Ikaika Ho finds success, happiness with Castle

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Castle's Ikaika Ho could have been on the other side of the field for the HHSAA final had he not transferred from St. Louis after seventh grade. The slotback/receiver has picked up his play in the postseason. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

But that's just fine with Ho, a junior slotback/receiver for Castle High School who once attended St. Louis. Ho and his Knights teammates will be on the other sideline, aiming to upset the heavily favored Crusaders in the Chevron State Football Championship game.

"I feel happy where I'm at," Ho said. "I'm with all my friends."

Ho could have been on the other side, with former St. Louis teammates Bobby George, Dylan Moss, Jeremy Inferrera and Tani Nahalea. Ho's older brother Kaui was an all-star slotback for the Saints in 1998.

"I remember Ikaika well," St. Louis coach Delbert Tengan said. "In fact, I think when he was a seventh-grader and Kaui was on the varsity, he was one of our water boys. We hated to see him go, because we knew he was going to be a good one like his brother."

Ho said he "never felt comfortable" at St. Louis and left after the seventh grade.

A year later, Ho became one of the rare Castle players to make the varsity as a freshman.

"We've brought up freshman from the JV after their season was over, but Ikaika might be the only one who was with us from the beginning," said Knights coach Nelson Maeda, in his sixth season heading Castle's program. "You could tell he had the potential, and I think he even returned a couple punts for touchdowns that year."

Last season, Ho led the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's Red Conference with 30 catches, for 436 yards and six touchdowns. He was named a first-team Red all-star, and also started at cornerback.

Ho's numbers were down this year, in part because of a pinched nerve in his back and also because of the emergence of fellow junior Jared Suzui, who caught 29 passes for 461 yards and three touchdowns.

But like most good players, Ho has stepped up his game in the postseason. During the OIA playoffs, he caught five passes for 70 yards and one touchdown, and also returned a blocked field goal 26 yards for a touchdown in the Knights' 25-0 title game victory over Kailua.

Ho has made even a bigger impact in the state tournament. Against Hawai'i Prep in the quarterfinals, Ho caught five passes for 67 yards and one touchdown. And last week against McKinley, he made six receptions for 63 yards and returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown which helped tie the score at 7-7 in the fourth quarter.

"He usually does things in a quiet way, he's very businesslike in his approach," Tengan said. "But he always seems to come up with the big plays at the right time."

Maeda said Ho's knack for making plays seems to be inherited. Ho's other older brother Kea played for Castle two years ago and their father, Gerald, played for Pac-Five in the 1970s.

"He has good football sense and is very athletic," Maeda said of Ikaika. "Even when he was a freshman, that can be intimidating playing on the varsity, but he was already making things happen."

Although Ho has been one of the Knights' top return men for the past three seasons, injuries this year limited his special teams play to holding on kicks. But with Castle trailing 7-0 and struggling to score last Friday, Maeda inserted Ho into the punt return lineup.

Suzui fielded the ball and headed to the right, then handed off to Ho, who was running a reverse. Ho took the ball and ran 71 yards untouched into the end zone.

"That punt return was designed with him in mind," Maeda said. "We wanted to get him the ball, and at that point in the game, with our offense struggling, it was the only thing that saved us."

The Knights went on to win, 27-21, in triple overtime.

"It seemed like McKinley was getting tired and we were getting tired, too, but we just had to push ourselves," Ho said. "Especially the seniors — they didn't want it to be their last game. We all wanted to make it to the championship."

Ho, who is 5 feet 8 and 165 pounds, said Castle's success comes from more than just lucky breaks and big plays. On Mondays, the Knights do a series of 240-yard sprints and on Tuesdays they run a bunch of 110s.

"We do two major days of conditioning every week," Ho said. "For fifteen minutes after practice, that's all we do. But the conditioning work we do is a big help. We're not big, but we have speed and we're quick."

That's what worries Tengan.

"He reminds me of his brother (Kaui)," Tengan said. "He has excellent speed, and he's fearless."

Lack of fear aside, Ho said the Knights have been underdogs all season and still made it to the final.

"We just have to keep practicing hard," Ho said. "We have to believe we can take 'em."