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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, January 16, 2002

Hula Bowl adds four former Hawai'i prep standouts

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

Four more Hawai'i players at Mainland colleges will play in the Hula Bowl Maui college all-star football game on Feb. 2, game officials said yesterday.

They join six University of Hawai'i players and two local Mainland players whose invitations were announced previously.

The names announced yesterday by Lenny Klompus, chief executive officer of the annual game, were:

• Utah offensive guard Ed Ta'amu (Iolani '97).

• Washington fullback Ken Walker (Moanalua '97).

• Wyoming linebacker Leo Caires (Maui '96)

• Kansas State nose tackle Jerry Togiai (Roosevelt '94).

Northwestern offensive tackle Mike Souza (Punahou '97) and Utah wide receiver Cliff Russell (Campbell '97) were named previously, as were UH seniors Robert Grant, Jacob Espiau (Kalaheo), Nate Jackson (Wai'anae), Craig Stutzmann (St. Louis), Joseph Correia (St. Louis) and Nick Rolovich.

All of the Hula Bowl players are looking to improve their chances in the NFL draft, April 20-21.

Russell is rated as the third-best senior wide receiver by ESPN analyst Mel Kiper. He is the fastest player in Utah history (4.27 in the 40-yard dash) and has a 41-inch vertical leap.

Ta'amu is rated as a high fifth-round pick by draft analyst Jerry Jones and as the 33rd best guard by Kiper. Jones called Ta'amu "compact, quick, mobile, fiery run blocker, (who is) developing as pass protector."

Ta'amu and Russell also will play in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., Jan. 26, Utah spokesman Liz Abel said.

A third Utah senior from Hawai'i, nose tackle Ma'ake Kemoeatu (Kahuku '97), has been invited to play in the Florida Gridiron Classic Jan. 25, and played in the inaugural Paradise Bowl in Utah Saturday.

Caires, who started his career at Wyoming as a walk-on, finished as a co-captain and leading tackler. His 101 stops were 22 more than the next Wyoming defender.

Caires was granted a medical hardship to play this past season because he broke his leg in the second game of 2000.

Playing for a team called the Cowboys was a natural for Caires, a native of Ha'iku who was a rodeo champion in steer wrestling and bull riding in high school. He earned his bachelor's degree last May in animal science.

Walker, another player who started as a walk-on and will end his collegiate career in an all-star game, served mainly as a blocking back for Washington.

Togiai probably will be the oldest player in the Hula Bowl. He turned 26 on Aug. 2, is married and has two sons.

Togiai spent two years on a Mormon church mission and two years living on his own before starting college at Ricks in Idaho, where he was a two-year starter.

Togiai says his parents tricked him and his two brothers into moving to Utah during high school.

"My brothers and I didn't want to move because we liked to surf," he told a writer in Kansas. "They told us there was a beach in Utah. We'd never been anywhere but Hawai'i, so when they said there was a beach in Utah, we said 'OK.' "

The beach turned out to be the Great Salt Lake.

Togiai and his brothers moved back to Hawai'i and lived with relatives in La'ie while he finished high school.

For Hula Bowl ticket information, go to hulabowlmaui.com or phone (808) 871-4141.

The game starts at 3 p.m. Feb. 2 and tickets are $30 and $25. It will be televised on ESPN.