SAN ANTONIO, Tex. - Edwardsville star lineman Iose Epenesa, who signed to play at the University of Iowa, following the footsteps of his older brother A.J. played in the Navy All-American Bowl football game Jan. 11 at The Alamodome in San Antonio, Tex., and made a positive impact in the game.
In the game, Epenesa played for the East team, who ended up losing to the West 13-7 in the nationally televised game on NBC, and streamed on its service, Peacock. Epenesa made a big impact on the second day of the pregame practice sessions, as he was adjusted the best of the field during the workouts.
This was only the first All-Star game Epenesa will play in. He'll also compete in the Polynesian Bowl, a game for players of Polynesian and Pacific Islander descent, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His older brother, A.J., who's currently playing in the NFL playoffs for the Buffalo Bills and was also selected to the AFC Pro Bowl team, was a player in one of the first Polynesian Bowl games. The legacy isn't lost on Iose.
"This is a dream come true for me," Epenesa said to Rob DeMello in an interview with KHON-TV in Honolulu, the video being posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Whenever he came here, I set a goal for myself to try to make the Polynesian Bowl someday, and just being here, it's just awesome.
"It's really special to me," Epenesa continued, "to be honored, to be named one of these guys.to compete at this level with these guys, and to practice against them, and to make myself better is just pretty cool."
Epenesa is using the opportunity to learn and become a better player.
"There's always something to learn," Epenesa said. "No one knows everything, so coming here, you learn new things by new people, and by going against these people, we're going to go see these different things, hang out with people. I'm going to bond with some of these guys on the team, just meet new people, and just get good competition."
The game will be played at Kumuiakea Stadium in Honolulu on Jan. 17, 2025, and kicks off at 3 p.m. The game will be televised on NFL Network.
