Roosevelt football

Another time, another place, almost another lifetime. It has only been five months, if that, since St. Francis ceased to exist as a high school. The football program, once proud and sturdy, had risen through the ranks as the biggest, possibly most athletic Division II program in the state and was unbeaten. A tiny school in Manoa Valley, ranked in the statewide Top 10, without even a home field to call its own. The final season of Saints football came […]

Shepherd Kekahuna didn’t know that a year had already passed since the darkest day of his football career. On Oct. 19, 2018, Kekahuna was a junior at St. Francis when its season was called due to disqualification. It was discovered that the Saints, who were undefeated at the time, had used an ineligible player for part of the season. One year to the date later, on Saturday night at Roosevelt, Kekahuna was the catalyst behind the Rough Riders’ 57-23 throttling […]

One day, Shepherd Kekahuna was visiting the home of a neighbor,. The conversation was about roots. His good friend, Aalona Monteilh, knows his family tree quite well, but as the background went deeper, Kekahuna asked questions. “He was more interested in my family than I am,” Monteilh said. >> CLICK HERE TO READ TODAY’S FEATURE STORY ON THE TWO IN THE HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER The two seniors have played major roles in another highly successful season so far for the Roosevelt […]

It began safely enough. It ended with standout Aalona Monteilh done for the year with an ACL injury to his left knee. The Roosevelt Rough Riders knew what they had with the talented safety, a rangy, smart, aggressive defender in a key position. But just before Kalaheo attempted a field goal last Friday night against Roosevelt, Monteilh switched spots. Normally in the defensive backfield watching for a potential fake field goal, he went to the line of scrimmage to attempt […]

Roosevelt senior Aalona Monteilh said he hadn’t played on offense all season. When the defending OIA Division II champion Rough Riders lost to Kaimuki last week and with undefeated Kaiser coming to Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium this week, it was time for Roosevelt to use every option available on offense to stay in the race for the top spot in the OIA Division II playoffs. Monteilh took his first handoff of the season 17 yards for a touchdown and added a […]