Athlete of the Week: Aragon’s Alan Tanielu

And, according to the Dons’ 21st year head coach Steve Sell, Tanielu is every bit the rock star he looks to be.

“It terrifies me to think where we’d be without him,” Sell said.

With Tanielu, the Dons are in rarified air this year. Backed by a contingent of upperclassmen that two years ago, as freshmen and sophomores, settled for a 1-9 overall record, Aragon this year turned in its finest postseason run since Sell took over the program in 2001. Saturday, Aragon prevailed in the Central Coast Section Division V championship game 38-14 over St. Francis-Watsonville, marking the school’s first CCS football title since 1994.

Tanielu has earned the distinction as Daily Journal Athlete of the Week not just for his 136 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. With the Dons’ backs up against the wall for much of the first half, Tanielu helped change the tide by hauling in a 37-yard touchdown catch to put the Dons ahead 17-14 early in the third quarter.

“It was a game-changer for us because it opened our eyes that the game was still alive for us,” Tanielu said.

Not that Tanielu can be defined as a wide receiver. He really can’t be defined by any one position. He is the classic Swiss Army knife type, playing multiple positions in all three phases of the game.

When people ask him what position he plays, however, Tanielu likes to keep it simple.  

“I just tell them receiver and DB,” Tanielu said.

It really isn’t that simple, though.

“No, it’s not,” Tanielu said. “Then after they see me play, they tell me I’m everywhere around the field.”

One of his best Swiss Army knife moments was Saturday’s go-ahead touchdown reception, delivered not by Aragon quarterback Dylan Daniel, but on an option pass from junior receiver Lloyd Walter. It’s a play Sell has had up his sleeve all season, albeit the way Aragon started practicing it at the beginning of the year, Tanielu was the passer and Walter the receiver.

The role-reversal turned out to be the catalyst for CCS glory.

“It was huge because I thought we could move the ball, but we hadn’t punched it in,” Sell said. “Our drives kept stalling before we could score. So, that was huge.

“Any time you can score on the opening drive of the second half, it’s encouraging,” Sell said. “And it was a big play. … In high school, any time you can score on big plays, it helps.”

The trick play just adds to the highlight-reel moments for Tanielu this season. He has scored touchdowns on offense via the catch and the run — including a 5-yard rushing score Saturday — while on defense has had a scoop-and-score, and on special teams has returned a kickoff for a touchdown, and another off his own blocked punt.

Perhaps the most consistent play in Tanielu’s repertoire, though, comes with his knack for recovering onside kicks. As the Aragon kicker, he does all the work himself by tapping the ball 10 yards up the field and recovering it himself. This he has executed to perfection four times this season.

Don’t tell Tanielu he does all the work himself, though, or he will quickly correct you. He’s certainly had plenty of support on offense, from the multi-faceted backfield of Mone Hokafonu, Jared Walsh and early-season varsity call-up, sophomore Ivan Nisa.

But who knew this cast of characters had a CCS championship in them?

“All we really thought was regrouping and rebuilding slowly but surely,” Tanielu said. “And then this whole offseason, all we were talking about was how we needed to have a championship mindset. … That’s all we talked about: championship, championship, championship.”

Still, success on the gridiron was a long haul for Tanielu, who arrived at Aragon as a freshman with no football experience whatsoever. He grew up in San Mateo playing soccer but decided to give football a try in part because he was curious about the sport, and in part because he didn’t have a lot of friends — with most of his friends from Abbott Middle School going to Hillsdale.

“I always thought I was too small,” Tanielu said. “I was very skinny. And going into high school, I just gave it a try and I ended up being pretty decent. And then I liked the work ethic of it, and I started to fall in love with it.”

It also took some time for Tanielu to fall in love with his long hair. He has had the flowing locks since he was a small child, a cultural connection, as he calls it, to his Samoan heritage.

Tanielu said there have been several times in his life he’s asked his mother to let him cut it, but she would never allow him to.

“I’m kind of glad she denied it because it makes me who I am,” Tanielu said, “and so I started to embrace it.”

Now, another defining characteristic that makes Tanielu who he is, along with all his fellow 2021 Aragon Dons, is that as a CCS champion.