perreira also mentioned that the junior varsity program has given them a lot of talent.
With the recent passing of Richard M. Doi, the father of the “Big Blue Machine,” Menehune coaches from the past and present gathered together and revamped the pride that made Waimea unstoppable in the past.
After Friday’s contest against Baldwin, the Menehune will take a week off from game contact and play Valley Center on September 3 at Hanapepe Stadium, starting at 7:30 p.m.
This will be Kaua‘i’s first look at the 2005-06 Menehune foot-ball squad.
