Defensive stats from last night’s OIA Red third-place game. (See Billy Hull’s game story here.)
FARRINGTON
#8 LB Austin Faumui 10 tackles (incl 2 sacks)
#5 S Manly “Puma” Williams 8 tackles (incl 2 sacks), 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble rec
#3 DB Tre Boyd 4 tackles, 1 deflection
#48 LB Syndreck Dsio 5 tackles, 1 deflection
#63 Renno Sagapolu 3 tackles (incl 1 sack)
#92 Moalatuatai Heimuli 3 tackles
#6 DB Lavatai 5 tackles, 1 deflection
#7 LB Aisea Tavae 3 tackles (incl 1 sack), 1 deflection
#61 DL Dane Tai 3 tackles
#11 DB Jacob McEnroe 3 tackles, 2 deflections, 1 INT-TD
LEILEHUA
#24 DB Bronson Funakoshi 9 tackles
#98 Maake Muti 8 tackles
#97 DL Robert McCarthy 5 tackles
Farrington’s defense put on quite a performance in a 52-26 win over Leilehua on Saturday night. It was a strange night in some ways. Leilehua quarterback Justin Jenks left on a stretcher after taking a hit in the second quarter. The game was delayed for 15-20 minutes, one of those moments in football makes me remember that the game in its current state will probably not be around within a generation.
Once the game resumed, JV quarterback Fletcher Washington was on the field. I expected to see Levi Castanares, but with his back still an issue, Washington — not listed on the roster — took the ball and kept Leilehua in the game. It was 27-26 in the Govs’ favor at halftime.
With no significant wind at Kaiser Stadium — it normally blows from mauka to makai and affects the kicking game for all teams — I wondered if we were in for an Arena League final score. Instead, Farrington withstood all of the Mules’ gadgetry and finesse, then kept pounding away in the interior against a courageous, but outmanned defense. By the end, Leilehua couldn’t stop Farrington’s 1-2 battering ram combo of Tyler Taumua and Abraham Silva.
After back-to-back games against Kahuku and Farrington, Leilehua’s proud defense was simply worn down. Guys were limping off the field after a long night of being blasted by Bamboolas.
Washington made an impression. Obviously, he needs more experience to develop, but if he returns next year, things could be really interesting for one of the state’s top offenses.
Farrington will travel next weekend to play at Kealakehe in a battle of pure smashmouth offenses. Kealakehe is the one team that has an offensive line that’s bigger than Farrington’s, and they love to pound inside out of that spread formation. They also have 6-foot-2, 348-pound fullback David Fangupo.
For now, though, the Govs showed that they can and will open up the playbook on first down. That bomb from sophomore Montana Liana to Taumua, who had lined up at wide receiver, took the Mules by surprise. I know I was stunned, and so was most of the crowd. Liana delivered a perfect strike, lots of air under the pigskin and Taumua simply ran to the pylon past a safety who seemed to expect the ball to come up short.
The state-tournament coaches have a press conference at Aloha Stadium this morning, then it’s off to do an interview with a player. Enjoy your NFL Sunday, my fellow footballholics.
Paul Honda, Star-Advertiser
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