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Grizzlies
in Paradise
Players,
fans make road trip
from Montana to Maui
Sometimes
a football game is more than just a game. Such was the case
in September when the UM Grizzly football squad -- followed
by a sizeable chunk of the state's population -- winged
3,000 miles from Montana to Maui to tackle the University
of Hawaii Warriors.
The
Griz wound up losing that Sept. 8 preseason contest against
a Division I-A foe, but not before they and roughly 2,000
Montanans brought a little Big Sky into that tropical paradise.
As UM's all-time leading rusher Yohance Humphry said, "This
is an experience that's going to last a lifetime for me."
A lot of people would agree.
Why
play Hawaii? Athletic Director Wayne Hogan said the game
was originally planned when Hawaiian Brian Ah Yat quarterbacked
the Griz during 1996-97. UH planners knew the Griz were
a quality I-AA opponent, and they thought bringing back
a home-state kid, especially at quarterback, would be a
good draw. There were scheduling difficulties, however,
and Ah Yat never got to lead the Griz to Hawaii.
But
Hogan said they didn't want to shelve the whole idea, and
both universities jumped at the chance to play the game
in 2001. To play the upper-division Warriors, UM also received
a guarantee of more than $100,000, which helped defray the
costs of playing in paradise.
"We
really think it's worth the time and effort to do something
like this," Hogan said. "We've recruited a lot
of kids from here, so this could be a good recruiting tool
for us. And I think bringing all these people from Montana
to Hawaii creates a real feel-good factor for the University."
Aloha,
Maui
The Griz players and coaches left Montana resplendent in
identical maroon and blue Hawaiian shirts festooned with
canoes. (They looked pretty good. Really.) They flew on
an Aloha Airline charter, and the flight attendants took
a shine to the team during the eight-hour trip.
"You
are the most well-behaved team and are a real credit to
your families and teachers," one attendant announced
over the public-address system. They also asked the players
to "be kind to the football players (in Hawaii)."
The
Grizzlies were draped in leis when they disembarked in Maui,
being greeted by Griz fans and hundreds of cheering Hawaiian
teen-agers -- a travel club made up of kids from area high
schools. It was quite a welcome.
But
more welcoming yet were those first glances of Maui: palm
trees, fields of sugar cane, wide beaches washed by a warm
ocean and steep green mountains rising from sea level to
more than 10,000 feet. It seemed a seductive place and an
unlikely venue for a bone-jarring football game.
The
coaches had the unenviable job of keeping their players
focused and practicing amid all the distractions. The day
before the game, however, they let the Griz get some sun
and surf outside their hotel in Kaanapali between team meetings.
A rocky outcrop juts out into the ocean there on the west
coast of Maui called Puu Keka a, or "Black Rock."
UM quarterback John Edwards climbed the rock and jumped
25 feet into the balmy water. One might think he'd get yelled
at for such behavior, but head coach Joe Glenn went over
the cliff right after Edwards.
"You're
only young once," Glenn said of the jump, though it's
unknown whether he referred to Edwards or himself.
That
night the players and 500 fans and alumni attended a Grizzlies'
Lu'au at the hotel, which was organized by Missoula's Davidson
Travel. They dined on Kalua pig, poi (a paste made from
taro root), sauteed Mahi mahi and other island delicacies.
The lively group was entertained by comedians, singers and
traditional Polynesian dancers. The finale was a spectacular
flame-whirling fire-knife dancer. Rose Mary Rummel, a senior
citizen from Plains, said of the scantily clad male dancers,
"Oh, they are wonderful!"
The
evening ended with players and fans from across Montana
singing "Up With Montana," the Griz fight song,
on a beach lit by Tiki torches and stars.
The
Hawaii Connection
The Hawaii trip was a homecoming for two 2001 Grizzly players,
linebacker Jacob Yoro and receiver Randyn Akiona, who both
grew up on Oahu. Both players had family and friends turn
out en masse to see them play. Akiona was familiar with
the island of Maui, and he relished the opportunity to show
around his Montana teammates.
"It
was fun having them pick my mind and say, 'where's this?'
or 'where's that?'" he said. Akiona also demonstrated
how to do back flips off Black Rock and how to pick a big
stone and use its weight to walk around on the ocean floor.
UM has a long tradition of recruiting Hawaiian players,
said Bruce Wallwork, a native of Hawaii and longtime Missoulian
who played for the Griz during 1960-63. Current players
call Wallwork "the Hawaiian Godfather" because
he takes athletes from the islands under his wing, feeding
them Hawaiian food at his house when they get homesick.
He also has done a lot of unofficial recruiting in Hawaii
for the University over the years.
"I
wasn't the first Hawaiian UM recruited," he said. "There
was this guy Al Pileo who came up here in 1957. He was one
of the first. He only played two years, and then he got
married and quit. But he kind of took care of me to make
sure I didn't get too homesick, and I've tried to pass that
along."
In
his day, Wallwork was a defensive tackle and barefoot kicker.
"That's the way I learned to kick in high school,"
he said. "We didn't have shoes much then, so that's
just kind of how I learned to do it." With only 35
athletes on the team most players had multiple roles, and
Wallwork helped with all the kicking and punting duties,
as well as playing defense. Wallwork is still a solid block
of a man, maintaining his college playing weight of 235
pounds, and it looks like he could still suit up for the
Griz.
He
said UM's Hawaiian connection reached its peak in the late
'60s and early '70s during the tenure of coach Jack Swarthout,
who had as many as nine Hawaiian players on the roster at
one time. Two of these Hawaii-heavy teams went 10-1 in 1969
and 1970, finally losing both years in California's Camellia
Bowl to North Dakota State. (Wallwork still growls about
those losses, since he said many UM players weren't allowed
to suit up because they had previously played at junior
colleges.)
UM's
Hawaiian connection reached another peak in 1996 when islander
quarterback Brian Ah Yat led the Griz to the national championship
game. Ah Yat is the second-most prolific passer in UM history
with 9,315 yards, and he holds school records for most touchdown
passes in a season, most yards in a game and longest touchdown
pass in a game.
Playing
in Paradise
Many of UM's former football stars from Hawaii rendezvoused
at the UM Alumni Association's tailgate party before the
game. Greg Paresa, for instance, a linebacker for the Griz
during 1967-68, met with John Talalotu, who played for UM
from '68 to '69. Paresa is now a police lieutenant on Maui,
and Talalotu settled in Montana to work for the railroad
in Kalispell.
"It's
been great seeing all the guys again, and I've been telling
everybody on the island that the Griz are going to kick
(butt)," said Lt. Paresa. He admitted he didn't get
too much flak from the locals about cheering for his alma
mater, probably because he's "packin'."
Alumni
Association Director Bill Johnston said about 1,500 people
turned out for the pregame tailgate party, which was held
across the street from Kahului's War Memorial Stadium. One
group showed up in stretch limos. Most attendees wore Griz
clothing highlighted by leis, shell necklaces and Bermuda
shorts. Kevin Currieri of Stevensville, a member of Washington-Grizzly
Stadium's infamous Boom Crew, wore a bear cap and tank top.
As this Griz-out-of-water looked musingly up at the swaying
palm trees, he said, "All we have to do in Montana
is follow the Griz and party. That's why we're a partying
people. I'd follow them anywhere."
Bad
Winds Blowing
The sky was gray and overcast when the big game finally
rolled around, and the trade winds were gusting up to 20
mph. The sold-out evening game was attended by a crowd of
about 16,000, most dressed in the green and black of UH.
The 2,000 Griz fans were broken up into two sections on
opposite ends of the field. The game was the first time
the Warriors had ever left Honolulu to play on Maui, so
War Memorial Stadium basically was neutral ground.
A
huge man named Vili Fehoko, dressed as a traditional Hawaiian
warrior, came out to get the UH crowd riled for the game.
The sight of him and two lesser warriors beating massive
war drums while the UH players ran onto the field around
them was an intimidating spectacle.
The
Griz evidently weren't bothered, since they drew first blood
with two Chris Snyder field goals in the first quarter.
But the stiff ocean breeze soon became a key player in the
game because neither team seemed able to score against it.
When the Warriors got the wind at their backs in the second
quarter, they scored three touchdowns for a 20-6 halftime
lead.
The
only scoring against the trade winds came with 9:25 left
in the game, when UM receiver Etu Molden reeled in a 12-yard
pass from quarterback John Edwards, making the score 23-12.
But Hawaii stymied any hopes of a Griz comeback four minutes
later with another touchdown. The final score was 30-12.
It
was a bruising game against a UH team that seemed vastly
improved from a year ago. UM players were disappointed to
have traveled so far for a loss, but they knew they'd kept
the game within reach until late in the fourth quarter.
UM
linebacker Jacob Yoro jogged off the field festooned with
leis from a rowdy group of 30 friends and family who turned
out to watched him play. He was smiling, even though it
was the last time he'd ever don a Griz uniform. Injuries,
limited playing time and growing knee pain prompted him
to retire from the team after the Hawaii game.
"We
had been waiting for this day, for him to be able to play
on home turf," Yoro's mother, May, said while sitting
in the stands. "This is a dream come true. We are so
happy."
May
said they weren't nervous about sending Jacob to play in
Montana. "So many Hawaii boys have played in Montana
- we knew he would be in good hands."
Yoro's
father, Neil, agreed that the connection between Hawaii
and Montana has become important to his family.
"We'd
been getting ribbed all week from friends and neighbors
about cheering for the Griz over the Warriors," Neil
said, "but blood is thicker than poi."
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