This past weekend, the Kaiser Cougars football team successfully opened its 2016 season with a 28-21 victory over Roosevelt, marking a triumphant debut for new head coach Arnold Martinez.
Martinez, who was the head coach at Moanalua High School from 2003-2013 where he went 51-51 with Na Menehune, led the blue-and-white to the most successful decade run in program history. He was hired at Kaiser in mid-June, taking over for Cameron Higgins who stepped down after going 9-9 in two seasons, citing focus on his real estate career.
Despite a victorious debut for Martinez, he told KHON2 recently that in this first year, his team, although very interested in getting wins, is far more focused on the kind of wins that the program secures off of the football field.
“I think too often we define success based on wins and losses and the scoreboard,” said Martinez. “We want to win in life. We want to win in the locker room. We want to win in practice, and we want to win in the classroom. It’s not just on Friday and Saturday. You know, we’ll get there, but it’s just a byproduct on the relationships we build.”
Sporting a 1-0 record, the Cougars will next travel to central Oahu to face perennial OIA power Mililani (0-0) at Kauinana Stadium on Saturday.
Once again though, Martinez made it very clear that his team’s efforts will go beyond football.
“We’re in upgrade mode. That’s our goal for this year: upgrade everything. Upgrade the quality, do things a certain way. I teach them that it’s not who we play, it’s how we play and do things every day. So it’s the culture. We have to build the infrastructure and that’s the biggest goal for us this year,” said Martinez.
Kickoff between the Cougars and Trojans is set for 6:30 p.m.HAWAII HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCHEDULE – WEEK 2:Friday, August 12
Aiea vs. Nanakuli – 6:00pm
Pac-Five vs. KS-Maui 7:00pm
Damien vs. Maui – 7:00pm at War Memorial
Roosevelt vs. McKinley – 7:30pm at Roosevelt
Kalani vs. Pearl City – 7:30pm at Aiea
Kahuku vs. Leilehua – 7:30pm
Radford vs. Castle – 7:30pmSaturday, August 13
Waiakea vs. Waimea – 2:00pm at Vidinha Stadium
Kamehameha vs. Baldwin – 3:00pm at War Memorial
Waialua vs. Kaimuki – 6:30pm at Kaiser
Kaiser vs. Mililani – 6:30pm
Moanalua vs. Kailua 6:30pm
Waianae vs. Kapolei – 6:30pm
Campbell vs. Farrington – 6:30pm at Roosevelt
Kapaa vs. Lahainaluna – 7:00pm
Saint Francis vs. Kauai – 7:00pm at Vidinha Stadium
Kalaheo vs. Waipahu – 7:30pm at Aiea