Keli'inui Leaves Lasting Reminder Of Mashpee Class Of 2012

By: Rich Maclone
Published: 06/15/12

Recently graduated senior Jordan Keli’inui calls himself a “very spiritual” young man. He believes that a symbol can be a powerful thing and hopes that the gift he left behind for Mashpee High School will help to inspire and empower future editions of the MHS football team to match the accomplishments of this year’s team that won the Division IV Super Bowl championship, something that Keli’inui played a big role in.

Keli’inui, who will attend Williston Northampton for a post-graduate year before, hopefully, continuing his athletic and academic pursuits in college, played both running back and linebacker for the Super Bowl champs. He was the team’s regular season leader in rushing yards and also one of its top defenders.

As a part of his senior project, an undertaking demanded of each student at MHS during their senior year, Keli’inui had a large rock polished and engraved and it stands on the corner of the road just outside the entrance to Falcon Stadium on the MHS campus. Engraved on the front of the mini boulder are the words, “2011 Division IV State Champions. Big time players make big time plays in big time games.”

Keli’inui said that he’s proud to know that his gift will stand outside the stadium for a long, long time. “It’s a great memory, and no one will forget that we won the first state championship. It will always be there; no one will forget.”

The affable football player, who also ran on the Division IV championship-winning 4x100m relay team at MHS this year, said that he foresees future editions of the Falcons using the rock as a part of their pregame rituals as they enter the stadium. As they line up to take the field, he hopes that the Falcons will veer to the right a bit, tap the rock and then go and win their games. “I really hope that they do touch the rock. I thought of that when this was being put together. I hope it brings them all good spirits, good luck and good power to win the game,” he said.

He said that the team’s football coaches knew about the gift ahead of time but were impressed when they saw the actual rock. “They didn’t know just how big it was going to be and how nice it was going to be,” he said. “The coaches don’t like to show emotions, but I could tell by the look on their faces that they’re really happy.”

Greg McDonald and Robert Dias of Clover Landscaping worked with Jordan as a part of the project, serving as his mentors for it. They helped him pick out the rock and engraved it. They also assisted him with the mulch bed that the rock sits on.

In total, Keli’inui said that the project will cost him about $420 out of pocket but that McDonald has allowed him to take care of it in payments.

Last week the local police reports in The Enterprise reported that the rock had been vandalized, but Keli’inui assures the public that the gift to the school is in fine shape. “It was nothing. When we were installing it, it got chipped and someone saw the piece underneath it and thought that it had been damaged,” he said. “It’s fine. Everyone can forget about it.”

No one will forget what the MHS football team did, though, and Keli’inui’s gift will help keep the memory alive.

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