CLOSING THE BOOK: Pac-Five Wolfpack

Pac-Five finished its season with a 3-5 record after beating Waialua, 14-6, in its final game of 2018 on Friday at Aiea.

The Wolfpack put together a modest winning streak when they got off to a 2-1 start. Their win total doesn’t sound like much but it is the team’s most since 2015, when the current class of seniors were freshmen. The two-win improvement is Pac-Five’s biggest from one year to the next since 2010-11.

The team gave as good as it got, averaging 17.5 points per game but allowing 17.6. That gave head coach Kip Botelho‘s crew its best defense (in points allowed per game) since 2015 and an incredible improvement over the 37 points per game it allowed last year.

2018 BEST PERFORMANCES

Passing

Sophomore Rocket Uechi will be remembered as the team’s top passer with 842 yards, but he was plagued with 13 interceptions on 161 attempts. He didn’t have those problems in a 19-13 loss at Pearl City, though, going 23-for-41 for 266 yards and a touchdown without a pick. That made him the first Wolf Pack QB to go over 250 yards in a game since Ryan Johnson in 2016.

Rushing

Bruce Shewalter, Laitin Bradley and Evan Ramirez combined to lead a backfield by committee with Shewalter leading the way with 214 yards. Pac-Five didn’t have a rusher go over 100 yards all season, but Shewalter probably could have against Kalani. Shewalter had the top individual rushing performance against the Falcons, covering 60 yards on only 13 carries with a touchdown.

Receiving

When Uechi did complete passes, they were to sophomore Angelo Coluccio more often than not. No Wolf Pack receiver had more than one touchdown but Coluccio caught 27 balls for 399 yards and one of those scores. Even being the top target, Coluccio never broke the century mark in a game with a high of 93 yards on six catches at Kaiser. This was the first time since 2012 that the Wold Pack didn’t have a receiver go over 100 yards in a game.

Defense

Pac-Five’s defense made great strides in 2018, and put up its best performance in the third game of the season when it didn’t allow a tough Kalaheo team to break the plane on offense in a 14-6 win. The swarming Wolf Pack forced the Mustangs into 8-for-19 for 61 yards passing and didn’t allow a rusher to gain more than 47 yards.

HEAD COACH
>> Kip Botelho is now 43-99-1 in 15 seasons as Wolfpack head coach.

STAT RANKINGS
>> QB Rocket Uechi finished sixth in Division II in passing yards.
>> WR Angelo Coluccio finished third in Division II in receiving yards.

KEY UNDERCLASSMEN IN 2018
>> WR Angelo Coluccio (6-0, 155), QB Rocket Uechi (5-8, 155), LB/RB Laitin Bradley (5-10, 188), RB Bruce Shewalter (5-11, 165), DB Alex Heim (5-9, 150), SB Ian Canute (5-7, 155).

FINAL TEAM STATS