Damien football

In his seventh year as the head coach at his alma mater, Eddie Klaneski has rebuilt the Damien program from the bottom up. In the midst of a 25-game losing streak, and coming off an 0-10 season when Klaneski was promoted from defensive coordinator, the Monarchs are now the two-time defending ILH Division II champions. Monday, for the first time since the end of the 2003 season, Damien found itself in the top 10 of the newspaper’s overall football rankings. […]

Asked about Akila Arecchi’s two-way performance in Damien’s win over Pac-Five on Saturday, Monarchs coach Eddie Klaneski was nothing short of effusive. “That guy is just an all-around guy. He’s just a beast out there,” Klaneski said of the 5-foot-6, 145-pound senior. “He’s small in stature, but the way he plays football is unbelievable. He’s just a gamer offensively and defensively. He sparks us. … He has a good knack for the ball. “He’s a tough, scrappy guy, doesn’t want […]

Legacy is a loaded word, to be sure. For Marcus Faufata-Pedrina, the poise that makes him a leader on and off the football field shouldn’t be mistaken for indifference or passivity. On the contrary, he’s been at the controls as a field general for Damien’s back-to-back ILH football titles in Division II. And as of Saturday, he was at the wheel as the Monarchs ended a 17-game losing streak to ‘Iolani. Damien’s 35-21 win at Skippa Diaz Stadium left the […]