The irony in Lokahi Pauole’s journey to the Hula Bowl is quite amazing, humorous to a point, and certainly an adventure for the former UCF offensive lineman.
Pauole, who is from Kapolei, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu, returned home after his senior season with the Knights ended and was resting comfortably on Oahu when he received a phone call Tuesday.
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Kapolei, a suburban community in Honolulu County, west of the capital city, is just about 14 miles from Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, where the Hula Bowl was played for 61 years. Three years ago, the game was moved to Orlando and the UCF campus at FBC Mortgage Stadium.
The phone call informed him that he was being selected as a late addition to the Hula Bowl. He was thrilled, jumped on a plane, and was doing his thing for the Black squad in Saturday afternoon’s game. His team, for what it’s worth, won 24-17.
Pauole joined four other UCF players in the game: quarterback John Rhys Plumlee, linebacker Jason Johnson, defensive end Tre’mon Morris-Brash and cornerback Decorian Patterson.
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Also in the game were a pair of Orlando products in Southern IIlinois safety PJ Jules and FAU receiver Je’Quan Burton.
Pauole was happy he made the trip. Give or take about 12 hours and 4,757 miles after the phone call, he made it worthwhile when he actually got to touch the football — an offensive lineman’s dream. Lokahi’s UCF teammate Tre’mon Morris-Brash was on the opposite side Saturday. The Green defensive end Morris-Brash, whose nickname is Drop, caused a fumble but Pauole was there to jump on it for the Black team on the final drive and his team ran out the clock.
“It was great. I think Drop was the one who knocked it out, so he kind of fed it to…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ucf-lokahi-pauole-completes-excellent-224700719.html
Author : Orlando Sentinel
Publish date : 2024-01-13 22:47:00
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