When Hawai'i linebacker Brashton Satele pressured Weber State quarterback Cameron Higgins into a critical illegal grounding penalty in the third quarter Saturday night it was a long-awaited return to business.

Family business, that is.

In some families it is a restaurant, a store, shop or a profession that is proudly handed down from father to son. In the Satele family, the trade is inflicting terror, if not bodily harm, upon opposing quarterbacks and ballcarriers. And in Hawai'i's 36-17 home-opening victory over the Wildcats, the torch was passed with a game-high nine tackles.

Satele's hounding of Higgins brought credit for the first sack of his career which, if you're counting, was the 20th by the household. Of course, his father Alvis, an All-Western Athletic Conference pick in 1984, had 19 of them in a four-year (1981-84) career, so you could say the son has some catching up to do.

What was notable, however, was the much-awaited breakthrough by Satele, whose arrival on the Manoa campus three years ago stirred imaginations and sparked remembrances of one of the greatest impact defenders in UH history.

In the same way that Travis LaBoy (2001-03) brought back memories of his legendary father, Cliff (1973-75), Satele's talents remind a lot of his father.

Alvis' nickname — "747 Satele" — which Niko Noga gave him for a penchant for flying over defenders to make tackles, a trademark that began with a sack of Randall Cunningham, tells you plenty. But there was more. In a career that included 35 tackles for loss, Alvis Satele would blast a ballcarrier and then, the damage done, reach down and patiently help him up. Opponents, sometimes already looking through helmet ear holes, hardly knew what to make of the man who could deliver so much violence in one instant and be a smiling symbol of sportsmanship the next.

That the 6-foot-1, 255-pound Brashton would end up at UH, despite overtures by this week's opponent, Oregon State, and others, and bring with him genes stuffed with athletic ability was hardly surprising. His mother, the former Lee Ann Pestana, was a member of the 1982-83 Rainbow Wahine volleyball national championship teams. "Athletically, he's as gifted as any linebacker we've had," said assistant coach Rich Miano, who was a teammate of Alvis.

But for all the promise that came with Satele, staying healthy long enough to get on the field, hone a sharpness and make good upon it has been a problem. At least until Saturday, that is, when he began to assert an ever-expanding presence upon the game.

Having glimpsed but a sample of what Satele is capable of, the hope is this will finally be the year when it all comes together. After all, there is a family business to be maintained.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.