Herriman football: Lupeamanu profile

In late December, I interviewed Herriman's Tueni Lupemanu, a three-sport athlete who was so important to the football team. He has amazing athletic ability and huge potential at the college level. Here is the article that will appear in the Mustangs' 2012 football yearbook.

Tueni Lupeamanu:

 Team’s star elevated the program

and gave it a quick step forward

By Bruce Smith

Matchup
 
           Since Herriman High School opened, Tueni Lupeamanu has been the figurehead of the football program.

            He was already big and talented, but by his senior year he was listed at 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds. After being forced to be a lineman in Little League, he was asked to try quarterback here.

            By the time he left, he held more school records than any other player, and many will last a while.
            “Phenomenal,” was how coach Larry Wilson described him. “He’s a great story.
            “He was the heart and soul of the program. He was so valuable on offense that we had to be careful on defense, or he would have been our most dominant player there.”
            As a junior, he had a bout with pneumonia and missed a few games during the basketball season. As a senior, he also had to sit out some games after losing four of his front teeth thanks to an opponent’s elbow. In football, however, he was almost always on the field.
            Lupeamanu could bulldoze a linebacker and even some lineman. On offense, he was known for his incredible arm strength, his ability to block and keep plays alive with his elusiveness.
            “A play was never over with him,” said Wilson. “He could turn nothing into something really quick.”
            In three seasons, he passed for 4,370 yards and ran for 1,454 more. He threw for 33 touchdowns and was best friends with his running backs, wide receivers, lineman and, certainly, the coaches. He made them all look good.

            “Tueni made the biggest difference,” said teammate Canyon Hansen. “It was his overall focus during the games and holding us to a higher standard. That made us achieve our maximum potential.”

            And it wasn’t just for football. Lupeamanu was a three-sport athlete (football, basketball and rugby) and helped quickly turn Herriman into a contender in each (and even a state championship in Rugby). He ended up having more colleges chasing him than high-school girls.
            “I just did what I could,” said Lupeamanu. “The wins were great, but my best memories will be more about the relationships with the players and coach Larry (Wilson).”
            He said his best friends on the team were Francis Bernard and Sialao Mobley and, of course, Wilson, who began tutoring him shortly after accepting the job in Dec. 2009, when Lupeamanu was a freshman at Riverton High.
            “I was staying with my uncle (former NFL player Ed Mulitalo) and he lived right next to Herriman,” Lupeamanu recalled. “He said he was going to coach at Herriman because of Larry and I went with him.”
            On the field, Lupeamanu became part of a deadly 1-2 combination with Bernard, who also dominated the school record books. Lupeamanu said he didn’t have a favorite receiver, but if Bernard lined up as a slot receiver, “I knew I was going to him.”
            One of Lupeamanu’s favorite memories came in 2011. The Mustangs were on their way to winning their first five games. At Timpanogos, Herriman led 28-10 in the second quarter when Lupeamanu took the ball on the option and found running room. About 30 yards downfield, he pitched the ball to Bernard, who ran the rest of the way for a 61-yard score.
            In its first three seasons, Herriman was an anomaly. The Mustangs had a 20-14 record, a fact rarely seen with new schools. In the school’s first game (2010), Herriman scored first against Hillcrest before falling 17-7. The Mustangs won their second game (at Lehi) by jumping to a 27-0 lead.
            Herriman made the playoffs each season and even defeated its rival – Riverton – in just its second attempt. In Lupeamanu’s senior season, the Mustangs averaged almost 42 points per game and eclipsed 50 five times. If not for a crazy post-season, which forced Herriman to play powerhouse East, the Mustangs probably would have reached at least the 4A semifinals at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
            “Football went really good,” Lupeamanu said. “It didn’t turn out like we wanted, but everything can’t go your way.”
            Still, Lupeamanu tried. With the running attack stopped for the only time all season, he set a school record with 39 passing attempts and 327 yards.
            “We had to put everything in his hands,” Wilson said afterward. “He was the only guy they couldn’t contain.”
            With all of his athletic abilities, Lupeamanu’s future looked bright. In all likelihood, his greatest athletic successes still await. In the meantime, his accomplishments here will never be forgotten.