By his own admission, Ezra Savea knows that he could have done better last year.

After an up-and-down sophomore season at Campbell, Savea is hoping to make up for it in 2015.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Savea is back where he feels most at home and that's as the quarterback for the Kapolei football team. It's actually a homecoming of sorts for him. After attending Kapolei as a freshman, Savea transferred to nearby Campbell, where he went through some growing pains in his first full varsity season.

Savea held the starting quarterback job for most of the year, throwing for 1,332 yards and 14 touchdowns. He completed a respectable 54.7 percent of his pass attempts, but was also picked off 13 times. In the Sabers' final game of the season — the third-place game of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I tournament — Savea threw for 138 yards and a touchdown on 11-of-22 passing, but was benched in favor of backup Anthony Pablo.

It was a tough pill for him to swallow, for sure, but Savea looks back on it now as a blessing in disguise.

"It's not something that bothers me," Savea said at a recent practice. "I learned from it and it's actually motivating me to do better to know that I could have did a lot better. The way I am now is a totally different player than last year — not bragging or anything."

The way 2014 ended for Campbell wasn't the only reason Savea opted to turn in his black and orange jersey for the teal and black of Kapolei.

"Campbell is a good school and all, but I was thinking of the long run and Kapolei is a school that preps you for college and that's where I need to be, because I have a dream to fulfill and I just want to graduate from the same high school as my brothers," Savea said.

Savea's older brother, Pesi, was a standout offensive lineman for the Hurricanes before graduating in the spring, while younger brother, Rocky — a sophomore linebacker — will be looked to as one of the leaders on the defense. Furthermore, his father, Toma, is an assistant on the coaching staff.

"It's a good feeling even though he's on defense and all, but I haven't played with him in a while and just getting back together feels good," Savea said of being reunited with Rocky.

Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said Savea has matured exponentially since he was a freshman on the Hurricanes' junior varsity squad two years ago.

"He's grown a lot. When he was a freshman he really was kind of a deer in the headlights," said Hernandez, who promoted Savea to the varsity midway through the 2013 season. "He was stepping into this huge challenge and he did it. He didn't play much, he was mostly practicing with us, but he got in a few games, some mop-up duty, but the transformation — not only physically — but just as a person who's going to be in control of the offense and someone that we're going to have to count on has been tremendous."

Hernandez, who is in his 20th season as a varsity head coach this fall, speaks highly of Savea, who has put on about 10 pounds since last year.

"He's just got a lot of talent and a great skill set," Hernandez said. "He reminds me of a young Randall Cunningham really — the way he runs, the way he moves — obviously this year he's more mature than he was last year at Campbell, so we expect big things from him. The guy has a great arm, he can scramble, he's 6-3, 200 — he's much bigger and stronger — so we expect big things from him this year."

This year's Hurricanes will need Savea to live up to his billing to help the transition to a new offense — an uptempo spread attack — and their third offensive coordinator in three seasons in Nalu Tagovailoa.

"They're going to have to grow up real fast, especially learning a new offense," Hernandez said. "It's a different offense and so a lot of these guys have to learn a different skill set. I'm a big proponent of the option and we've run the option for the last 15 years or some form of the option — be it the triple option or the gun option — this year we're going to be a spread offense and we're not going to be an option-running team."

Savea should benefit from the protection provided by one of the state's top prospects in offensive lineman Toleafoa "Sean" Auwae. The duo will be touching the ball on every snap; Auwae as the center and Savea behind him.

"It's a good feeling knowing I can trust him and no one will ever touch me, but that also goes for all the linemen, I trust all of them and I know they trust me to call the shots and I'm just grateful for my line," Savea said. "The heart of our offense is the O-line. Without the O-line we can't move anything."

Auwae, who has accepted an invitation to play in the Semper Fi All-American Game, said he's liked what he's seen from Savea so far this summer.

"Ezra is good. I like the way he throws. He's very smart and he's speedy, too," said Auwae, who will surely be looked to as a leader on the team.

Hernandez assured as much through his comments.

"I talk to Sean before the season and I told him that, ‘I don't need you to lead the offensive line, I need you to lead the entire offense. For a guy with your skill set and your personality, you need to take control of the huddle, of the entire offense — in fact the whole team,' " Hernandez said. "The guy is a one-of-a-kind type of player. He's fast, he's quick — I mean, he ran a 4.9 (40-yard dash) at 301, so the guy is just outstanding on so many levels. We're expecting him to be a leader, but not just on the offensive line. We expect him to take his leadership to the next level."

Savea admits there is still lots of work to be done.

"There's always room for improvement and we've come a long way from the beginning and we're still working toward greatness and just putting our best into everything we do," Savea said.

For now, however, he'll take comfort in once again donning a Kapolei jersey.

"It feels honestly I never should have left," Savea said. "I should have stayed where I was put, because this is where I belong — as a Hurricane."

- Kalani Takase