Darren Hernandez is the head coach at Kapolei high School in Hawaii. Last fall, former College and NFL Head Coach June Jones was the offensive coordinator at Kapolei where the team finished 10-3 and #3 in the state. Under the tutelage of Jones, Kapolei’s sophomore quarterback, Taulia Tagovailoa, threw for 3,919 yards and 42 touchdowns with only 9 interceptions.
Coach Hernandez recently talked with American Football Monthly.
#3 – Your quarterback had an outstanding season. What did Coach Jones work on
with him to maximize his ability? Our QB had a record breaking season. He threw for 3,919 yards, 42 touchdowns and only 9 interceptions, more than doubling his freshman numbers. Those stats are second best all-time in Hawaii high school history. His 534 yards passing in a game is second all-time in Hawaii. June really worked on his reads, honed his already quick release and improved his patience in the pocket. June’s influence also produced record breaking performances from our slotbacks. Senior Jaymin Sarono set a state record for receptions with 113 (for 1,133 yards) and 22 touchdown receptions. Our other slot, Wyatt Perez, hauled in 68 receptions for 919 yards and 13 scores. His tutelage also helped our offensive line, where our protection was outstanding. We gave up an average on one quarterback sack per every 55 pass attempts.
#4 – Did you have any adversity during the season? If so, how did you deal with it? Yes we did. Wyatt Perez, our starting slotback, was diagnosed with cancerous growths on his heart and kidneys as a sophomore and was in the hospital for months. He missed his sophomore and junior seasons and was in a coma for several days. He recovered fully and was cleared to play as a senior. Midway through the season, while undergoing a check-up, doctors found a growth on his heart. Fearing the worst, the team was heartbroken and prayed together. After several tests, Wyatt was cleared and the growth was treated with medication and was not cancerous. It was a big scare, and the team grew closer as a result. Wyatt came back strong and scored 3 touchdowns in his next game.
#5 – How do you sustain the success you’ve had going into 2017? June has taken a job as the athletic director at St. Louis school in Honolulu, so we are definitely going to miss him and all that he brought to our program. It was a magical season. He taught our team and our coach’s valuable lessons about football and life, and we are going to continue to use all of the tools he helped to implement, especially on offense, to reach our goals next season.
#6 – What are your goals for next season? We expect to be very competitive next season with Taulia returning at QB.
Kapolei Football Page
http://www.hawaiiprepworld.com/kapolei-football/
