Arizona’s Antolin building success

There is a Hawaiian legend about mythical creatures who wander island forests at night, using their vast strength for achievements in engineering and construction before the sun rises. They are said to be no more than 2 feet tall, and some reach just 6 inches. Magical little people.

Keola Antolin is also small in stature and massive in desire. He too has been part of building something he hopes will last. But folklore is one thing, and producing annual winning records and bowl berths for college football teams is quite another.

Antolin has seen the level of success that can be created at Sam Boyd Stadium, having been part of Bishop Gorman's state championship win against McQueen there in 2007.

On Saturday, he returns to the field as a running back for Arizona in the Las Vegas Bowl against Brigham Young, as a player who in his first collegiate season refused to accept the assertion that with freshman standing comes frequent bouts of fear.

He showed up at fall camp like it was just another night wandering those forests with tools in hand.

"That's the biggest thing with some of those (young guys)," Arizona offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes said. "They are wide-eyed and afraid to get hit and afraid to screw up. The best thing about Keola was, he wasn't scared of anything. He hit the ground running. He makes some of the mistakes all freshmen do, but he doesn't let it bother him. That's critical.

"Young guys tend to get down on themselves and be their own worst critics. Keola does a good job of not letting that happen. He has been a real steady player."

Here's the thing: When a starting running back develops a fumbling habit that continues over several games, coaches tend to look for a backup who has the mental toughness and reliable nature to end the surge of turnovers.

Often, that player is an upperclassman, perhaps not as talented as the starter but more seasoned and stable and experienced within the offense. Someone who has been around the Division I-A block.

Arizona chose another option. It turned to Antolin, a kid six or so games removed from that state title victory and one who shined in a Wing-T scheme at Gorman.

He has rushed for 525 yards and 10 touchdowns in a spread offense that includes a 1,000-yard rusher in sophomore Nic Grigsby, whose fumbling issues swiftly swung open the door of opportunity for Antolin in midseason.

It opened for the kid whose father wasn't sure he was big enough to play college football.

Conrad Antolin brought his family from Hawaii to Las Vegas in 1996, searching for construction work in a valley then flourishing with new housing developments. Keola was 7 and one day announced his wish to play football. Dad took son to a nearby park, where Keola's passion for the game was born.

He has played ever since, always the smallest one with the biggest spirit. He was 5 feet 7 inches, 150 pounds as a high school freshman. He is 5-8, 180 (maybe) today.

"He still surprises me with what he can do," said Conrad, a freshman football coach at Bishop Gorman. "I was skeptical because of his size. I told him, 'College is a different level. They are much bigger there.' But he knows what he can do."

Said Keola: "I don't think about it. I'm human. They're human. So it's like, 'Hey, let's go.' "

He said UNLV recruited him, but that he wanted to experience something different from staying home for college. He'd always wanted to play for Hawaii, having suffered bouts of homesickness each time he visited the islands.

But another program won out in the end. Grigsby saw considerable playing time as a true freshman, and in that, Antolin recognized his own chance.

Coaches at this level lead a bottom-line existence, where winning is paramount. The idea of sacrificing growth by not playing freshmen who can generate immediate success hasn't been an acceptable philosophy for years.

Bob Altshuler, for one, isn't the least bit surprised at Antolin's season.

"He was never a kid who cared about his own personal success," the Bishop Gorman head coach said. "He was never a real vocal kid. A pretty cool character. I just decided (Arizona) offered him everything he was looking for.

"Some kids get to college and don't know how to handle the competition. They don't know how to compete. That was never going to be a problem for Keola. He's gifted. A team player. All that has happened for him ... it's really pretty awesome."

Two-foot-tall men who build cities overnight are awesome. Keola Antolin is just being himself. Small in stature, massive in desire.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.