Leadership at the line

The Kahuku High School football team is 7-1 overall and has a first-round bye in the state playoffs this week.

Sandpoint High senior quarterback Jake Semones keeps tabs on his former school in Hawaii. Had his family not moved to Sandpoint the summer before his sophomore year, he might have been the starting quarterback for the program his father turned into a perennial power.

“I was born and raised on the main island of Oahu,” Semones said. “My parents lived there for 18 years. All my friends that I was born and raised with and played with are at Kahuku. Most of them are starting there.”

One of his best friends, Allan Kobota, is Kahuku’s starting quarterback.

“I’m sure if I was still there I’d have competed for the starting job,” Semones said. “It was different there. Football is the life over there. Football is the community. Five tiny different towns feed into the high school.”

So how did Jake and his family end up in Sandpoint?

“Some people think it’s impossible to get tired of living over there, but my parents wanted to try something new,” Semones said. “I had an uncle who had moved to Sandpoint from Hawaii. We came over to visit him (summer of 2006). My parents really liked it. Just for fun they checked out the high school and they interviewed for jobs. They both got teaching jobs.”

The family returned to Hawaii to tie up loose ends and arrived back in Sandpoint just in time for preseason football practices.

Semones has adjusted fine to life in Idaho. But he can do without a winter as cold and snowy as the last one.

“I miss the food and my friends,” he said. “The people here are good, school’s great and it’s a friendly environment. But I just can’t stand the cold. Last winter was brutal. It killed half of our baseball season.”

Sandpoint has a bye this week before its two biggest games of the year with Moscow and Lakeland. Those games will determine the region’s lone 4A state berth.

The left-handed Semones has been a starting outfielder in baseball the last two years and is in his second year starting in football, first as the quarterback. He was a cornerback last year.

It was thought this would be a rebuilding year for the Bulldogs, who are 3-4 overall with a 27-7 win over 5A Coeur d’Alene. The record is a little deceiving because three of Sandpoint’s four losses have been to 5A teams Lake City (30-26), Post Falls (55-35) and Lewiston (43-28). Sandpoint was competitive in those losses.

“We’ve gotten a lot out of playing those tough teams,” Semones said. “Those are some of the best you can play. It builds character and you’re battling hard every week. I think it really prepares us for the 4A schools.”

Sandpoint had to retool its offensive line going into the season after graduating all five starters from 2007. But the line has held up fine for Semones (6-0 ½ and 165 pounds).

“They’ve played very well,” Semones said.

Semones probably would have been sacked more, but he’s elusive.

“I’m not very fast, but I’ve been able to move around the pocket and avoid a lot of sacks,” Semones said.

He’s been especially efficient, completing 70 percent of his passes (110 of 157) for 1,565 yards and 15 touchdowns. He’s had seven interceptions, but he went four games before suffering his first pick.

“In the quarterback position you’re looking for judgment and leadership more than anything,” Sandpoint coach Mike Mitchell said. “Jake’s judgment and leadership is incredible. The kids respond to him well. His accuracy has been fantastic.”

Semones credits his accuracy to a talented group of receivers.

“They make my life easy and they help me quite a bit,” he said. “I give them a lot of credit. They’ve bailed me out and have made some spectacular catches.”

His father, Doug, is the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator. So football, naturally, follows Jake and dad home often.

“He’s been around football his whole life,” Mitchell said. “He doesn’t get a lot of sympathy at home when things don’t go well. He’s had his dinner on the back porch.”

Jake laughed when he heard about Mitchell’s comment.

“My dad and I talk about the game a lot, but it’s probably my mom who wants to throw me and my dinner on the back porch more often than dad. She’s pretty competitive herself. She’s always pushing me to do my best and critiquing me. She knows the game, too. I can even learn from my mom because she knows what she’s talking about from being around the game so long.”

Semones has a 3.81 grade-point average and has an interest in zoology.

“I’m not an inside guy. I don’t want to be confined doing a 9 to 5 desk job,” Semones said. “I like animals and want to be outside. I can see myself traveling somewhere and studying a certain type of animal.”

Sandpoint lost a one-point heartbreaker last year to Lakeland and missed the state playoffs. Semones wants to lead the Bulldogs back to the postseason.

“Moscow and Lakeland are good teams and we can’t take them lightly,” he said. “We can’t turn the ball over. We have to eliminate the mental mistakes and just play our brand of football. We’ll be alright if we just play our game. I think we have the team to make a deep run in the playoffs.”