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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, March 21, 2004

Darnell Arceneaux back for more with Islanders

 •  Team roster

By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer

Darnell Arceneaux will play football for the Hawaiian Islanders and serve as head football coach at Saint Louis School.

Advertiser Library Photo

The competitive fire burns in Darnell Arceneaux like an eternal flame.

He has always said he loves to compete and hates to lose — even if it's to his 4-year-old son Kekoa playing video games on his X-Box.

So it is not much of a surprise Arceneaux, 26, returned this season to quarterback the Hawaiian Islanders after announcing his retirement last season.

He said he wouldn't return to the Islanders after accepting the head coaching position at Saint Louis School last June, toward the end of the arenafootball2 season. The Crusaders reached the state football Division I championship game last December, losing to Kahuku.

There are other reasons Arceneaux decided to return for his third season with the Islanders.

— He said he has recovered from a chronic shin injury.

"I finally had an offseason this year by coaching because I couldn't really do nothing," Arceneaux said. "It gave my body four, five months of rest."

— He wants to play with his younger brother Anthony, a receiver/defensive back in his second season with the Islanders.

"I want to keep an eye on my brother to make sure he's doing all the right things to better his chances to get to af1 next year," Arceneaux said.

— He wants to motivate and set a good example for his Saint Louis players, who work out with him during the offseason.

DARNELL ARCENEAUX
"The kids get to work out with me," Arceneaux said. "They see their head coach working out and 'If my head coach is working out I want to be as good as my head coach or even better.' "

— He doesn't want to have any regrets by hanging it up while still in his prime.

He said others have told him:

"Make sure you're done playing because in 10, 15 years you never want to look back and say I should have played one more year. You want to make sure it's all out of you before you leave anything."

Arceneaux's return was good news to second-year Islanders head coach Cal Lee.

"He's like a player/coach out there," Lee said. "He knows the game, he's a great leader, he's got all the experience."

Arceneaux started all 16 games for the Islanders in 2002, and took every snap over the first eight games of last season before breaking the fifth metacarpal on his throwing hand.

He finished 2003 with 175 completions in 343 attempts for 2,458 yards and 39 touchdowns in 13 games. The Islanders finished 11-7 and won the National Conference Western Division championship.

Arceneaux is facing competition from former af1 player Brian Ah Yat and rookie Shawn Withy-Allen, a University of Hawai'i alum.

"We all bring different things to the table, we all come from winning programs, we're all winners and we all compete well," Arceneaux said. "We understand this is a business, nothing personal; we can go out there and compete."

Arceneaux said his playing days will end when he can't keep up with others.

"If there's ever a time when I can't compete at the level I'm supposed to compete at then I have no problem walking away," he said.

For now, he'll keep doing double-duty with the Islanders and his alma mater.

"My first obligation is to Saint Louis and my high school," Arceneaux. "If there's any conflict (with the Islanders) we'll have to work that out. I have the support from my athletic director and school."

Arceneaux said he's trying to instill the competitive spirit in Kekoa.

"Whether I'm playing you in X-Box, chess, I'm going to play to win; I'm not going to play to lose," said Arceneaux, who also coaches his son's Mililani Royals Pinto baseball team. "I even have a hard time losing to my own son. We play ball and I tell him to be competitive in everything you do whether it's school work, on the field or competing for a job in the real world."

Talented hopefuls: Quarterback Brian Ah Yat (Chicago Rush), lineman James Davis (Detroit Fury) and wide receiver/defensive back Gabe Amey (Carolina Cobras) played in af1 last season.

They are among 30 players in camp who are competing to make the 21-player travel roster for the season opener next week against Central Valley.

There are also 14 Islanders returnees.

"Cutting is a problem," Islanders head coach Cal Lee said. "The competition level has increased so it makes everyone work a little harder and make us a little better. It's a problem every coach would like to have.

"We have some exceptional players that came out this year."

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8041.

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