It's one that has the South Pacific trade winds gently blowing the duo from the sugar cane fields of Hawaii into New Orleans for Tuesday's Sugar Bowl between their resurgent and No. 10-ranked Warriors, at 12-0, the lone unbeaten team in college football, and No. 4 Georgia (10-2).

Or maybe, just take the simple words of Leonard's father, Rick.

"It's kinda crazy, isn't it?" he thought out loud.

Fate intervenes

The time Reinebold had laid eyes on Leonard, he was a snot-nosed six-year old running wild with his brothers Jimmy and Jacob through the visiting Las Vegas Posse locker room on July 8, 1994. Reinbold was the Posse's special teams and secondary coach and they had just played the Gold Miners at Hornet Field.

Some 25 years earlier, Reinebold and Rick Leonard were roommates and teammates at the University of Maine, Reinebold playing defensive back and Leonard manning the offensive line.

Their relationship remained and when the Posse came to town, Reinebold invited the family to the game and gave them a personalized tour and autographed hats.

"I suppose I illegally recruited him," Reinebold said with a laugh. "I mean, I gave him that hat when he was 6 years old."

NCAA gumshoes need not fret. Because while Reinebold's career then took him to NFL Europe with Rhein and Amsterdam and to CFL outposts in Edmonton, British Columbia and Winnipeg, and, for the past two years, as Hawaii's defensive line coach, the younger Leonard was blossoming into a stud of a defensive lineman and highly sought-after recruit at Elverta's Central High, where he was a Bee All-Metro pick in 2004.

"I got letters from everyone," he said.

So why did he end up at Sierra College in Rocklin?

"My grades weren't right," he said.

His football skills, though, were never in question. In two seasons at Sierra, Leonard racked up 33 sacks and was a junior college all-American as a sophomore.

Recruiting battles resumed and when Leonard was trying to decide between Nevada, Boise State and Wyoming, destiny again intervened.

"The last I heard of Jeff he was coaching at Louisiana Tech so I tried to track him down to tell him about Josh," Rick Leonard said. "I couldn't find him but when I was visiting my mom in New York, I went through my old Rolodex and found his mom's phone number."

Mom relayed the message and, as luck would have it, Reinebold was in San Francisco on a recruiting trip for Hawaii.

"Rick asked if I could shoot over to Sacramento and I said, Well, I've already got two home visits, I'm not sure I can make it," Reinebold said. "He said, `He is 6-4, 275 (pounds) and was all-American.'

"I said, I'll be right there."

The laughter in Reinebold's voice trailed off.

"When he walked in the room, it was really incredible," Reinebold continued. "I just said, Oh my God. It was like going back in time. He looked just like his father did at that age."

Yet even then, the prospect of playing for his dad's old roomie alongside a Heisman Trophy candidate in quarterback Colt Brennan was not enough to seal the deal.

Because while Leonard was ready to commit to Warriors coach June Jones on his visit, Jones told him to go home and think about it, to not be rash in a life-altering decision.

After all, Leonard and his fiancee, Christa Sarbia, were expecting and being closer to home and family would have made things considerably easier with a baby.

"I was just trying to find the best place for me and my fiancee," he said. "With a kid coming, I was thinking it was best to stay close to home."

Rick added, "Josh was inches from going to Nevada."

After telling the Hawaii staff he was going elsewhere, a heart-to-heart with Sarbia cinched it. Going at it together, by themselves in a distant land, was the choice and they answered Hawaii's call.

"On film, he might be the most impressive defensive lineman that we've ever gotten from the mainland," Jones said at the time.

Leonard has not looked back and young Blayne is now three months old.

Adjustment period

Of course there have been adjustments. Leonard, an end by trade who can run a 4.7 40-yard dash and bench press 475 pounds, has been moved to the interior as a tackle and the junior now comes off the bench. While he did not start a game for the Warriors, he played in every contest and came up huge down the stretch.

He recovered a crucial fumble in Hawaii's Western Athletic Conference title-clinching victory over Boise State and blocked a field goal in the Warriors' BCS Bowl-securing win over Washington, in which the Huskies had built a 21-0 lead.

"He's only a backup in terms of the 11 listed as starters," Reinebold said. "He's in the first pass-rush group. He's our best inside rusher and he tied for the lead in the WAC with three fumble recoveries. We're interested in productivity from our guys and he's proven that he's productive.

"He's shown flashes of his athleticism."

Island Fever has yet to touch Leonard, mostly because he's been so busy juggling family responsibility with football and the Warriors are on the mainland "pretty much every other weekend" for road contests.

In fact, Leonard's family took in Hawaii's outings at UNLV, San Jose State and Nevada and went to Honolulu for the Boise State game. The Leonard family traveling party numbers 15 in New Orleans.

Then there's his newest passion spear fishing.

"A couple of the local guys took me out," Leonard said. "No clear waters like these in Elverta."

Plus, he can commiserate with fellow NorCal natives Jakeem Hawkins, a senior defensive back from Grant High who also played at Sierra College, and John Estes, a sophomore offensive lineman from Stockton St. Mary's High.

Leonard was a quick learner in performing the chanting ha'a, Hawaii's take on the traditional and ritualistic and Polynesian haka war dance the Warriors perform during pre-game warm-ups.

"It's been pretty great," Leonard said. "It's the first team I've been on where everybody is a family."

Ohana means family in Hawaii. In this case, feel free to use it to describe fate.

(c) 2007, The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.).

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