One thing Crusaders’ quarterback Chevan Cordeiro does exceedingly well is pick his spots and gravitate to open space when passing routes are siphoned off. This is the rest of tremendous preparation, and he clearly learned his trade by working next to Tua Tagovailoa every day. Cordeiro is deceptively fast, able to chew off gains of 5 to 10 yards consistently.
Kamehameha’s response tonight when the two teams meet in the ILH opener for both teams may be to tag a spy onto Cordeiro, but then that takes one defender out of pass coverage and/or one out of the pass rush package. Cordeiro surprised early-season opponents with his feet. Kamehameha won’t be surprised, but this doesn’t necessarily mean the Warriors will be able to stop Cordeiro without a spy.
He hasn’t seemed fazed one bit. Cordeiro makes his reads, knows his Plan B, C and D. In that sense, he’s like Tua the Great.
To date, Cordeiro statistics have been about efficiency, remarkable averages as opposed to massive volume numbers. He has just 315 passing yards in two games, but is at a whopping 9.5 yards per pass attempt, a 61-percent completion rate, just one pick in 33 attempts and has a passer rating of 154.72. That’s a rating comparable to Taulia Tagovailoa (146.4, 2016), but he was a volume passer with great efficiency who rarely ran. The more suitable comparison in terms of system and philosophy is, still, Tua Tagovailoa, who finished last season at 170.71. Add to those rating numbers the rushing component, and Tua was beyond what anyone did last season. Cordeiro could post similar numbers, but his efficiency could end up being more like Marcus Mariota’s numbers.
That would be a treat, since both sat on the bench as apprentices before starting as seniors. Cordeiro has rushed nine times for 71 yards and three TDs already.
The Warriors are swarming to the ball with discipline and a no-superstar mentality.
“Our defense as a whole has performed very well. It’s good to see because it means that everyone is doing their part, doing their one-eleventh,” Kamehameha coach Abu Ma‘afala said. “I’m confident they’re going to continue that on Friday night.”
By game night, three weeks will have passed since Saint Louis saw game action. As of Wednesday morning, Lee was looking forward to the challenge.
“We’ve got to go about business and practice hard every day,” he said.
Weekends like this I wish ILH games were televised. Anyone know if people will be streaming from game?
All of these stories on Kamehameha are very humbling. I can not wait to see how they take their weeks of game experience, prior to today, into these Friday Night Lights.
I like reading about Coach Ma’afala and how he’s creating a culture of accountability at Kamehameha…in 4-5 years (if he stays), this school will be extremely dangerous…parents everywhere will want their children to play for him…I think he’s doing it the right way…Warrior Coaches, please keep your heads up and know that you all are doing a fantastic job!
I saw Chevan Cordeiro in person. I’m a resident of Oahu and the outer-island. He is a big man. Many people will say, he made it in by luck or EEOC or some title IX scheme. But athletics goes a long ways. So his athleticism is what got him this far. Even though Timmy Chang cut Chevan Cordeiro at UH Manoa by being a coach for UH, Chevan going to San Jose State Spartans football team for 2 more years was his career. I think he’ll be remembered for San Jose State Spartans more than Hawai’i Warriors player.