Kealakehe alum Toki latches on with Idaho

Pasi Toki doesn’t lack for inspiration when he steps on the football field. He always thinks about his mom and two younger sisters, and making a better life for them.

That’s why every tackle and sack carries extra meaning. And the 2009 Kealakehe graduate made enough noise without extraordinary numbers at California’s Chabot College to attract the attention of some big fish during the recruiting season.

Toki had just 3 1/2 sacks and 17 tackles in six games at Chabot but received a full-ride scholarship and signed a National Letter of Intent with Idaho, which opens its season against Eastern Washington on Aug. 30.

The 6-foot-1, 307-pound defensive tackle received All-Golden Gate Conference first-team honors for the Gladiators, who finished 9-2 and won the conference but lost their bowl game.

The junior college, in Hayward, Calif., was a recruiting hotbed, sending 15 players to four-year schools with scholarships. Toki will join a Vandals roster with four other Hawaii players, all from Oahu.

Idaho finished the 2011 season with a 2-10 record, including 1-6 in the Western Athletic Conference. Last season, Hawaii squeaked past the Vandals 16-14 at the Kibbie Dome.

The Warriors are ditching the WAC for the Mountain West Conference this season; UH’s other sports will join the Big West. It was supposed to be UH’s turn to host the Vandals, making it a homecoming for Toki.

Idaho coach Robb Akey hopes Toki can plug holes on a leaky defensive line that allowed other teams to average 157 rushing yards per game. Pressure on the quarterback was a problem, too. Opponents sat back and torched the defense, averaging 278 passing yards per game.

“Pasi is a defensive tackle who should come in and fight for a spot right away,” Akey said on the school’s website. “He has a great get-off and good size. He should be able to help take care of the interior of our line.”

In his senior year at Kealakehe, Toki received All-Big Island Interscholastic Federation first-team honors as an offensive lineman. He only played on the offensive line during his three seasons for the Waveriders.

He grew up on the mean streets of Oakland, Calif. Toki’s mom, Rose, moved the family to the Big Island for his last three years of high school. Then the family returned to Oakland.

“Getting the scholarship shows all the hard work paid off,” Toki said in a phone interview from Northern California. “I’ll have another opportunity to do some good for my family, my mom and two sisters. She wanted to move me out of Oakland to make sure I stayed out of trouble and graduated.

“There are a lot of gangs, a lot of murders out here. I had a lot of close friends and cousins murdered. At first, I was sad to leave Oakland. I had no friends and family. I didn’t know anybody. It was culture shock.”

Toki’s family is Tongan, and he eventually grew comfortable in Hawaii’s melting pot of nationalities and cultures. He also found his love for football again.

“I got used to it and decided to play football. I quit my freshman year,” he said. “There was nothing to do when I got out there. I got moved up to the varsity my sophomore year, and I guess I’ve been doing good ever since.

“I still miss Hawaii, going to the beach. There are no beaches here, only sewer water.”

Toki plans to major in sociology and minor in criminal justice. He wants to become a juvenile counselor.

“I could join the police, but I want to try to be a counselor for juveniles,” he said. “I want to keep them out of trouble.”

BYU also offered a scholarship, and he drew interest from several other Division I and II schools. But he chose Idaho, which is roughly 670 miles away from Oakland.

That distance is the farthest thing from his mind. His scholarship is not just a free ride to school, but also a chance to change his family’s future — something he always thinks about.

“I really don’t care how far Idaho is. I just want to get out of here to play football,” he said. “Hopefully, I can make it to the pros, do some good for my family and make my mom proud.”