Still surrounded by construction equipment, the newest addition to the Farrington campus has energized the process of building another contender in Kalihi.

The Governors christened the school’s new field in mid-June, with the rest of the facility, including an accompanying track and grandstands, scheduled for completion in late December. While hosting games remains a year away, the bouncy artificial turf playing surface boosted the team’s summer practices after having to improvise at Kalakaua Middle School since last season.

“It’s amazing,” senior running back Challen Faamatau said. “We’d been waiting since we were sophomores for that day when we got the chance to come on this field. … Other than turf burns — I’d rather have that than sprained ankles, MCL tears.”

Faamatau is part of a group of third-year varsity veterans who form the foundation of a team voted seventh in the Star-Advertiser’s preseason Top 10.

“They’re going to be the nucleus of the team to guide these guys in the direction they want to go,” said Randall Okimoto, who enters his 15th season as head coach. “They understand the demands, what it takes to compete at a high level. Just getting everybody there is always a challenge.”

Faamatau, a backup to Ranan Mamiya as a sophomore in 2014, took over as the Governors’ featured back last year and ran for 1,289 yards and 13 touchdowns. He was also their second-leading receiver, with 510 yards and eight more scores. He closed the season by rushing for 202 yards in a 20-19 loss to Waianae in the third-place game of the OIA Division I playoffs.

Coming up one point short of a return to the state tournament reinforced the importance of attention to detail for the returnees.

“Coach has been really making sure we don’t make the same mistakes as last year,” Faamatau said. “We just have to take care of assignments, because not doing your assignment is really going to hurt us in the big situations.”

Senior quarterback Bishop Rapoza returns after throwing for 1,525 yards and 16 touchdowns and is competing for the starting job with Justin Uahinui, who also saw significant playing time with 273 yards and two scores. They’ll have third-team All-State wide receiver Kingston Moses-Sanchez (824 yards, eight TDs) back as a primary target.

Freedom Alualu is working at middle linebacker along with resuming his duties at fullback.

Okimoto pointed to linemen Tainano Gaulua and Foi Sila as the pace-setters for the Governors defense, while senior Christian Acorda leads the secondary.