Overview:
Tua Puailoa Rojas has passed for 2,915 yards and 31 touchdowns in 23 games since his sophomore season
Heritage is a go-to pattern in the playbook of football quarterback Tua Puailoa Rojas.
The family bloodline goes deep for Bishop Diego High School’s senior star.
“Football is something that I just grew up around,” he told Noozhawk.
His athletic roots trace back to his great-great grandfather, Satini Maluia Puailoa, a Samoan dancer and musician who brought his native skills to Hollywood nine decades ago.
“Chief” Puailoa — a nickname that stuck after his role in the 1943 war drama Wings Over the Pacific — was one of the early members of the Screen Actors Guild.
His progeny have made their own marks in Santa Barbara’s athletic history.
Tua’s great-grandfather, Satini “Sut” Puailoa Jr., grandfather Scott Puailoa, and granduncle Satini Puailoa III have all been inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame at San Marcos High School.
His father, Leo Rojas, provides support from the other side of both the family and the Goleta Valley.
He was one of Dos Pueblos High’s top receivers while J.T. Stone was breaking the school’s passing records during the mid-1990s.
And older brother Kai kept the family football rolling just a few seasons ago as the star playmaker for state powerhouse St. Bonaventure High in Ventura.
Kai parlayed that into a scholarship and starting role as a slotback at the U.S. Naval Academy. He’s now in his first year of officer training with the U.S. Marine Corps.
“I always wanted to watch his games,” Tua said. “I was around the Bonnie program when I was younger and was their ball boy during his senior year.
“I was there when they beat Bishop that season.”
Kai Puailoa Rojas was a one-man wrecking crew in 2018 when the Seraphs beat the defending state champion Cardinals, 27-3. He ran 67 yards for a touchdown and threw an 81-yard pass for another score.
Blood will flow thicker than water, however, in this season’s Bishop-Bonnie rematch.
“There was a lot of smack talk between us in the beginning — Kai obviously supports his alma mater — but he roots for me to beat them now,” Tua said. “Basketball is a little different.
“He was a really good basketball player for them and he still wants Bonnie to beat us in that.
“But there’s no sibling rivalry between us now in football.”
Tua has lost to his brother’s former school during each of his first three years on Bishop’s varsity.
He says the fourth season will be the charm.
The undefeated Cardinals will face St. Bonaventure in Ventura on Oct. 24 in one of this season’s marquee matchups in a stacked Marmonte League.
Four of the six teams are listed among the CIF-Southern Section’s Top 50 in this week’s MaxPreps computer power rankings. Bishop is just outside at No. 56.
“We want to make a statement that we can compete with these teams,” Puailoa Rojas said. “Being such a small school with not that many kids, we just feel we are disrespected sometimes — even by the Ventura County Star’s super-low rankings because we’re from Santa Barbara and so far from their action.
“We’re definitely taking it personal this year. We’re ready to rock.
“We’re ready to go into league and try to get a championship.”
High Five
The Cardinals are a perfect 5-0 so far. They completed nonconference play on Friday by routing Bishop Alemany, 43-18.
They will take their winning streak into this Thursday’s league opener against Camarillo. Kickoff at Santa Barbara City College’s La Playa Stadium is at 7 p.m.
Puailoa Rojas has spearheaded Bishop’s fast start by completing 62.3% of his passes — 48-for-77 — for 851 yards, 12 touchdowns and just one interception. He’s also rushed for four scores.
“The thing I really notice about him is the athleticism,” Cardinals coach Tom Crawford said. “His ability to run this season has shown up in how he extends plays.
“He’s able to keep plays alive, keep his eyes downfield, and then make the play downfield.”
Tua keyed the Oct. 19 win at Etiwanda by scrambling long enough for Gabe Villa to get open for a crucial first-down pass.
“It was a third and quite a distance for a first down, but his ability to prolong the play with his legs paid off in a big-game pass,” Crawford said. “There’s that versatility that allows us to get him out of the pocket when we need to.
“He throws the ball well on the run and he is a threat to take off. He did that at West Ranch and scrambled and scored from 30 yards or something.
“He can hurt defenses a couple of different ways, but he is being a little bit more patient with his decision-making because of how he trusts that guys can get open.”
Crawford can see that his 6-foot-1 and 190-pound quarterback comes from strong family stock.
“He’s a kid who never misses practice … who always plays while banged up and doesn’t make excuses,” he said.
“He just tries to compete, and I suspect that’s something that’s been ingrained in him as an expectation ever since he was little.”
The Great-Great Satini
Tua inherited his fleet feet from Chief Puailoa.
His great-great grandpa’s dancing and musical skills led him into the movie business during the 1930s after he moved to Southern California from American Samoa.
He first appeared in the 1939 films Hawai‘ian Nights and The Real Glory.
Satini Puailoa rubbed elbows with such megastars as Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in the 1952 comedy Road to Bali, and with Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Finch in the 1954 drama Elephant Walk.
Chief Puailoa even served as a composer and choreographer for the 1942 film Song of the Islands.
Samoan singing and dancing remain a Puailoa family tradition.
“I got into a little bit of it when I was younger,” Tua said. “Me and my siblings and cousins all got involved with the dancing part of it. We still have some of those traditions.
“My mom (Malia Puailoa Rojas) used to dance all the time, and so did my aunt.
“My grandpa loves his culture and he still dances and sings … plays music.”
Bishop Diego’s football program began attracting many students of Samoan ethnicity after its state championship run of 2017.
“It’s really nice to have a community of my culture that’s so far away and have kids here who share the same things as I do,” Tua said. “Our whole school is trying to learn their culture, too, and what they like to do.
“It’s been a blast having them around us, having grown up around that in my family.”
Chief Puailoa’s son, Satini “Sut” Jr., earned the nickname “The Smilin’ Samoan” after coming to UC Santa Barbara in 1954 as a star football player and golfer.
He won all-league honors twice as the Gauchos’ top running back and made the United Press International Little All-Coast Team during his senior year of 1956.
Sut later became the head golf and football coach at San Marcos. He guided the Royals to four Channel League football championships in 10 seasons before becoming the school’s athletic director in 1980.
The field at San Marcos’ Warkentin Family Stadium was named in his honor in 2011, five years after his death.
The Sons Also Rise
Sut’s biggest stars included his three sons — Scott, Satini III and Steve. All three also served on the coaching staff at San Marcos.
Tua’s grandpa, Scott, played football and golf at both SBCC and the University of Pacific before becoming the long-time golf pro at the Valley Club of Montecito.
Golf is another sport in which Tua has excelled since childhood.
“We always talk football,” he said. “We talk more defense than offense — my grandpa really helped me out when I was playing safety as a freshman.”
Tua was thrown into the fire during the season opener of 2022 when Bishop’s starting safety was sidelined by an injury. Tua responded by making four solo tackles in a victory over Righetti.
“That team was very senior-heavy, but they all took me under their wings and helped me out,” he said.
“I was very nervous before that game, but their encouragement and that of the coaches — especially coach (Aaron) Skinner, who’s now in Oregon — helped me with my confidence.”
Tua’s granduncle, Satini III, also has been quick to lend a hand.
He excelled as a running back at SBCC and Cal Poly. He later followed in his dad’s footsteps as San Marcos’ head coach, guiding the Royals to their first CIF semifinal appearance in 1992.
Satini III then followed the footsteps of another relative — his sister, Sina — by moving to Idaho’s northern panhandle.
He took over as head football coach at Sandpoint High and turned a losing program into a state champion by 1997.
“He retired in 2016 but still lives up there,” Tua said. “I’ll work out with him when he comes down here, which is about three times a year, and he’ll also give me a lot of football pointers.
“I’m really interested in studying kinesiology and sports physical therapy in college, and he’s really big into that.
“He’s helped keep my body in shape.”
Fatherly Touch
Leo Rojas helped coach his son’s last team in the Youth Football League and still keeps Tua’s head in the game.
“We go through film every week before our games,” Tua said. “He helps me with what the other team is going to do … ‘What are your reads? What are your keys? What’s the game plan for this?’
“He’s really helped me see that film is a huge aspect of the game. It’s not just practice.”
Running Crawford’s sophisticated offense requires an honors student of the game.
“As a sophomore — and even as a freshman, when I was a backup — it was a lot to take in,” Tua said. “But it’s been a huge blessing and has really benefited our whole team to have all these plays … all the shifts and motions.
“His game plans are always on point. He really knows what he’s doing, and we all love playing for him.
“I’m very blessed and truly humbled to play for a coach like coach Crawford.”
Crawford, now in his 26th year with the Cardinals, broke the county record for career coaching victories previously held by Santa Barbara High’s legendary Clarence Schutte by beating Lancaster in the season opener. His total now stands at 276.
He credits Tua’s maturation as a quarterback for helping him get there.
“His ability to audible-ize and change a play based upon what he sees requires that he process a lot of things,” Crawford said. “It also comes with his ability to communicate that with the other guys.
“We’ve been pretty smooth so far with his ability to do that, and I think that speaks to his intelligence and his confidence.”
Tua was a fourth-grader during the fall of 2017 when he got his first glimpse of Crawford’s program.
He’d spent most of that season watching his cousin, Daniel Arzate, star as a wide receiver and defensive back for Dos Pueblos High’s CIF finalist team.
He turned his attention to the Cardinals the following two weeks, however, by watching them defeat Quartz Hill in the Southern California Regional Final and Shasta High of Redding in the state championship game.
“I went to both of those games at Cal Lutheran (University),” Tua said. “The brother of one of my best buddies was playing on that team, so I went with him.”
Five years later, he decided that he was best suited for the environment at Bishop Diego.
“I really wanted to be at a Catholic school to grow my faith in Christ and stay in a smaller community,” Tua said. “You really get to know a lot more people that way.
“A lot of my friends were going there, too, and I wanted to follow them.”
He started building a connection with his top receiver, John Michael Flint, during the sixth grade and played with him in several 7-on-7 tournaments. Villa has been one of his best friends since early childhood.
“I’ve been playing football with Gabe probably my whole life,” Tua said. “Everything fell into place for me to come here.”
Senior Moments
It’s also now falling into place for the Cardinals.
Tua’s sophomore season was interrupted when he suffered a concussion and sprained shoulder in the third game. He returned in time to help Bishop win its last three games and qualify for the CIF playoffs.
“We were really young and inexperienced that season, with only one senior still playing by the end of the year,” he pointed out.
Tua earned all-league honorable mention as one of seven sophomores who played key roles for the Cardinals that season.
The others included fellow skill-position players like Villa, Flint, Oscar Anoai Mauia, Ian Bartley and Sam Crawford, as well as lineman Suitulaga Faiaulama.
“Going into the next two years, it really built the team’s confidence that we can do this,” Tua said.
He felt there was some unfinished business his junior season despite having passed for 1,320 yards and 13 TDs. The Cardinals were denied a CIF playoff berth even though they finished with a 4-5-1 record against one of California’s toughest schedules.
Tua directed his outrage into the offseason workouts.
“It’s been building all the way from January to now,” he said. “As a whole group, too, we took last year personally and we’ve worked hard to be where we are today.
“And it’s not just me.”
It takes a family, he said, and nobody knows that better than the great-great grandson of a chief named Puailoa.
