HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Last week Friday, Farrington High School students held a pep rally for their football game against Kapolei.

The event was an extra special one because the Governors were recognizing alumnus and four-time Super Bowl champion Jesse Sapolu.

Sapolu spent all fifteen years of his career playing for the 49ers. He was a Farrington graduate in 1979 and was welcomed into his alma mater’s gymnasium with cheers and applause.

“It’s a great honor to be here with my classmates from 1979,” Sapolu said.

“It’s important for me to come back, because I’ve never been to one of these. And this is where it all started for me. You know, people just saw the Jesse Sapolu that played in four Super Bowls, but this is where it all started for me, so I’m honored to be back.”

He also expressed gratitude for the support he received throughout his time at Farrington.

“People ask me all the time, ‘What goes through your mind when you’re sitting in a locker room about to play in the biggest game that football offers?’ You know, I’m sitting there just going through every little thing about, you know how bad the field was and, and how many teachers have helped me here to get me to where, where I am.”

Sapolu recalled playing on Farrington’s old football field back when it was just a weed-covered dirt track. He attributes his character-strength and NFL career to the hours of practice he dedicated his time to.

The football legend said his advice to the younger generations is that “nothing replaces hard work and a belief in yourself.”

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BOISE — Boise State’s game Saturday evening at Hawaii poses plenty of on-field challenges.

There’s the aggressive Hawaii pass-first offense to deal with, and the humidity will be around 71% come kickoff time, with temperatures in the low 80s.

Then there are the off-the-field challenges, starting with a plane ride that will exceed six hours from Boise to Honolulu, the four-hour time change between the two cities, and — well, the sand and the surf. Beautiful beaches are only 2 miles away from Hawaii’s stadium at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, and the tropical paradise can be a little distracting.

“They’re going to have an hour or two to go walk on the beach and hang out,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson acknowledged Monday. “I tell them it’s big boy hours around here.”

The Broncos (4-1, 1-0 Mountain West) will fly to Honolulu on Thursday in preparation for the game against the Rainbow Warriors (2-3, 0-1), which will kick off at 9 p.m. Mountain time — which is 5 p.m. local time, the sun still shining in Hawaii.

It’s the type of game that brings a host of logistical problems for the Broncos to manage and distractions that not many other game destinations provide. Danielson said he’s well aware of the excitement surrounding traveling to Hawaii. Some players might not have been to the beach before or visited a tropical island, and this game doesn’t roll around every other year.

The last time Boise State played at Hawaii was 2020. The first-year coach is happy to let players indulge in some of the joy of the Aloha State when they have the chance, which is what makes flying out on Thursday for a Saturday game important.

“That’s the college football experience, too, when they go places like this,” Danielson said. “A lot of our players have never been to Hawaii before. I want them to experience it; it’s a phenomenal place.”

As for other challenges, the Broncos aren’t changing too much. Boise State faced a major time difference this season when it traveled to Statesboro, Georgia, to face Georgia Southern in its opening game. And the weather that evening — for a game the Broncos won 56-45 — was a balmy 92 degrees, with the humidity reading at 62%.

Of course, the Broncos are heading the other direction this time, which means their inner-body clocks could still be telling them it’s 9 p.m. at kickoff.

Danielson said the team won’t change practice times in the lead-up to the game, but he said that in addition to some free hours for fun, leaving Boise a day earlier than usual is vital to get acclimated. There’s also the fact that the Broncos’ thinking it’s later than it is at kickoff wouldn’t be a big deal — two recent home games kicked off at 8 p.m. Mountain time.

“It’s not a huge difference in regards to when kickoff is, but how we handle the mornings and our practice because it is a difference,” Danielson said. “We’re going to be intentional, especially when we get over there, to handle some of those things.”

The coaching staff has the serious business covered, and the players still have plenty to be excited about.

Junior defensive tackle Braxton Fely and redshirt senior safety Kaonohi Kaniho both have family from Hawaii — Kaniho was born and raised in Kahuku, Hawai’i.

Redshirt senior safety Rodney Robinson said he received an offer to play football at Hawaii.

“After we get our work in and do the things that we need to do there, it’s definitely going to be good for us to just relax and enjoy the scenery and everything like that, but all while staying focused on the mission,” Robinson said this week.

As for the long flight and time difference?

“I’m probably gonna be sleeping on the plane,” Robinson laughed.

HAWAII VS. BOISE STATE

When: 9 p.m. Mountain time, Saturday

Where: Clarence T.C. Ching Complex (15,194, Turf)

TV: CBS Sports Network (Rich Waltz, Robert Turbin)

Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM/Sirius XM Ch. 160 or 201 (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)

Records: Boise State 4-1; Hawaii 2-3

Series: Boise State leads 15-3

Last meeting: Boise State beat Hawaii 40-32 in 2020

Vegas line: Boise State by 20.5 points

Weather: High of 85, low of 75, humidity 62%, partly cloudy skies, 6% chance of rain

Design and construction work for what has been billed as America’s first fully automated, driverless light urban metro system has received the green light.

The scope of the project in Hawaii includes the design and construction of six rail stations and around three miles of elevated rail guideway, beginning just east of the Middle Street Transit Center Station and ending at the Civic Center Station, which will be located just east of the intersection of Halekauwila Street and South Street in downtown Honolulu.

Construction firm Tutor Perini was awarded the $1.66 billion contract for the project, Newsweek reported in August.

A Tuesday press release from the firm said this contract has now been executed and a Notice to Proceed with the works has been received.

According to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART), the public transit authority responsible for the system’s planning and construction, Skyline, as it is known, represents the largest public infrastructure project in the history of Hawaii.

“We are excited to partner with Tutor Perini to design and build the next segment of the Honolulu rail transit project, which will eventually take Skyline through the Downtown area and into Kakaako,” said HART executive director and CEO Lori Kahikina.

HART’s deal with Tutor Perini represents “the largest single contract of the entire project” Kahikina said previously.

Project design is expected to begin immediately while construction is estimated to get underway in the second half of 2025. Substantial completion of this segment of the rail system is slated for 2030.

Newsweek has contacted Tutor Perini for comment via email.

Separately, plans for a high-speed rail line connecting two of Texas’ largest cities made a step forward after reportedly receiving a $63.9 million federal grant for the project in August.

The proposed 240-mile route between Dallas and Houston could facilitate trains traveling at 205 miles per hour, offering a travel time of less than 90 minutes between the two locales.

According to Amtrak and Texas Central, the company behind the high-speed rail proposal, the project is estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 100,000 tons a year, removing 12,500 cars a day from Texas’ I-45. Still, it has faced pushback from local landowners.

“If we are going to add more high-speed rail to this country, the Dallas to Houston Corridor is a compelling proposition and offers great potential,” said Andy Byford, Amtrak’s senior vice president of high-speed rail development programs, in a 2023 news release announcing that Texas Central and Amtrak were exploring opportunities for the high-speed service.

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