Keao Monteilh, Fale Laeli, Starting Defense

Stephen Tsai profiles safety Keao Monteilh, who was named a starter yesterday.

"Keao showed up," head coach June Jones said of the the 5-foot-11, 190-pound junior. "He's been playing very well for us."

In December 2005, Monteilh suffered from appendicitis. His grades suffered while he recovered. In March 2006, he was dismissed from the team because of his academic problems. But he was reinstated in August 2006, and last January he earned back his scholarship.

"I like to play safety," Monteilh said. "You get to see more. You get to see how the plays are developing."

Great perseverance through adversity. Right on. In an article about the starting defense, Dave Reardon has a great quote from Rich Miano, praising Monteilh:

"His understanding of the defense is unprecedented," Miano said. "He has a knack. He understands football. He has good skills and a feel for the game. We thought he could tackle, but he was out all year (as a redshirt last season)."

Back to Tsai's article, he writes about Fale Laeli, named one of the starting defensive tackles.

Keala Watson entered training camp as the No. 1 left tackle. But Laeli moved ahead, in part to his first-step quickness.

"Fale has had such a great fall practice," McMackin said. "He has worked himself into a starting tackle. That's nothing against Keala."

McMackin said he considers right tackle Michael Lafaele, Laeli and Watson as first-team players in the two interior-line positions. "They're the first three," McMackin said.

McMackin also talks about Josh Leonard moving from end to interior.

"Josh Leonard is playing really well," McMackin said. "We took his speed from the outside and put it inside. He's 275, 280, but he's a fast tackle. It's just a way to get more speed on the field."

MONSTER. Also from the article:

• John Fonoti, who injured his feet falling off a roof, will be held out of practice until at least Monday.


• Linebacker Kevin Konrath will redshirt.

Jumping back to Dave Reardon's link, which actually starts with a funny article about June Jones and Greg McMackin getting knocked down by their own players in separate incidents yesterday.

"I got up quick, didn't you see? It took two or three of them to get me," McMackin said. "I just got too close and our guys are playing fast."

The next article on that page is the aforementioned Reardon article about the starting defense.

"We're pretty well set -- I didn't really think of it, but we are," McMackin said. "We're still rolling three teams. We think our second unit is pretty strong too, and some of those guys on that third unit we respect a lot, too."

Especially if the Aloha Stadium game against Northern Colorado is the blowout expected (UH has been mentioned as a 53-point favorite), it'll be AYSO time -- everybody plays -- on both sides of the ball.

The same page has Dave's preview of Charleston Southern. P.S. here's Dave's UNLV preview that I forgot to link to yesterday.

On the Warrior Beat blog, Stephen Tsai has a break down of the first-team defenses for three different defensive packages.

Base (4-3): LE—Amani Purcell. LT—Fale Laeli. RT—Michael Lafaele. RE—Karl Noa. SLB—Blaze Soares. MLB—Solomon Elimimian. WLB—Adam Leonard. LCB—Gerard Lewis. LS—Keao Monteilh. RS—Jacob Patek. RCB—Myron Newberry.

Nickel (4-2-5): DL—Purcell, David Veikune, Lafaele, Noa. LB—Elimimian, Leonard. CB—Lewis, Newberry. S—Desmond Thomas, Patek. NB—Monteilh.

Oky (3-3-5): DL—Purcell, Lafaele, Noa. LB—Soares, Elimimian, Soares. CB—Lewis, Newberry. S—Thomas, Patek. NB—Monteilh.

The post also has a bio of PIAA's Doris Sullivan.

Jason Kaneshiro and Billy Hull write that while the offensive line is pretty much set, with Keith AhSoon, Hercules Satele, John Estes, Larry Sauafea and Keoni Steinhoff from left to right, Lafu Tuioti-Mariner figures to be in the mix.

McKnight and head coach June Jones feel Lafu Tuioti-Mariner deserves a chance to play, too.

"Right now I think Lafu could play anywhere inside guard or center. It's still really close for him," McKnight said. "I think right now Lafu is probably the first guy inside if he's not starting."

The article also mentions that A.J. Martinez, still recovering from injury, stopped by practice, and Murphy's Pigskin Pigout is tonight. Visit this Na Koa page for more info.