The legacy of the Baldwin High School football team has grown to this: Losing a state playoff game at War Memorial Stadium has become an anomaly.
The Bears saw their string of three straight appearances in the state Division I semifinals come to an end in 2008, after a 34-15 loss to defending state champion Leilehua.
Baldwin may have fallen short on the state level, but its unprecedented domination of the Maui Interscholastic League continued - in dramatic fashion.
The Bears went 7-0 and extended their MIL unbeaten streak to 37-0-1, staging three fourth-quarter comebacks, including two in the final minute.
Baldwin hasn't lost to an MIL team since October 2004.
It is not surprising, then, that the Bears dominate The Maui News MIL All-Star team for 2008. Defensive Player of the Year Mana Rosa is headed to Oregon State on a football scholarship, MIL Offensive Player of the Year Kainalu Garso will join several former teammates at Montana Western and MIL Coach of the Year A.J. Roloos will try to continue the tradition without 10 first-team All-Stars who will graduate in May.
Roloos compared Rosa, a 6-foot-3,
250-pound force at defensive end, to former Bears standout Kaluka Maiava, who just finished his linebacking career at Southern California as a second-team Pac-10 selection.
''Besides Kaluka, Mana is the best defender we have had,'' Roloos said. ''We had him since he was a sophomore and he just got bigger, stronger, and faster every year.''
That became apparent when opposing offenses looked for Rosa and went the other way. When they did that, however, they often found themselves dealing with Jordan Puu-Robinson, also a first-team All-Star, who is headed to Washington State on a football scholarship.
''Most teams tried to run away from Mana, but he had Jordan on the other side, so it was kind of hard to double-team Mana all the time,'' Roloos said. ''He is just an unbelievable player. Teams would run away from him and he would still run down ballcarriers from the back.''
Rosa, who will compete in track and field this spring, led a defense that gave up just 179.1 yards per game.
''It feels good, but there's a lot of guys out there who are good,'' Rosa said after being told he won the award, voted on by league coaches. ''I am just thankful that I got the award.''
Rosa said he will play defensive end for the Beavers, even after seeing plenty of time as a tight end for the Bears. Rosa said he also has scholarship offers from Utah, Nevada-Las Vegas and Hawaii, but said Friday he will sign with Oregon State on Wednesday, the first day national letters of intent can be signed.
''He is going to help them out a lot,'' Roloos said of Rosa. ''I watched him play in that Mainland (All-Star) game and he looked pretty good against other future college guys. He will get much bigger, he will get stronger, especially if they leave him at defensive end. They don't want big guys, they want mean guys who can get off the ball and that is Mana. He will do well at OSU and I am excited for him.''
Rosa is joined on the MIL first-team defense by the Bears' Mikie Webb, Garso and Wyatt Burns in the secondary; Puu-Robinson, Kamehameha Maui's Kupono Hong and Lahainaluna's Jayson Manning on the line; and linebackers Corry Roy of King Kekaulike, Bryson Williams of Lahainaluna and Kaleo Feiteira and John Lotulele, both of Baldwin.
Rosa, Williams, Webb and Garso are all repeat first-team selections from 2007.
Roloos said Webb, a three-time selection as a defensive back, might have been the best pound-for-pound player in the league at 5-7, 171. He moved to linebacker late in the season and garnered consideration for Defensive Player of the Year.
''Pound for pound, I haven't seen anybody hit as hard as Mikie,'' Roloos said. ''For his size, that kid just brought the wood every time. He loves to hit - the only thing that hurts him is his size. I told him, 'Don't let them tell you that you are too small.' I think he is one of the hardest hitters in the league.''
Garso, a 5-11, 172-pounder, led the league in rushing while playing in the Bears' pass-
first spread offense. He had 542 yards on 74 carries, a 7.4-yard average, and ran for seven touchdowns.
''He is just a shifty running back,'' Roloos said. ''He started out as a cornerback, but from the start of camp he ran the ball and he looked good. We told him he would have to put in double time and he did well. Teams couldn't tackle him because he was so shifty.''
Garso, also a standout outfielder, said he was helped by following an offensive line that included Shay Singleton, Makana Hoopai and sometimes Rosa and Puu-Robinson.
''I feel good to be player of the year,'' Garso said. ''That was one of my goals this year and I am glad that I got it, but I couldn't have done it without my awesome O-line. Those guys made it easy for me.''
The rest of the first-team offense comprises Lahainaluna's Jake Manning at quarterback and Tulia Tei and Peter Lino on the offensive line; King Kekaulike's Kapoo Piena at running back and Sonny Ah Kui on the offensive line; Hoopai and Singleton on the offensive line; and Baldwin's Sheldon Leong, Kamehameha Maui's Louis Turbeville and Maui High's Dustin Faubion at wide receiver.
Lino is the only repeat selection from 2007.
The utility picks for the 2008 first team are Baldwin kicker Ceejay Santos, who had a league-record 51-yarder among his five made field goals, and King Kekaulike's Kawika Purdy, who played wide receiver and defensive back and also returned kicks.
Roloos said the Coach of the Year nod has to be shared with his staff.
''Yeah, the award is for me in name only,'' he said. ''Really, it belongs to our whole staff. Without them I wouldn't be where I'm at or where we're at. I wish I could give it to my whole staff.''
