As Grant football coach Mike Alberghini walked the sidelines during the 2006 season, he couldn’t help but notice the big kid staring in from the stands.

With each passing game, Alberghini grew increasingly frustrated, wondering how this 300-pound kid was standing around instead of dominating for his defense. Eventually, Alberghini approached the young man after a game and asked him why he wasn’t playing football.

The kid in question was Viliami Moala, and he was there to watch his older brother, Sione, a junior defensive end for the Pacers. And why wasn’t he playing? Turns out Moala was only 13 and in the eighth grade.

Alberghini was floored.

“I’ve never seen anybody that big,” says Alberghini, who’s in his 20th year at the helm and 42nd overall with the program. “He was a block of granite. I could get both of my hands in one of his. I couldn’t wait to get him to play.”

Alberghini would have to wait a bit longer to get that chance. Moala was only 14 as a freshman and state rules prohibit any player under 15 from playing varsity football. So he suited up for JV instead and led the squad to an undefeated record.

Photo by: Tony Avelar Viliami Moala is rated No. 96 in the ESPNU 150.

Moala finally joined varsity as a sophomore. It was well worth the wait for Alberghini, who’s watched Moala develop into an absolute beast in the trenches. Rated the No. 96 recruit in the ESPNU 150, the 6-foot-3, 340-pound nose tackle/left guard is the linchpin in Grant’s 3-5-3 defensive attack and a big reason why the Sacramento school started the year ranked as California’s top team and No. 4 nationally in the POWERADE FAB 50 ESPNHS Team Rankings.

“He’s had to be double-teamed ever since he entered the lineup,” says Alberghini.

Four years ago, Moala never thought he’d even play football, let alone be in a starting lineup. While he liked watching Grant games on the weekends, he was first and foremost a rugby player. Moala’s family hails from Tonga, an island nation in the South Pacific that counts rugby as its national sport.

“It’s pretty big among the Polynesians here,” Moala says.

But many athletes of Tongan descent — such as Haloti Ngata, a defensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens who grew up in Inglewood — have also found success in football. It took some trickery to get Moala to join that group.

One day when Viliami was in the eighth grade, Sione told him to grab his cleats for a rugby game. Sione then drove him to the park, dropped him off and kept driving. Turns out the rugby game was actually a practice for a youth football team. Sione had pulled a fast one on him.

But rather than try to find a way home, Moala decided to give football a shot. It’s a choice he’s glad he made. For starters, he met his best friend, Faigame “Puka” Lopa, who’s now a star senior defensive end/offensive tackle for Grant. And he realized he should’ve been playing football all along.

“Football didn’t seem so interesting to me,” says Moala. “I knew I was going to play on the line and none of those guys got the glory. But then I heard my name getting called after making a tackle and I said, ‘We do get the glory.’”

Moala has heard his name called a lot more since making varsity. As a sophomore, he started at left guard and was a reserve defensive tackle. But he rotated in with the three senior starters on the defensive line and finished the year with 55 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, four sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. On offense, he helped pave the way for running back Devontae Butler — now at Washington State — to rush for 1,850 yards.

His greatest performance that season didn’t make a dent on the stat sheet, however. In the CIF Open Division state championship against SoCal powerhouse Long Beach Poly, Moala had just two tackles, including one for loss. But he consistently got into the opposing backfield, which forced Poly to send more blockers his way and allowed other Grant defenders to make plays. The Pacers went on to win, 25-20.

The victory had a special meaning for Moala. His father suffered a minor stroke a week before the Pacers’ victory over Burbank in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship, but he still made it to watch his son dominate Poly.

Watch Viliami Moala live

Grant (Sacramento, Calif.) will face Folsom (Folsom, Calif.) 10 p.m. EDT Friday on ESPN2.

“Every play was for him,” says Moala, whose father has since recovered. “Every time I thought I was tired, I looked up in the stands and thought I was letting him down. That whole game was all emotion. I put everything I had on the table.”

Last year, Moala started on both sides of the ball and delivered a monster junior campaign. He tallied 104 tackles, an eye-popping 36 tackles for loss and 15 sacks, and returned a blocked kick for a touchdown against Fairfield. Grant was upset by Rocklin, 21-19, in the section semifinals, however, missing a field-goal attempt as time expired. The loss ended the Pacers’ bid for back-to-back state titles.

Avenging that loss is the main goal for this year’s squad, which is loaded on defense. Moala, who’s been offered by the entire Pac-10 as well as the likes of Alabama, Florida, LSU and Miami, anchors a group that set a state record with 78 sacks last season. He’s one of five captains along with Lopa, senior safety/wide receiver James Sample, senior linebacker/tight end Darryl Paulo and junior quarterback/running back/defensive back Shaq Thompson, all of whom are being heavily recruited by Division I programs.

“I think our defense is the best in the nation,” says Sample. All five players personify the blue-collar mentality of the team and the community. And they all are solid students with good character.

Moala, in particular, is a gentle giant away from the gridiron who embraces his roots, whether through eating taro (a starchy vegetable that is a staple of many Polynesian cuisines), playing rugby or learning the ukulele.

“Everything I do is related to my culture,” he says.

His personality belies his aggressive, take-no-prisoners approach on the field. Nicknamed Tiny, Moala lists “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus as his favorite pre-game song, and he loves to watch cartoons.

“He’s like a little kid,” says Paulo.

And he’s proven to be well worth the wait.