'EWA BEACH — Campbell High senior Matthew Masifilo is a quick study.

And it's not just because of his 4.0 grade-point average and 1810 SAT score.

The Sabers' offensive guard and part-time defensive lineman didn't start playing organized football until his freshman year at Campbell. He estimates playing about four minutes that season on the junior varsity.

He could've returned to JV as a sophomore. Instead he went out for varsity. An injury to a senior put Masifilo in the lineup and he has been in it since.

"He wasn't the strongest," Campbell coach Tumoana Kenessey said. "But he was intelligent and had good technique."

Masifilo improved to the point where he already has a staggering 13 offers from Division I programs.

"It's humbling to think how fortunate and honored that 13 colleges want me on their teams that much that they're willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars (in scholarships) for me to play," said Masifilo, listed at 6 feet 4 and 270 pounds.

Hawai'i, he said, is one of the schools to make an offer, as is Boise State and Nevada, all of the Western Athletic Conference. Also coming in with offers were more than half of the Pac-10 in Arizona, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington. The rest are UNLV, Utah, San Diego State and Houston. Some schools are recruiting him to play defense. Some will just wait and see where they could use him best. Masifilo's preference would be to play defense.

"But I'll do whatever gets me on the field the fastest," he said.

MASS ON THE MOVE

Masifilo, who is not sure of a major yet, but is interested in aeronautics, said academics will factor into his college choice.

"But I have to be comfortable in that area (where a school is located)," he said.

Recruiting Web sites project Masifilo on defense. Rivals.com ranks him second-highest among Hawai'i's top recruits, right behind Kahuku all-state defensive lineman Kaniela Tuipulotu. To keep Masifilo fresh, the Sabers spot his time on defense. On offense, he plays right guard and does a lot of pulling.

"We run the wing-T, so there's a lot of misdirection," he said. "It's fun. You gotta keep your eyes open. The secondary is much quicker than (linemen), so you have to be quicker on your feet (to block defenders in the secondary)."

He is one of the reasons the Sabers averaged 5.7 yards per rush in their past two games — non-league wins against Castle (17-6) and Damien (38-7). Campbell has four running backs — Berzil Kelii, Bronson Ellis-Rivera, Pita Feleunga and Jesse Lee — each with 100 or more yards rushing.

"He's big and agile," said Damien co-coach Dean Nakagawa, whose team just played the Sabers over the weekend.

DILIGENCE PAYS OFF

His performance is easy to see why scholarship offers are piling up. But they wouldn't come in so early if he weren't prepared academically. He started achieving A's from his days at Ilima Intermediate in the eighth grade. He has been pretty self-motivated.

"When I was young (my parents) made sure I did my work," he said. "(Later) I just got into the habit of doing the best that I can in my work. They really didn't have to push me, just check up on me. They know that I know I'd let myself down if I didn't do my best to succeed."

Masifilo's study habits carried onto the field.

"I would always train like I had a chip on my shoulder," he said. "When I trained, I would always compare myself to people who are already in college. It made me eager to try harder because I didn't want to just compare myself with someone at my level. I wanted to compare myself to someone far ahead of me so it would make me work harder."

Kenessey said one of the reasons Masifilo showed rapid improvement was his intelligence. Masifilo picked up pointers quickly. He even calls blocking assignments on the line of scrimmage, Kenessey said.

For now, thoughts of the scholarship offers are on hold. He has December and January to take his five recruiting visits and decide his future. All he is concerned about is helping the Sabers adjust to their promotion to the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red West.

"I want to focus on winning, instead of what's going to happen to me after the season because the team deserves my 100 percent effort," he said. "You play for the team, not for yourself. That's why I try not to think about recruiting as much."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.