Three Pahoa High football players, and one from Kea‘au High, signed letters of intent to play college football on Thursday — bringing the total number of college-bound class of 2024 football players from Puna to eight.
All four of Thursday’s signees comitted to member schools of the California Community College Atheltic Association (CCCAA) Coast Conference — as Dagger utility players Zachariah Hose-See, Kanoa Kahele and Kukui Ahin-Ganir are headed to Chabot College in Hayward and the Cougars’ Dane Bannister is bound for Santa Rosa Junior College.
At Chabot, the three Pahoa boys will become teammates with Kea‘au graduates Katin Kaluhiwa-Yamaguchi and Sheydin Meek-Canon-Ching — who signed their letters of intent several weeks ago.
The trio became the first Pahoa athletes in nearly 30 years to join a college football team.
“(Hose-See) was our captain,” Pahoa coach Kai Ako said. “He was a quiet guy, but real strong. He’s gonna be something at the next level.
“(Ahin-Ganir) is just a super agressive, downhill player with a nose for the ball. He’s a great kid with great grades. All three of them got really good grades. They’re strong in the classroom, and that was a big part of the conversation with Chabot’s coach.
“Kahele was a later decision. He was actually going to a trade school in Arizona, but the family talked it over and decided it was a good idea for him to continue football. He’s just a big heart, strong as an ox kind of kid.”
Bannister, a ScoringLive All-Hawaii Second Team defensive lineman, will join his teammates Sean Randall and Josh Nihoa at SRJC, Kea‘au head coach Dave Murray’s alma mater.
“(Bannister) is a guy who battled a lot of adversity through life,” Murray said. “It’s one proud moment, because he stayed persistent and really wanted to get somewhere.
“On the football field, he makes a lot of noise. It’s a great opportunity for him, a change of sceneray where he can create a lot of new opportunities for himself.”
“I didn’t go through what I went through to not make it this far,” Bannister added. “Coach Murray really helped me out with this decision — it’s his old school. He talked to me about the JuCo route, and I figured it would be best for me.”