Why BYU football fans should watch the Polynesian Bowl

Many of the top high school football recruits of Polynesian heritage and others from Hawaii and across the country will gather tomorrow at Aloha Stadium to compete in the inaugural Polynesian Bowl. Among those elite athletes will be two players already committed to play for BYU and a number of uncommitted players who are considering BYU.

The event featured a draft to determine the rosters for Team Mariota and Team Stanley with team captains, Marcus Mariota (Tennessee Titans) and Ronnie Stanley (Baltimore Ravens) making the selections.

The majority of BYU targets playing in the game will be on the defensive side of the ball, including a group of four very talented defensive ends. The best of all of that group might be Bingham High School’s Langi Tuifua, who decommitted from Oregon back in November. Tuifua is the 17th-ranked defensive end in the country and 5th-ranked overall prospect in the state of Utah. Tuifua will announcing his commitment decision in the first quarter of tomorrow’s game.

Safeties Chaz Ah You and Charles Watson are two more to watch. Ah You, who most recently played at Timpview High School, is the 2nd-ranked overall prospect in the state of Utah. Watson, who prepped at Leilehua High School, is one of the top prospects out of the state of Hawaii and will also be announcing his commitment during tomorrow’s game. Watson’s announcement will come in the fourth quarter.

BYU’s two commits in the game are San Clemente High School (CA) tight end Isaac Rex and Baldwin High School (HI) offensive tackle Mango Finau.

Here’s the full list of BYU 2017 recruiting targets (committed and uncommitted) playing in the game and their star rating according to the 247Sports Composite:

• 4-Star S Chaz Ah You (Uncommitted) - #3, Team Stanley
• 4-Star DE Langi Tuifua (Uncommitted) - #5, Team Mariota
• 3-Star DE Alden Tofa (Uncommitted) - #51, Team Stanley
• 3-Star DE Jordan Lolohea (Uncommitted) - #79, Team Mariota
• 3-Star OT Mo Unutoa (Uncommitted) - #68, Team Mariota
• 3-Star S Charles Watson (Uncommitted) - #25, Team Stanley
• 3-Star DE Lorenzo Fauatea (Uncommitted) - #52, Team Mariota
• 3-Star OLB Mata Hola (Uncommitted) - #54, Team Mariota
• 3-Star TE Isaac Rex (Committed) - #9, Team Stanley
• Unrated OT Mango Finau (Committed) - #60, Team Stanley

The Polynesian Bowl will be tomorrow Saturday, January 21st at 9 PM MST exclusively on ESPN3. Former Cougar Vai Sikahema will be part of the telecast team.