They are rooted deeply, this core of born-and-bred Kailua Surfriders.
If the grass is truly greener where you water it, Kailua is the blueprint for grassroots football. The campus is their lab, and every year high school student-athletes develop into college student-athletes.
It was true for Joe Hauoli Wong, who went from Kailua to BYU to the NFL and now is back at Kailua as its football coach. His first son matriculated to UH and his second is headed, soon enough, to Cal. Esaiah Wong, the younger son, grew up playing with his current teammates in Waimanalo. The Surfriders are ranked No. 8 in the Star-Advertiser Football Top 10, a testament to trust, dreams with goals, and the verve to make them happen.
“The smarter way is to stay at home and play for Kailua. Maybe some of it is more of a family choice or something like that,” said Esaiah Wong, a 6-foot-5, 290-pound senior left tackle who is a commit to Cal. “Mentally, we do a good job keeping ourselves in check. Our captains do a good job, but everybody on our team is a captain in his own way. I need to get checked. Everybody needs it.”
Accountability is real at Kailua, but so are relationships that go back years.
“It doesn’t always come from the coaches. It comes from your own teammates and it’ll always hit differently when it comes from your own teammates,” he said. “Another factor is we all basically grew up together. A lot of the boys went to elementary and middle school together, played youth sports together and it all transferred over to high school. We’re all a big family. Our team is Christ-centered, so that’s another bonus.”
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Waianae was unbeaten when it played Kailua and emerged with a 15-7 victory at Raymond Torii Field four weeks ago. Wong was a formidable force against a scrappy Seasiders defense.
“I first saw him play his sophomore year and that line was very young. Extremely big, aggressive and physical,” then-Waianae coach Vince Nihipali said. “Esaiah is a total package of an offensive lineman. Great run blocker. He pulls very well and is a great pass blocker. His size is a problem for anyone. He is very long. He reminds me of his dad, Hauoli. Very similar attributes.”
Moanalua coach Keone Batoon has witnessed Wong’s progress.
“I first saw him play in 2023 at a scrimmage and his size is what stood out the most. As a junior and senior, his pass protection has been what impressed me the most, with his patience and finishing ability,” Batoon said. “His run blocking is one of the best I’ve seen this year.”
The bigger picture is always in the back of the Surfriders’ minds.
“We’ve talked about our main end goals for OIA D-I. We want to get that OIA championship,” Wong said. “Our other end goal is that state championship. For us in the locker room, we want to get better each week. We can’t be about what’s our (overall) record. We want to be 1-0 Surfriders each week. Especially with that loss early in the season against Waianae, we needed to wake up a little bit. We took that as our lesson.”
Kailua’s collection of twitchy, tall, long defenders are borderline demon chasers all the time. Though the Surfriders are in OIA Division I, they nearly upset Open Division title contender Mililani in early August, losing 9-7. With one week left in the regular season, they are 6-3 overall.
A consistent, unified offensive line is another cornerstone. Wong is the blind side protector of quarterback Isaiah Keaunui-DeMello. Uluaki Tatafu (6-6, 290) is at left guard and PJ Tavares (6-0, 290) leads the corps at center. Keonaona Mehio-Sesma (6-0, 240) is at right guard, with Packs Ahovelo (6-6, 320) at right tackle. Tatafu has offers from several schools including UH. Ahovelo also has multiple offers but has committed to Colorado State.
In an era of four-wide, shotgun offenses dependent on aerial connections and a finesse game, Kailua has balance with a smashmouth mentality up front. Running back Marquez Mellor has rushed for 743 yards (9.2 per attempt) and six touchdowns behind this line.
“Esaiah constantly demonstrates great technique and domination on the field,” Mellor said. “I can always trust to run behind him. I know for a fact he’s going to make his block. On the field he’s a quiet person but leads by example. He is humble, yet gives us words of encouragement in the huddle.”
Keaunui-DeMello has been efficient with 1,784 passing yards, 17 TDs and only three interceptions.
“Esaiah is a great left tackle because he has great technique and form. He always pushes himself to his best limits and never folds back,” said Keaunui-DeMello, who has a 64% completion rate. “He’s one of our main captains and he leads by example. He makes sure this team is in one piece.”
The ball boy days are long gone. Instead of being a spectator, Esaiah is part of the spectacle. Every day in training camp, Wong went up against one of the state’s premier defensive ends, Benjamin Honebein.
“In our competition, I would say Ben has the harder job. He’s such a great athlete, such a great teammate and player in general. Our opponents’ offenses plan against Ben. They’ve triple-teamed him and that sets up all our other boys for greatness,” Esaiah said. “It’s kind of a blessing in disguise. When we first put on the pads, it was definitely we were going at it.”
Iron sharpens iron at every positional confrontation on Kailua’s field.
“For me, it’s learning to stay patient. You can’t overset or underset. Can’t overstrike or lunge where your head is over your toes, or your shoulders are over your toes,” Wong said. “Knowing your opponent, what they do. What would be their first move, then what would be their second move. Then, just take it away and shut it down.”
The Wongs had three older children who were athletes. Heaven played basketball and softball at Punahou. Nai‘a was born the day Joe was drafted by the Miami Dolphins. He played football at Kailua, then UH. Hope played basketball and softball at Kailua.
Joe said Esaiah was their “miracle baby.”
“Esaiah is an answered prayer for our family. We prayed for a baby brother for Nai‘a,” said Esaiah’s mom, Celeste.
He was premature, arriving a few weeks before his due date, she said.
“So he was on the smaller end, but he was always the biggest in any class he was in,” she said.
Joe and Celeste split when Esaiah was 5, but their children grew strong. Celeste and the kids live in Waimanalo, and the boys saw their father virtually every day at football practice.
With a 3.5 grade-point average, Esaiah was recruited heavily before committing to Cal. As a youngster, he played with the Waimanalo Sharks and Waimanalo Warriors. By the time Esaiah was an eighth grade ball boy, he spent countless hours on the gridiron studying the science of trench warfare. His closest football mentors were his father and offensive line coach Kevin Pagan.
“In middle school, my dad would pick me up and bring me to football practice. Just observing how the game is, even from when I was younger, I would be around those older boys. Blazen Lono-Wong. Daniel Palenapa. He played D-line,” he recalled. “Blazen would bring it. He was tall, not as heavy at the time, but he could bring it.”
Lono-Wong is one of several Surfriders now in the college ranks. He is a 286-pound defensive tackle at Arizona State.
Wong’s early introduction to the rigors and routine of prep football was a precedent for his next step. He plans to graduate early and enroll at Cal in January. The growing trend of island football players going this route included last year’s Star-Advertiser All-State Offensive Player of the Year, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. He entered Cal last January and earned the starting quarterback job this fall.
The emergence of the Golden Bears program coincides with the prominence of Polynesian protectors at the point of contact. Coach Justin Wilcox is a former Oregon player and assistant coach. Senior offensive assistant coach Nick Rolovich had success guiding UH before moving on to the Pac-12.
The x-factor in the movement — Cal is 4-2 overall, 1-1 in the ACC — is an OL coach who Esaiah Wong considers golden.
“For me, it’s really everything to play for coach (Famika) Anae. He’s Polynesian himself from the Kahuku side. He understands the Polynesians, the athletes that come from here,” Wong said. “For me, one thing that stood out is he coached at New Mexico State. He had the best O-linemen in college football. The stats would say he really brought those boys up. He didn’t credit himself. He credited it all to them, and that stood out to me.”
Wong had just begun middle school when he had a pivotal talk with his father.
“It was really straight up. We went to dinner that night and he was dropping me off at home. He asked me what I want to do in the future. I said, I want to be a football player and go to the NFL,” he said.
“Are you sure?” Joe Wong asked.
Esaiah nodded.
“I asked him, do you know the commitment? Do you understand the hard work it takes? He said, yes,” Joe Wong recalled. “So now, you and your brother, we’re going to coach you and give you everything we’ve got.”
Esaiah Wong
Kailua football • 6-5, 290 • Senior
Fun fact: Esaiah’s paternal grandfather, Joe Wong Sr., was a standout basketball player at Saint Louis.
Joe Wong Jr., Esaiah’s father: “I love his humbleness. He understands that from ninth grade, he’s been recruited. So the (college) coaches told me there will be more coaches coming because of him. They pointed out five to seven players who would have more opportunities because of them watching film of him. I told him that, and he said, ‘That’s what I want, Dad.’ He’s about we, not me. He wants all his bleed-blue brothers to eat.”
Celeste Wong, Esaiah’s mother: “Esaiah was a very lovable kid. He was my little opihi. Wherever I was he was, too. He had the longest eyelashes and some juju lips so everyone always loved on him. I am most proud of his heart and how he loves God, and loves our family. He takes his cracks when he makes mistakes and does his best to own it and make changes. It takes a village to raise a child. Esaiah is a product of everyone who has poured into his life and that shows up consistently for him. We believe that God will place him exactly where God needs him. Esaiah has the absolute best village.”
Favorite hobbies: Playing football, going to the beach.
“The beach is something that really calms your brain. Beach Lots right up the road from my papa’s house in Waimanalo. It’s calmer than most places.”
Top 3 movies/shows/books
1. “Home Alone 2”
2. “Gridiron Gang”
3. “Coach Carter”
Top 3 homemade foods
1. Papa (Gary Loa)’s Spam musubi
2. Mom’s fried rice
3. Brother-in-law (Wesley Fa‘agau)’s steak
Top 3 foods/drinks eating out
1. Spicy California poke (Foodland)
2. Triple dipper (Chili’s)
3. Kal bi (Sikdorak, Gen Korean BBQ House)
Top 3 music artists
1. Rod Wave
2. Chris Stapleton
3. Luke Combs
Favorite athlete: Penei Sewell (Detroit Lions)
“I would see his Oregon highlights and his open-field blocking would be crazy. I saw a clip where he wasn’t in the right position to block the guy but he lunged and extended his arms and still made the block.”
Funniest teammate: “I have three: Packs Ahovelo, Uluaki Tatafu and Delton Kurahashi-Choy Foo.”
Smartest teammate: Benjamin Honebein
“Ben’s got a high GPA. He has a 4.3 or something like that.”
GPA (cumulative): 3.5
Favorite teacher/class: Mr. Clint Medeiros, AVID.
Favorite scripture: “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27).
Words of wisdom: “Don’t think you can do everything yourself. It was kind of recent. With schoolwork, I would think I don’t need help or advice, but that bit me in my butt. I realized that I can make the work so much easier if I ask for help.”
Bucket list: Make it to the NFL. “Maybe visit someplace cold during Christmastime.”
Shoutouts: “My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, my family, coaches and all my loved ones.”