Our Idaho football season preview will run in the paper tomorrow, highlighted by a lengthy profile piece of the Vandals' new-look linebacker corps -- JoJo Dickson in the middle and Robert Siavii and Homer Mauga on the outside.

Read on for the feature and Idaho's depth chart as it stands now.

By Josh Wright
Correspondent

MOSCOW, Idaho — Come Thursday night, Idaho football fans will have a better sense of how the Vandals’ starting linebacker crew has coalesced. Already, though, this much is certain: They fit together splendidly at their off-campus home.

JoJo Dickson and Robert Siavii are from Hawaii, Homer Mauga’s family used to live in Honolulu, and all three have carried the laidback Islands’ vibe to their house.

Football, movies, food – there’s little disagreement among them on these and other topics.

“The chemistry with all of us is good at home,” said Siavii, a junior from Wahiawa, Hawaii. “It’s basically like three brothers living together without a mom and dad.”

The familial ties run deeper than that, actually. Just a month ago, Mauga, the newest projected starter on the Idaho defense, discovered his parents were close friends – and very distant relatives – with Siavii’s mother and grandparents in Hawaii in the 1980s.

“(It’s a) small world,” Mauga said. “I basically stick with those guys, and they’re a great big help.”

This is the story of the Mauga and his two roommates – each with similar backgrounds and frenetic playing styles, and each a key element in the Vandals’ most promising defense in years.

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Mauga’s first true taste of football beyond the junior-college level will come Thursday, in Idaho’s season opener versus North Dakota at the Kibbie Dome.

In a way, though, the La Mesa, Calif., native with a superb Samoan football pedigree, is more than prepared. He’s spent a large portion of his life watching family members – bunches of them – filter through college and the NFL.

Mauga’s cousin is Junior Seau, a linebacker who became an NFL superstar. His father’s cousin is Dan Saleaumua, a Pro Bowl defensive lineman who ended his career in Seattle in 1998.

Josh Mauga, another cousin, is fighting for playing time with the New York Jets.

But that’s not all. In Mauga’s immediate family, the ties to football are also extensive. Among his five brothers, four have played collegiately. His twin brother Hutch is still at Grossmont College, where Homer played the last two years.

One of his older brothers, Magnum, completed his career recently at Utah State. Yet another brother, Dallas, starred at Sacramento State and later came close to grabbing an NFL roster spot.

“The NFL — that’s the goal for Samoan athletes,” said Benson Mauga, Homer’s father.

Benson, 50, retired from the Navy in 2001. He spent the last 12 years of a 22-year Navy career near San Diego, where his six boys thrived on the football field.

While in Honolulu in the ’80s, Benson met Siavii’s grandfather, who did security and police work. Each had similarly aged children, and so the Maugas and Siaviis struck a bond.

Eventually, Shana Siavii, Robert’s mother, became so close that she would stay at the Mauga’s home during weekend sleepovers.

“We called them our kids,” Benson said.

When Homer signed with Idaho, Shana phoned her son and asked about the new recruit’s full name.

“She was in shock that his last name was Mauga,” Robert said. “That’s the last name of the family that raised her when she was a kid.”

Immediately comfortable in his new environment, Homer has made a big enough splash with Vandal coaches to earn a starting gig at strongside linebacker. While just 6-foot and 215 pounds, the junior’s speed and aggressive approach have been a perfect fit for a defense that looked sluggish at times last year.

“You always need to play faster and get more speed out on the field, and I think we’re close to being able to do that,” coach Robb Akey said.

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Like Mauga, Siavii – 6-1, 216 pounds – is small for his position. He’s so slender that people often confuse him for someone other than a linebacker.

Once, at the Super China Buffet in Moscow, a woman saw him wearing an Idaho football T-shirt and asked what position he played.

After Siavii told her, she replied, “You do not look like a linebacker.”

“I just laughed and said, ‘Thank you, ma’am. Thanks for the compliment,’” he recalled.

The junior was a decorated player at Leilehua High, earning defensive player of the year honors from the Honolulu Advertiser and garnering interest from Hawaii and other schools.

Since joining UI in 2008, he’s started 17 games. And through fall camp and the spring, he’s been one of the Vandals’ most consistent playmakers.

Siavii remained in Moscow in the summer to train with teammates, and he said he feels faster after the grueling conditioning. It helps, too, that he has two full years of experience.

“I know what I have to do so I can mess around with my blitzes, I can mess around with my coverages,” he said. “I can just play football. I don’t ever think out there now.”

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Dickson, a 235-pound senior, has predominantly played on the outside during his productive career. But as part of offseason tinkering, coaches moved him to middle linebacker to better showcase his speed and coverage skills.

So far, it seems to be working.

“Being outside gives teams a way to run away from me,” Dickson said. “Me being in the middle, I can make plays on both sides of the field.”

Dickson will still switch between middle and strongside linebacker depending on the package, freeing up Tre’Shawn Robinson to also play in the middle and Conrad Scheidt – another Hawaiian – to get time as well.

Added depth has given Akey and defensive coordinator Mark Criner options, which is a “much better scenario than we’ve had forever, since we’ve been here,” Akey said.

In analyzing last year’s defensive woes, Dickson pointed to not just a lack of bodies but also a trend of players wearing down on long drives. So throughout the summer, he said, the focus was on gaining endurance with explosive workouts.

“We were out there this summer forever — two hours of pushing sleds and pulling sleds,” Dickson said. “All the strenuous work on the legs for that long period of time, I feel, got me in shape.”

With the versatile Dickson and four other starting seniors, the Idaho defense has a veteran presence it’s lacked in Akey’s four years. That’s one reason why Criner is optimistic.

“If we can stay healthy,” he said, “I think we can be pretty darn good.”

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And here's the Vandals' two-deep depth chart. A couple of surprises on there besides the LBs. Benson Mayowa has supplanted Andre Ferguson as the starting rush end, and Justin Veltung is starting at receiver ahead of Landon Weaver. Veltung missed time due to injury this fall.

OFFENSE

LT         70           Matt Cleveland               6-4         311      Jr.       1L         Kentwood High School                                                              Kent, Wash.

              63           Ron Mallory                     6-6         306      So.     SQ        Deer Valley High School                                                       Glendale, Ariz.

LG         50           Sam Tupua                       6-2         374      Jr.       JC          Palomar Junior College                                                   Wilmington, Calif.

              68           Guy Reynolds                  6-2         301      So.     SQ        Westview High School                                                        Avondale, Ariz.

C           71           Clell Hasenbank              6-0         287      Sr.      SQ        McEwen High School/College of Siskiyous                       Adams, Ore.

                       74            Mike Marboe                6-2           298        Fr.        HS          Wenatchee High School                                                                Wenatchee, Wash.

RG        61           Tevita Halaholo              6-5         335      Sr.      1L         College of San Mateo/Mills High School                        Millbrae, Calif.

              74           Jordan Johnson               6-6         319      Fr.      RS         Santiago High School                                                                Corona,Calif.

RT         67           Tyrone Novikoff             6-7         318      Jr.       2L         Curlew High School                                                                Curlew, Wash.

                       78            Charles Wiley                         6-5           325        Jr.         JC           Fu Hun High School/Grossmont College                                                Knoxville, Tenn.

TE         88           Daniel Hardy                    6-4         242      Sr.      2L         West High School                                                           Anchorage, Alaska

              81           Taylor Elmo                      6-4         244      Fr.      RS         Eisenhower High School                                                     Yakima, Wash.

RB         20           Princeton McCarty         5-8         192      Jr.       2L         West High School                                                              Bakersfield, Calif.

or          3              Deonte` Jackson             5-8         199      Sr.      3L         Warren (Ark.) High School                                               Las Vegas, Nev.

QB        10           Nathan Enderle               6-5           233          Sr.     3L          North Platte High School                                                                     North Platte, Neb.

              14           Brian Reader                    6-3           226          Jr.      1L          Monterey Peninsula/Palma High School                                              Prunedale, Calif.

X           1              Eric Greenwood              6-6         223         Sr.    3L         Edmonds-Woodway High School                                Edmonds, Wash.

              2              Maurice Shaw                 6-3           205          Sr.     3L          Colony High School                                                                                  Ontario, Calif.

Z           24           Justin Veltung                  5-11       180         So.   1L         Puyallup High School                                                         Puyallup, Wash.

                       83            Landon Weaver           5-11      186     Jr.             SQ    LaGrande High School                                                                                        LaGrande, Ore.

Slot      15           Marsel Posey                  5-10         172          Jr.      2L          Centennial High School                                                                             Corona, Calif.

                       7              Preston Davis               6-2           201          Jr.      2L           Shadow Ridge High School                                                                  Las Vegas, Nev.

DEFENSE

E           95           Aaron Lavarias                6-3         255      Sr.      3L         Woodinville High School                                            Woodinville, Wash.

              96           Charles Smith Jr.             6-6         257      Jr.       2L         Desert Pines High School                                                  Las Vegas, Nev.

T           93           Michael Cosgrove          6-4         289      Jr.       2L         Desert Pines High School                                                  Las Vegas, Nev.

              43           Fono Sekona                 6-2         292      Sr.      3L         Leuzinger High School                                                        Lawndale, Calif.

Nose    99           Jonah Sataraka               6-2           294        Sr.        3L          Gov. John Rogers High School                                                              Puyallup, Wash.

                       97            Bryan Wilson               6-4           301        So.       SQ         Milpitas High School                                                                                Milpitas, Calif.

Rush    58           Benson Mayowa            6-3         239      So.     1L         Inglewood High School                                                    Inglewood, Calif.

              55           Andre Ferguson            6-3         226      Jr.       2L         East Valley High School                                                      Redlands, Calif.

MLB     34           JoJo Dickson                   6-2         235      Sr.      3L         Baldwin High School                                                         Wailuku, Hawai`i

              51           Tre`Shawn Robinson    5-11       240      Jr.       2L         Upland High School                                                                  Upland, Calif.

        SLB          19            Homer Mauga            6-0           215        Jr.         JC           Helix High School/Grossmont College                                                      La Mesa, Calif.

              33           Conrad Scheidt                6-1         222      So.     1L         Kamehameha High School                                           Waianae, Hawai`i

WLB     1              Robert Siavii                     6-2           216        Jr.         2L          Leilehua High School                                                                        Wahaiwa, Hawai`i

                       46            Elliott Chapman             6-0       220     Jr.           JC         Grossmont College/Marin Catholic High School                                                       Larkspur, Calif.

CB         27           Isaac Butts                        6-0         185      Sr.      3L         Richland High School                                                               Pasco, Wash.

                       14            Tracy Carter                            5-11         175        Fr.        RS          Madison High School                                                                          Mesquite, Texas

SS         10           Shiloh Keo                         5-11         216        Sr.        4L*        Archbishop Murphy High School                                                           Everett, Wash.

              12           Quin Ashley                     5-11         209        Sr.        3L          Paris High School                                                                                        Paris, Texas

FS         3              Gary Walker                    6-0         187      So.     1L         Redlands East Valley High School                                   Redlands, Calif.

                       24            Thaad Thompson                  6-3           215        Jr.         JC           Ellsworth College                                                                                     Margate, Fla.

CB         2              Kenneth Patten               5-9           188        Jr.         2L          Crenshaw High School                                                                       Los Angeles, Calif.

or          16           Aaron Grymes                 5-11         180        So.       1L          West Seattle High School                                                                       Seattle, Wash.

 

SPECIALISTS

PK         21           Trey Farquhar                 6-1         180      So.     1L         Redlands East Valley                                                           Redlands, Calif.

P           13           Bobby Cowan                  6-5           230        So.       1L          Evergreen High School                                                                     Vancouver, Wash

LS         65           Christopher Ramos        5-11       256      Sr.      1L         Don Bosco Tech/Mt. San Antonio College                                    Rosemead, Calif.

PR         10           Shiloh Keo                         5-11         216        Sr.        4L*        Archbishop Murphy High School                                                           Everett, Wash.

KR         8              Kama Bailey                     5-9           203        Jr.         2L          Damien Memorial High School                                                          Honolulu, Hawai`i

              24           Justin Veltung                  5-11       180      So.     1L         Puyallup High School                                                         Puyallup, Wash.

 

 

 

 

 

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