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Updated at 10:51 a.m., Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Preps: Dynamic Duo returns for Baldiwn football

By Robert Collias
The Maui News

WAILUKU — Their chemistry is automatic. Their presence together on the field is electric. Their legacies at Baldwin High School seem unquestionably destined to be joined at the hip.

Jordan Helle and Chase Nakamura. Quarterback and wide receiver.

Best friends — and teammates — since they were members of the Waikapu Brewers T-ball team at the age of 5.

Last season, with 20 touchdown passes in 12 games between the two, they were the most prolific pass-scoring combination in the state and the best the Maui Interscholastic League has ever seen.

This year has been a different story as Nakamura missed the first six games of the season with a knee injury he suffered attending football camps on the Mainland over the summer, and Helle sat out a win over Maui with a sore elbow a week after Nakamura returned.

That left the two on the field together for their senior season only twice — in a 23-20 overtime victory over Lahainaluna in Nakamura's first game back, and in a 46-0 blowout of King Kekaulike in the final week of the regular season.

Now, with a Division I state tournament quarterfinal on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium awaiting against Farrington, the next time the two step on the field could be the last time.

Nakamura showed inevitable rust against the Lunas, catching a pair of passes for 10 yards, while also dropping three.

The next week, with Helle on the sideline, Nakamura started to look like his old self with four catches for 56 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-0 win over Maui.

But it was the finale that has Bears' fans remembering last season when Nakamura shattered the MIL single-season touchdown reception mark with 16 and Helle did likewise to the touchdown pass record with 26 — both in the 10-game league season.

Again, Nakamura caught four passes, but this time all of them were from Helle and two of them — a 36-yarder in the first quarter and a 54-yard bullet in the second – went for touchdowns.

"It was a great thing,'' Baldwin coach A.J. Roloos said of the Kekaulike game to The Maui News. "It was just great to have Chase back at full strength. Six games without him, it was tough. But being the leader that he is, he was on the sidelines getting the other receivers ready when he wasn't in there. I know Jordan missed him a lot.''

That Helle missed his lifelong friend and best receiver is an understatement.

"The King Kekaulike game kind of reminded me about last year, about the good old days,'' Helle said. "It just felt like everything came back for both of us, connecting like we know we can.''

Helle felt the frustration with Nakamura on the sidelines, but it allowed for the Bears' other receivers — Skyler Cabacungan, Kalei Kamahele, Zach Zane and Aaron Ross – to emerge. Kamahele was second in the MIL in receptions with 21 and first in yardage with 446 – a 21.2-yard average – for four touchdowns. Cabacungan tied for third in the league with 18 catches for 272 yards and an MIL-high seven touchdown receptions. Zane and Ross combined for 14 more catches.

"We all had our bumps with the guys who were out there and myself, but after a while it just got to the point where I got more comfortable with the guys who were out there,'' Helle said. "Chase could take the time he needed to come back because the guys that were in in his place were stepping up. For the first time since I have been here we go more than four deep at receiver, which is nice.''

Still, there is nothing quite like the familiarity that Helle and Nakamura feel together.

"The knee is pretty much back to 100 percent now,'' Nakamura said. "I have full confidence. Me and Jordan go back I don't even know how far — T-ball days, for sure. We know each other pretty good.''

Nakamura said the King Kekaulike results could have been even more eye-popping.

"We were still a little rusty on some of the stuff that we did, the timing was kind of off,'' Nakamura said. "But it felt great to get back out there with Jordan and try and work everything out. Every game it is getting better.''

Despite the time missed, Nakamura already has scholarship offers from NCAA Division I schools Weber State, UNLV, Utah and Idaho.

If he chose Division I-AA Weber State, the 6-foot-3, 180-pound Nakamura would join his older brother Cody as a wide receiver on the roster. Former Baldwin coach Chad Kauhaahaa is the defensive line coach at WSU.

"That would be great, that would be real fun,'' Chase Nakamura said of the possibility of joining his brother on the team. "He really likes it up there, but he said it is way different than high-school ball.''

Helle, a 6-2, 200-pounder, also seems to have college football in his future, but like Nakamura, is waiting until after the state tournament ends to make a decision.

This could be the last time the two will be on the same Baldwin team as both may miss the basketball season for the first time in their prep careers. Helle may play soccer and Nakamura will have his knee further examined after the football season to check on his hoops availability.

Helle said there is no doubt that Nakamura is the real deal.

"I have been to a lot of camps on the Mainland and we have played in high-level games and I haven't seen a receiver able to do the things that he does,'' Helle said.

The Bears are one win from their third straight state semifinal appearance. With the top two seeds in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association playoffs — Kahuku and Mililani — eliminated, the Bears are thinking about making history. No Neighbor Island team has ever advanced to the state final, where most likely No. 1-ranked Saint Louis would be waiting.

Last season, the Bears fell five seconds short of the state final when Kahuku scored on a 43-yard flanker pass on the final play of the game in a 22-20 Red Raider victory.

"After last year, from the beginning of the season, we all had our mind set on getting to that November 30th (state championship) game and getting back there,'' Helle said. "Now that the state tournament has rolled back around, I think everybody can feel the electricity on the practice field. We know we have a darned good shot at getting back there and it all starts Saturday with Farrington.''

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