It was the fall of 2016 and Branford Kanagawa, then a Robbinsville High School junior, was being helped around like an aging invalid.
“There were some days I couldn’t really walk,” Kanagawa recalled. “My dad would help me get off my chair because it was too painful to get up myself. I couldn’t take anymore. Going to school, going to sleep became really painful. It was a hard time.”
The problem stemmed from a back injury Kanagawa suffered playing in a preseason football scrimmage. And yet his love of the game was—and is—so great, he actually played in the Ravens first six contests before finally realizing he could not go on.
“I tried to make it a little better by not playing,” he said. “I never really played a game in good health last year. It was kind of upsetting but I still had a good time. To be honest, I don’t really regret playing, I still enjoyed playing with my teammates and giving it my all.”
He was actually second-guessing himself more about sitting out.
“There’s been times I regretted not playing, especially in one of our overtime wins,” Kanagawa said.
The back finally mended, and Kanagawa returned this season in impressive fashion. Despite missing two games due to two separate injuries (neither being the back), the middle linebacker led the Ravens in tackles with 29 after six games. He was named the Mercer County 12th Man TD Club’s Defensive Back of the Week after making 11 solo tackles and 17 total in a loss to New Egypt.
“He was half our defense that game, and that’s not taking anything away from the other players,” coach Andrew Patterson said. “I’ve seen guys have eight, nine tackles, and they were great games. I’ve never seen a guy with 11 solo tackles. And they were all legitimate tackles, too.”
Kanagawa plays both ways and has seen time at running back after losing the battle for starting quarterback in the preseason. That hardly upset him. With a 3.99 GPA and three Advanced Placement courses, Kanagawa has enough thinking to do off the field. He prefers only having to concentrate on his assignment as opposed to having to concern himself with the roles of the entire offense.
Then again, Kanagawa pretty much knows what the entire offense does. During his time at Robbinsville, he has played every offensive position but the line. He is a definite throwback.
“Branford’s the kind of kid, he reminds me of playing high school football in the Shore Conference,” Patterson said. “He’s hard-nosed, he’s going to say, ‘Yes sir, no sir.’ You tell him to play a new position, he doesn’t talk back, doesn’t give you any blow back and he works his butt off.
“He’s been a pleasure to coach. He was a freshman when I got the job in 2014, and he’s been great ever since. He’s been in here all offseason, from January on, in the weight room leading other guys. I’ve probably seen him more than my entire family the past four years.”
Speaking of families, Kanagawa’s background is a diverse one. His fraternal grandparents are from Japan but lived in America when his dad was born. His father went to school in Japan, where he met his wife, Xiufeng, who was from China and also studying in Japan.
Xiufeng now teaches Chinese at Robbinsville High School, and like most moms, was a bit nervous when Kanagawa decided to try football.
“It was mostly my dad who encouraged me to play,” Kanagawa said. “My mom was hesitant at first, but it was something I loved doing it, so she said, ‘If you love doing it, just do it but try to be safe.’”
Kanagawa began playing flag football for Allentown at age 6 before moving to Robbinsville PAL. He played fullback and middle linebacker, and sometimes payed on the defensive line.
When he left PAL for Robbinsville High, he also left behind his quarterback, who was a year younger. That led to Kanagawa playing QB for the freshman team.
“The offense that year wasn’t that hard to figure out,” he said. “Going to varsity and having a totally new offense was difficult to try and learn and to become a quarterback at that level.”
During Kanagawa’s sophomore season, Robbinsville only played two JV games because a number of players quit after their freshmen year. Kanagawa played quarterback in both games and also suited up for varsity.
He had his “Rudy” moment in a loss to Holy Cross. With Robbinsville on the 1-yard line, its starting quarterback had his helmet come off and the rules stated he had to come out for a play. The second-string QB was injured, so it was up to Kanagawa. On his only varsity play that year, he took the snap and got into the endzone.
Talk about a thrill.
“Actually, it was more of a hold-the-ball-and-keep-my-legs-driving,” Kanagawa said. “One of the varsity lineman saw me on the ground, holding the ball really tight because I didn’t want to fumble. It was a good memory.”
As a junior, he started at safety and cornerback while also serving as a running back with Kyle Twamley. He almost got pushed up to the line.
“He’s one of the most athletic kids we have on the team, and we were one injury from starting him at offensive guard,” Patterson said. “The mantra I have with Branford is this. I’m 6-4, about 295 and there are few people on the team I’m physically afraid of. Branford goes 6-1, 185 to 190. If he gets mad, he can probably take me out. There’s not a lot of people in the entire school I can say that about. But once he turns the switch … “
Flipping that switch to high-energy is what makes him an effective middle linebacker, which is the position Kanagawa most enjoys. He likes the action it provides on a steady basis.
“As a younger kid, people always talked about me hitting hard, and I just enjoyed being right in the middle of everything and being able to make the tackles,” said Kanagawa, who is still mulling over colleges but will put academics before football in deciding.
Patterson agreed that Kanagawa found a home at inside linebacker, and also likes him as a power running back.
“He’s not afraid to come downhill, get his nose in the mix,” the coach said. “He’s probably pound for pound the hardest hitter we’ve got on the team. On offense, when he gets the ball, he’s literally hard to stop. He’s a very strong kid that will drop his shoulder and run at you.”
There was a time this year when Kanagawa did not realize just how good he was, until he learned he was being honored by the 12th Man Club.
“Because of the loss (to New Egypt) I really thought I did really bad,” he said. “I go home thinking, ‘Wow I really let my team down.’ Coach Patterson texted me the next day saying I had 17 tackles and was all over the field. I was like, ‘What?’ I thought I played really bad that game, but apparently I didn’t.”
When he is healthy, bad games are few and far between for Kanagawa.
Robbinsville High senior Branford Kanagawa resets a drill during an August 2017 football practice.,
