If you wait too long to see Farrington running back Ranan Mamiya hit the hole, you might miss it. As soon as he gets there, he’s gone in a flash.
Mamiya, who transferred from St. Francis for his senior season, was virtually untouchable Friday night in the Governors’ 35-0 stomping of Waipahu at Aloha Stadium in the season-opening OIA Division I football game for both teams.
The game was called off for safety reasons with 4:55 left in the second quarter at the request of Marauders coach Eric Keola. OIA officials don’t know if the final score and statistics will count since the game ended early.
The deciding blow came after Waipahu’s Kobie Russell intercepted a pass by Farrington quarterback Montana Liana and was hit late out of bounds by Freedom Alualu of the Govs. Russell was taken to a hospital in an ambulance with internal injuries, possibly suffering a spleen injury.
The late hit was one of 11 personal fouls (18 penalties for 202 yards in all) by the Govs, including at least a half-dozen late hits.
"There were a lot of late hits," Keola said. "That was our third or fourth injury and we were down to 24 kids, and some of them aren’t key-situation kids."
Liana said Farrington principal Al Carganilla talked to the team after the game.
"He told us that we have to clean it up and play Farrington football," Liana said. "We were a little out of control and I think it was because our first game got called off due to the storm last week and we wanted to come out and hit."
Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said the play was a penalty because Russell was what is now termed a "defenseless" player and the hit came from the blind side.
"There was a wall of players blocking in front of him and our player came in from this blind side," Okimoto said. "That type of play would have been legal last year."
Mamiya scored from 25 yards out the first time he touched the ball from scrimmage. The speedster then added scoring runs of 61 and 31 yards in the first quarter on his way to a 124-yard rushing night.
On two other occasions in the first quarter, he got in the end zone on punt returns that got called back.
"Our line made it possible for me to run and our defense played great, stopping them," Mamiya said.
When asked about his speed, Mamiya thanked God for giving him that "gift."
Bryce Tatupu-Leopoldo added to the big margin when he returned one of three interceptions by Waipahu quarterback Blaise DeAsis 56 yards for the Govs’ final score.
"We knew we were behind the eight-ball before we played the game," Keola said. "It was a physical game. We gave it the old college try."
Keola mentioned that he thinks there are two levels of football being played in OIA Division I. And the two games at Aloha Stadium last night (Leilehua beat Kailua 50-7 in the other one) support his position.
Gavin Marques and Elijah Taimatuia had fumble recoveries for the Marauders. At Aloha Stadium
| FARR (1-0, 1-0) |
28 |
7 |
X |
X |
— |
35 |
| WAIPAHU (0-1, 0-1) |
0 |
0 |
X |
X |
— |
0 |
Farr—Ranan Mamiya 25 run (Kekoa Sasaoka kick)
Farr—Seufagafaga Luafatasaga 22 fumble recovery return (Sasaoka kick)
Farr—Mamiya 61 run (Sasaoka kick)
Farr—Mamiya 31 run (Sasaoka kick)
Farr—Bryce Tatupu-Leopoldo 56 interception return (Sasaoka kick)
RUSHING—Farrington: Mamiya 4-124, Challen Faamatu 5-28, Montana Liana 1-24, Freedom Alualu 1-7, Bugsy Tui 1-0, TEAM 2-(-4). Waipahu: Brandon Tom 2-(-9), TEAM 2-(-26), Blais DeAsis 4-(-35).
PASSING—Farrington: Liana 2-8-2-12. Waipahu: DeAsis 8-19-3-75.
RECEIVING—Farrington: Kingston Moses-Sanchez 1-6, Faamatu 1-6. Waipahu: Tom 3-42, Andrew Pecpec 3-25, Storm DeAsis 2-8.
DIVISION II PRESEASON
IOLANI 45, MINO JIYU GAKUEN 21
Mino Jiyu Gakuen, from Osaka, Japan, scored first on a 20-yard pass from Koki Nishio to Ryoto Kuwata, but the Raiders roared back with 38 unanswered points behind two rushing touchdowns from Storm Lotomau and one from KJ Pascua.
Pascua finished with 120 yards rushing and Lotomau had 89. At Kozuki Stadium
| MINO JIYU |
7 |
0 |
7 |
7 |
— |
21 |
| ‘IOLANI (1-0) |
14 |
17 |
14 |
0 |
— |
45 |
MJG—Ryoto Kuwata 20 pass from Koki Nishio (Taichi Nagase kick)
IOL—Storm Lotomau 10 run (run failed)
IOL—Conor Hannum 20 pass from Austin Jim On (Bronson Gouveia run)
IOL—Lotomau 10 run (Evan Minami kick)
IOL—KJ Pascua 1 run (Minami kick)
IOL—Keoni-Kordell Makekau 38 kick
IOL—Brent Nagami 23 pass from Jake Smotherman (Minami kick)
MJG—Yuichiro Morioka 12 pass from Nishino (Nagase kick)
IOL—Pascua 2 run (Minami kick)
MJG—Ryuta Tsushima 4 pass from Nishino (Nagase kick)
RUSHING—Mino Jiyu Gakuen: Yuto Kakehashi 15-50, Yuichiro Nonaka 7-48, Yuki Kitaguchi 3-13, Tomohiko Noda 1-8, Nishino 3-6. ‘Iolani: Pascua 15-120, Lotomau 10-89, Jake Smotherman 3-14, Tamatane Aga 1-7.
PASSING—Mino Jiyu Gakuen: Nishino 16-31-1-173. ‘Iolani: Jim On 9-12-0-89, Smotherman 4-6-0-39, Jarin Yokogawa 2-2-0-3.
RECEIVING—Mino Jiyu Gakuen: Kuwata 4-45, Tsushima 4-13, Kakehashi 3-32, Eisei Asada 2-35, Morioka 2-32, Reon Nagahiro 1-16. ‘Iolani: Aga 4-28, Hannum 3-31, Nagami 3-26, Connor Ohira 2-15, Makekau 1-18, Nick Kennedy 1-8, Cobi Lee 1-5.
ST. FRANCIS 33, KEAAU 14
Leighton Rosa rushed for 116 of the Saints’ 266 yards and accounted for one touchdown in a road win over the Cougars.
Janson Kupau recorded two touchdowns as St. Francis built a 33-0 halftime lead.
OIA DIVISION II
NANAKULI 39, KALAHEO 6
Brandon Sevelino threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more as the Golden Hawks throttled the Mustangs in the league opener for both teams.
Makaila Haina-Horswill led the way with 160 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the first half to build a 19-0 lead for the home team.
Nanakuli plays Roosevelt next week, while Kalaheo visits Kalani at Kaiser.
