Moves make Samuela smarter, stronger
By Banji Bamidele
MDJ Sports Writer
The island of Hawaii is 4,508
miles west of G eorgia. K nown
for its luscious beaches and
beautiful white sand, it is also
home to some of the world’s
most impressive athletes.
O ne of those athletes is Pebblebrook’s
Georgia Memorial Park
Funeral Home & Cemetery
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own K ingtriton
Samuela.
The 6 -foot-3, 29 0-pound
off ensive and def ensive
lineman l i v ed on the isl
and unt i l t h e age o f 12,
when his family relocated
to Arkansas.
“I moved to Arkansas in 2019
and I spent two years there.
We had to get out of Arkansas
because it was a small town
and a small school and their
football program wasn’t very
good,” Samuela said.
The move to Arkansas also
proved to be taxing socially
as Samuela dealt with racism
as he and his family were
the only people of color in
the area.
The family made another
move, this time settling 66 0
miles southeast in Mableton,
G eorgia. Samuela was excited
to j oin a program in Pebblebrook
that was transforming
into a winning program under
coach Leroy Hood.
The move wasn’t easy, because
each time he found a
new home, there were new
challenges and hurdles to
overcome. The initial hurdle
to get over was the first
day of practice.
“Hawaii is so far behind football
wise, so all of these drills
and circuits were new to me,”
Samuela said. “I didn’t know
half the drills, but it was straight
forward because a lot of players
and coaches showed me love
and they couldn’t wait to get
me out on the field.”
In the classroom, Samuela
excels as he holds a 3.5 G PA
which Hood said is among the
highest on the team.
O nce Samuela touched the
field, his frame allowed him
to play on the offensive and
defensive lines. He would
need to get bigger as he was
lacking the strength to deal
with other lineman in practice.
“Back home in Hawaii, I
had always played ball with
guys older and bigger than
me, so I had to work harder
than everyone else just
to touch the field,” Samuela
said. “When I came to
Pebblebrook I had to catch
up to speed on how football
was played in G eorgia and
to get bigger.”
The lineman put the work
in in the weight room as he
benches 235 pounds, squats
315 pounds, and deadlifts
405 pounds. The junior is
j ust shy of joining the Falcons
1,000 pound club and
is set to achieve the goal before
his senior season.
Samuela said that with the
name K ingtriton he feels
like a king whenever he’s
on the field.
With little time Samuela
has established himself
as one of the leaders of the
offensive line and is working
his way to becoming one
of the leaders of the entire
Pebblebrook squad.
As for goals, i t ’s pretty
simple.
“G o undefeated, win (the
region) and lead my guys
to winning state.” Samuela
said.
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