Sabers seek consistent success

Now, coming off its largest margin of victory in more than five years, 33-0 over Waiakea on Aug. 14, Maui High opens Maui Interscholastic League play with Kamehameha Maui, just as it did a season ago.

The Sabers won that MIL opener 10-6, but did not taste victory again in 2009. Those two wins last year are half their total in the last four-plus seasons, but 2009 faded into a seven-game losing streak that included a 56-22 defeat at the hands of Kamehameha to close the season.

Clearly, the idea is not to let history repeat itself.

”We probably wish we had a little more time, but we’re as ready as anybody is,” coach Roderick Fong said Tuesday as his team prepared for his third MIL season. ”We still have a long ways to go.”

The evidence points to the Sabers getting there.

When Fong took over in 2008, he was the fourth Maui High head coach in five seasons. Now, his spread offense and 3-4 defense are taking hold and there appears to be a bounce in the steps of the players at practice. A solid senior class last season, led by MIL Defensive Player of the Year Kotoni Anitema, has helped lay a solid foundation.