Keenan Ho'ohuli's daily routine begins in the 5 a.m. pre-dawn darkness at Kuhio Park Terrace, a Kalihi public housing project long regarded as one of O'ahu's roughest neighborhoods.

He freshens up, does a few chores, puts on a collared shirt, packs a home lunch along with his books and then heads out to Middle Street to catch the No. 2 (Waikiki) bus to downtown, where he transfers to the No. 3 (Ruger) bus. By about 7 a.m., Ho'ohuli finally arrives at the busy Kapi'olani/Date Street intersection, where he walks one block makai as many of his classmates pass by riding in late-model SUVs and luxury cars.

Then he joins them on the immaculate 'Iolani School campus.

"It's a different story," Ho'ohuli said of KPT and 'Iolani.

But it's a story Ho'ohuli and his parents, Kenneth and Marlene, have made work through personal sacrifice and diligence.

Ho'ohuli, a senior, is an Honor Roll student and starting slotback for the Raiders, who will face Radford in Friday's First Hawaiian Bank Division II Football State Championship game. It'll be just another in a long list of unique experiences Ho'ohuli has enjoyed at 'Iolani — two bus rides and a world away from KPT.

LONG ON POTENTIAL

As an athlete, Ho'ohuli was never the "blue chip" type.

When he was 8 years old, he was 32 ounces shy of the 55-pound minimum needed to play for the Palama Scorpions Pop Warner Junior Pee Wee team the morning of registration.

"I had to stuff him with couple plate lunches, so he could make weight," said Kenneth, who has been a longtime coach at Palama.

But Ho'ohuli was always the type to make the most of his ability, an extension of his work ethic at school and home. At Dole Middle School, he carried a 4.0 GPA and was class president.

One of Marlene's co-workers at KPT's youth program, Greg Andrasick, saw the potential and suggested Ho'ohuli apply for 'Iolani.

"What I saw in Keenan, No. 1, was his work ethic," said Andrasick, a 1992 'Iolani graduate and former UCLA placekicker. "He excelled in academics and extra-curricular activities, and his attitude was very positive. And most important, he had strong support from his family. I knew he could contribute to the school and would be a good fit because of his humility."

At the time, the Ho'ohulis said they knew very little about 'Iolani.

"I had heard of it, but I really didn't know what it was about," said Kenneth, a McKinley grad who also grew up at KPT. "But when we came in and saw everything and went to the orientation, my wife and I cried. We said, 'This is the school for our boy.' "

MAKING SACRIFICES

Ho'ohuli was accepted in the ninth grade, but received only enough financial aid to cover half of the then-$14,000-a-year tuition. His family, which includes two younger sisters, suddenly had to pinch many pennies.

"We don't eat out, we don't go out and celebrate," Kenneth said. "We used to go to the movies as a family, but now we just stay home. Keenan never asks us for money, because he knows we're trying to save."

Academically, Ho'ohuli learned he had to make sacrifices as well.

As a freshman he was slammed by the amount of homework, papers and exams compared to Dole and he struggled to even earn a "C" average that first quarter.

"After the first couple weeks, I wanted to leave," Ho'ohuli said. "The transition was hard, it was real tough. At Dole I could get A's and still have free time, but here there was so much homework, I had to really buckle down."

After school and practice, Ho'ohuli would jump back on TheBus and take the reverse route back home, arriving at KPT around 7:30 or 8. Then a quick dinner and homework till late.

"It was hard at first, but we told him to stick it out," Kenneth said. "I don't have a college degree, and that's held me back from getting some jobs I wanted. That's why I always tell the kids, academics is first."

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY

Ho'ohuli eventually adjusted to the academic workload and has made the Honor Roll — at least a 3.0 GPA — the past five quarters.

On the field, he also overcame a torn anterior cruciate ligament injury his sophomore year and has proved to be a key part of a productive Raiders offense.

As a 5-foot-9, 150-pound inside slotback, Ho'ohuli has 31 catches for 321 yards and five touchdowns, but 'Iolani coach Wendell Look said Ho'ohuli's other contributions — like executing correct routes and blocking assignments — cannot be measured in statistics.

"He knows what he's doing and he's a good role model for the other kids," Look said. "His value was shown in the Kamehameha game, because he got hurt on the first or second play and when he went out, our offense kind of stalled after that."

Look also noted that Ho'ohuli received the Father Kenneth A. Bray Scholarship, named after the Raiders' legendary coach who instilled the school's "One Team" philosophy and preached hard work, discipline and humility.

"It's supposed to go to the type of kid Father Bray would have liked to have as a player," Look said. "Keenan doesn't have the material things a lot of other kids here have, but he's made the most out of his opportunities."

Like others on the team, Ho'ohuli and his family are excited about Friday's title game, but what they really look forward to is June 6, 2009 — graduation day.

"He's already won championships," Kenneth said. "But graduating from 'Iolani, nobody in our family has ever done that."

Ho'ohuli said he recently read a book about Father Bray and visited his grave site. He even seems to have lived out Bray's favorite player description:

"Small, but spirited ... always the underdog ... but the champion."