Fast Learner : Four Years Ago, Hawthorne’s Sione Mahe Couldn’t Speak English and Had Never Played the Game. Opponents Will Tell You How Far He’s Come : Football: For linebacker, leaving his island home of Tonga was tougher than any problem he’s had to tackle on the gridiron.

Leaving the island of Tonga for the United States was difficult for Sione Mahe, but becoming a star linebacker for Hawthorne High’s football team has made the transition easier.

Mahe, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound senior linebacker, left Tonga without knowing any English at the age of 13 after the death of his grandfather. He was born in the United States but left when he was only 3. He says learning English has been his greatest achievement.

“My English still isn’t that good, but I’m working hard at it,” he said. “I know that I will be better at it if I try hard.”

Mahe’s work ethic carries over into the rest of his school work. He carries a 3.0 grade-point average. Perhaps more than other students, Mahe appreciates the educational opportunites in the United States after his early schooling in Tonga.

“The schools here are so much better than back there,” he said. “If you want to get anything out of the schools there, you have to study a lot on your own.”

He also tries to keep his GPA up because he says it will help him get into a good college.

“Being a freshman in college means I’m going to have to work hard to get on the team, but I don’t see why I couldn’t be a starter the first year if I show the coaches I’m ready,” he said.

Colleges interested in Mahe include San Diego State, Brigham Young and Fresno State. At the top of his list is Arizona State, because of the Sun Devil coaches and business school.

Hawthorne is ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section Division II poll with an 8-0 record. The Cougar defense has allowed only 32 points and recorded three shutouts, helping the team to a first-place mark of 5-0 in the Bay League heading into Friday night’s game with rival Leuzinger (6-1-1, 3-1-1) at Hawthorne.

Mahe, who leads Hawthorne in tackles, plays aggressively and favors a physical style of play. “I like to get out there and hit people; that’s the best part,” he said.

Said Leuzinger Coach Steve Carnes: “He’s one of the hardest-hitting linebackers around. Believe me, we’ve discussed him this week. You have to worry about him. He can disrupt a whole offense.”

Mahe makes up a potent one-two linebacker tandem with senior Anthony Smith.

Tonga is a tropical island near Hawaii and Samoa. Though it has many things to offer, it doesn’t have football. Mahe had to learn the game, beginning with the fundamentals, when he arrived in California four years ago.

“When I moved from the island I didn’t know anything about football, but Tai Togia, the freshman coach (at Hawthorne), decided he wanted to teach me,” Mahe said. “He’s the real reason that I learned to play.”

Mahe says football has helped keep him away from Hawthorne-area gangs.

“I used to have some friends back in junior high who were into the gangs, and I used to hang around them a lot,” he said. “Playing football doesn’t give me any time to hang around with those people anymore.

“It’s a bad problem here. So many people have been hurt because of the gangs. There’s a lot of gang-banging in the streets outside of the school. It’s a bad thing to have to see.”

Mahe downplays his role as a team leader, saying the entire team has to perform in order for him to excel. But Hawthorne Coach Goy Casillas says he goes to Mahe whenever he needs a big play.

“When I’m playing, I don’t feel like the leader,” Mahe said. “The guys on the team are always telling me not to get a big head. It’s just a job that I have to go out and do every week.”

Playing for Hawthorne is also a family affair for Mahe. His brother, Felemi, is a backup safety for the Cougars, and his cousin, David, is a reserve linebacker.

“We push each other to do better,” Mahe said. “They really keep me in line when no one else does.”

Having fans is one of the benefits of being on a winning team, and Mahe says he has no problem having a good time with people. For him, it’s one of the best parts of playing football.

“I love it when the fans are all making noise up in the stands,” he said. “It really gets me pumped up to hear them. I think I like it most because of all of my relatives up in the stands.”

Although Mahe’s parents were originally against him playing football, they are loyal fans now and come to every game.

Being near his natural parents is still a relatively new experience for Mahe, who, along with his brother, was sent to Tonga to live with grandparents while his parents worked in the States. After he and his grandmother moved back here, his parents wanted him to live with them, but he didn’t want to leave his grandmother. He still lives with her.

“I told my mother and father when I came back that I didn’t want to leave my grandmother because I love her too much,” Mahe said. “I’ve lived with her all of my life, so I know her much better than I know my parents. I don’t ever want to leave her alone.”

The ultimate goal for Mahe is to play in the National Football League, though he doesn’t actually count on it happening.

“I’m not going to say that I can do it or that I can’t, but I will say that I hope I can,” he said.

Said Coach Casillas: “He’s developing at the rate that a professional would. There are so many things that could happen to him, though, that it’s really impossible to say” what lies ahead.

One of the things Mahe said he misses most about Tonga is coming home after school and picking a fresh coconut from his back yard.

Mostly though, he said he likes it here. They didn’t have football in Tonga.