Already a Honolulu Star-Advertiser subscriber? Log in now to continue reading.
Listed at 5 feet, 7 inches tall and 150 pounds, Kaleb Rice is the smallest player on defense, seemingly out of place on a field of giants. Violent giants.
However, Rice knows 1,000-pound animals well. He is both a Waialua defensive back/rover and an all-state rodeo cowboy. If it's not football, rodeo or weekend dirt biking at Helemano and Kahuku, his heart is on the mountain with family, hunting wild pig. His active lifestyle has spawned countless memories. He began hunting at 5 with his father, Brandon.
"I've caught almost 100 pigs. The first time, my dad held it down so it couldn't do nothing to me," Rice said, referring to the pig's 3-inch husks. "It was 130, 150 pounds. Every weekend, sometimes Saturday to Sunday, every hunt or every other hunt, we got a pig. It depended if the food was there for the pigs. The plums, the mountain apples drop."
Last winter, Rice, older brother Brayden and their cousins went hunting again with their dogs. After completing their task, they headed back in while Rice "packed" the haul, a 125-pound wild pig, 5 miles back to their vehicles. Coincidentally, while their families enjoy the rewards of their hunting, Rice doesn't eat what he catches. Not much, anyway. Brandon Rice calls his second son an eater of "wind biscuits."
"I'm amazed. He eats bread and hardly any meat. He won't eat anything with fat in it. He likes acai bowls and wind. He don't like a lot of food. I'm surprised this kid has so much energy," he said.
One of Kaleb Rice's favorite memories in the Waianae Mountain Range was several years ago with his cousins, including Noah Pang.
"We went hunting one day up above Haleiwa. There's a lot of pigs up there. Noah didn't want to leave the mountain until we caught a pig. We were in the mountain for two days. He said, '(expletive) that, we're going hard.' It was 3 o'clock. We caught it with the dogs," Rice recalled.
Knives are the weapon of choice.
"If we bring our little cousins, if his first time, they'll finish the job. Skinning the pig, it'll take an hour if we're talking story, or 30 minutes if you to get it done with. We pack him out. If you're deep in the pocket with choke breaks, it'll take a long time," Rice said.
The process doesn't end there.
"We smoke it all at one time. We have a toe-tongue hut with a fireplace. The iron roof. Homemade," Rice said. "It's less now because of football practice. I'm tired on the weekends."
Primal is the way for families. Pang played football at Waialua, setting a path for Rice. Nobody else in the family played the sport. Rice was still in middle school, a team waterboy since sixth grade, when Pang wore the red Bulldogs jersey.
"Noah was 5-10, 160 pounds and a defensive tackle," Waialua coach Gary Wirtz recalled. "He was good because he was quick. Those offensive linemen couldn't adjust to his speed. He was getting into the backfield getting sacks. I asked him, why not play free safety or cornerback? He said, because every game you're getting guaranteed action."
A week after graduation, on June 7, 2020, Pang was in a car accident. Early morning in their quiet neighborhood was jolted by sirens.
"Where he crashed is not even a mile away from our house. We were outside and all I seen is cops, cops, cops going. I call the young boys, make sure they all right," Brandon Rice said. "One of the guys is screaming on the phone. Noah's car flipped over. At first I told myself I don't want to see. My wife said get out there and see if it's Noah."
He got on his quad four-wheeler and arrived at the roundabout.
"By the time I was there, there must've been all his friends following him. His mom and dad, sisters, everybody," Brandon Rice said. "Still to this day, it has his memorial."
Pang's family owns a construction company.
"He was running machines from when he was young. Did everything with a rake and a shovel," Brandon Rice said.
Kaleb Rice was asleep when the police cars flew by.
"My auntie woke me up and said, 'Your cousin passed.' All I remember her is shaking my leg. I didn't want to leave my house. I didn't want to talk to nobody. I didn't want to be around anybody," he said. "I wish he was alive still. I don't know. Maybe God just pulled his line and said it was his time to come home."
There are nights when Noah Pang seems as alive as ever.
"I have dreams we're hanging out, driving around, mostly cruising. 'Oh what we doing tonight? What we doing tomorrow?' It's good. He's always on my mind," Rice said. "I think it's good to dream about him. He keeps you, he will always be here. It's a good thing. I miss him."
A year later, when Rice entered high school, devotion to football was automatic. Life is busy, active and too short to waste.
"Kaleb is one of a kind. He's undersized for the sport. No way he's 150 (pounds). Ain't no way. Maybe 120 soaking wet with pads on, but he doesn't care how big they are, he'll put a hit on them," Wirtz said. "He's a leader of the team. Everybody respects him. Size doesn't matter. It's how much effort and love you have. The team respects him. I respect him."
Rice's role is dynamic. Most of his snaps are at rover, defying the odds and bringing down ballcarriers in the open field. Sometimes in the trenches. Rice's fearless, poised approach is successful on the field and in the lockerroom.
"He was like that from day one as a freshman," Wirtz said. "He has a passion for the game. He knows this might be his only time, high school, he gets to play, so he's going to enjoy every minute of it. He knows when to speak up and get the boys going. He knows when coaches are upset, and he'll shut everyone up and get everyone to focus. He knows when to break the tension by cracking that joke. His awareness is awesome. He knows the time and place."
Despite a 15-13 loss to Kalani over the weekend, Waialua is 3-2 in OIA Division II, on track to qualify for the playoffs. The last time Waialua made the playoffs, Rice was in fourth grade playing for the Waialua Bulldogs Pop Warner team. After one year, the team disbanded, but whether it's flag football, hunting, rodeo or biking on trails, teamwork has been vital in his world.
"You trust the other person to do their job. That leads to the win. A lot of people in our community, you'll be at McDonald's and four, five guys will say, 'Good job last night.' On our first day of (fall) practice, we said, boys, this is our plan this year. Work game by game and by the end of the season, we'll be in that playoff position," Rice said.
After not playing tackle football since fourth grade, Rice surprised a lot of people with his playmaking ability on defense. His tussles with 1,000-pound animals in the rodeo arena provided a unique level of preparation. With the help of the Rita ohana, Rice began life as a rodeo cowboy at 5. Last year, he and team roping partner Colten Kehano of Kula finished fourth out of 30 teams in the NFR junior national finals in Las Vegas. That opened the eyes of college recruiters.
"In team roping, cows are 800 to 4,000 pounds. They have the same cows for kids and adults. You have to think that you're riding on a cloud. It's not going to harm you. It could run behind you, stop and kick you. There's a lot of cons if you go too slow or too fast. You have to go at a good speed so you can time it and throw the rope," Rice said. "You rope the feet. Your loop goes in front of the legs.
At the event in Las Vegas, crowds of 5,000 looked on. Rice and Kehano went to work.
"There's lots of adrenaline. More nervousness. More people. You don't know them, they're watching. The cows are different. Smaller with bigger horns. I like the small horns, they're easier to rope," he said. "We roped four (cows) each day for six days. My family was loud and the Ritas were there."
In the beginning, Rice and his family had no connection to rodeo aside from Brandon Rice's friendship with Levi Rita.
"I was never a rodeo guy. I paddled canoe, went hunting and we rode dirt bike," he said.
Kaleb Rice found himself sitting on a massive animal one day.
"I was 5, maybe younger. My uncle just threw me on a horse and said, 'You're going to be a cowboy.' I get the brush, unsaddle, wash them off, feed them hay cubes. They have 60 horses."
Wirtz plans to catch Rice's next rodeo, the one in Las Vegas. Rice and his family are filled with gratitude for the football life, the rodeo life, all life.
"The people who got Kaleb to the world finals (last year) -- Levi, Wyatt and Nicole Rita -- they played a really big part in getting Kaleb there. They sent up a horse for him," Brandon Rice said.
Busy life, mellow vibe. Kaleb Rice has yet to surprise his mother, Kehau (Souza) Rice.
"He's an easy-going kid. Nothing really fazes him. He just knows when he's got to do something, he does it. His temperament, everything is smooth. He doesn't get too excited or overworked," she said. "He just gets in a zone. He loves anything that will give him good adrenaline. He loves it. Brudda man, he no scared. Everything he touches, there could be destruction, but he loves to have his toys."
"My mom (Kanoe Rice) makes spaghetti the day before games and in the morning. I'll eat it."
Favorite athlete/team: Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
"He's really athletic, big and can move. And he's a critical thinker. Teams are double-covering him."
Funniest teammate: Landon Teixeira, offensive lineman
"He's the No. 1 guy to go to when you're stuck on something in class. I think he'll go play (college) football."
GPA: 3.0
"Finishing homeworker early, it depends. If we have an essay to write, I'll do some in class. I like to work in the classroom, and if I need help, I can ask."
Favorite teacher: Mr. (Neal) Okamoto
"He's our vice principal. Does that count as a teacher? He's a really good guy to talk to. If you have any trouble or a problem, he'll help you out and get over it. If you're breaking down, he's there to help you."
Favorite class: History
"I like learning about the past and what happened in world wars, what happened to the islands."
Favorite motto/scripture: "If you can't hang with the big dawgs then sit on the porch. That's what my cousin Noah (Pang) used to say."
New life skill: Driving a stick shift
"I learned how to drive standard by myself. We had a Ford Ranger. My dad said, I'll be back, and I figured out the ropes. I learned in a few hours."
Bucket list: Snowboarding
"I've never been snowboarding in my life. They say Big Bear (Colo.) is good."
Time machine: 1990s, Mokuleia Beach
"They used to ride sand on the beaches with the pipe buggies."
Youth sports: JPW Football
"We went to the championships my first year, playing on Maui. It was different. We played the No. 1 team. They were 10-0. I think it was Maui Crusaders or something like that. We won 34-14. We kind of punched them in the mouth. The next year, we went back to sign up and nobody was there. The team president said there's no team any more. Nobody wanted to be president. That was fourth grade. My friend told me to go play Waipahu with him, but I didn't want to go there every day after school."
If you could go back in time, what would you tell your younger self?
"To never give up because you're from a small town, and chase your dreams."
Shoutouts: "Mom, dad, girlfriend, and my two brothers."