Friday, August 5, 2022 | By Nick Abramo
Farrington got off to a flying start in 2022, beating Waialua 42-7 in the first Hawaii high school football game of the season at Skippa Diaz Stadium on Thursday night.
The Govs got it done with a little bit of everything. Running back Zechariah Molitau scored twice while rushing for 103 yards and catching a pass for 28 yards, and quarterback Marcus Moreno threw for 200 yards and two TDs.
The win was a long time coming and it broke a nine-game losing streak going all the way back to the middle of the 2019 season. It’s possible that victories may continue to come in 2022, since the Govs dropped down a division from Open to D-I.
“All the boys were flying around,” Molitau said afterward. “Today, we just went out and had fun. Everybody is excited about this season. We dropped divisions, but it doesn’t really matter. We’re going to play ball. Whoever is against us, we’re going to go fight.”
For sure, all is not lost for Waialua. The Bulldogs, a Division II school, looked sharp despite the uphill climb they faced all night. At the forefront of their effort was mobile quarterback Tyson Apau, who deftly scrambled from sideline to sideline and finished with 132 passing yards and a TD and 23 rushing yards against the stout Farrington defense.
Far from sloppy, Waialua looked like a team ready to compete at that OIA D-II level when the league season starts up.
“We did pretty good,” Apau said. “The blocking was pretty good. I think we can compete (in D-II). We just have to push and work hard in practice and work as a team and play as one and then we’ll be fine.”
Molitau’s TDs came in the first half, when Farrington went up 20-0. Waialua was right back in it after Apau’s 2-yard TD pass to Jayvie Arellano made it 20-7.
But Farrington quickly got the momentum back when Kamakana Tisalona-Perez sprinted for an 8-yard kickoff return touchdown to keep the Bulldogs in a deep hole.
After taking a 28-7 lead to the lockers at halftime, the Govs struck twice more, with touchdown runs of 37 yards by Ikaika Kuaana Lacno and 18 yards by Kingston Miles.
Iapani Laloulu, who has nine Division I FBS offers, was an immense force on the offensive line for Farrington all night. After playing for Saint Louis in 2021, he’s back with the Governors via transfer.
With a sack, Luatasi Masalosalo was a big contributor on defense for Farrington. Teammate Chansen Smith, a receiver, scored the first official touchdown of the year in Hawaii, a 59-yard catch-and-run reception on a pass from Moreno for an early 7-0 lead.
“We got up early, got a fast start and kept playing,” Governors coach Daniel Sanchez said. “I thought we could have had better execution. We don’t need to be getting those unnecessary holding penalties and hurting ourselves. Defensively, when we had them third and long, we wound up getting penalized. We can’t do that moving on.”
For Waialua, James Zara had 73 yards on four receptions and Ryz Miranda Perreira gained 51 yards on six catches.
“I’m proud of our boys,” Bulldogs coach Gary Wirtz said. “They didn’t give up. Obviously, we’ve got a lot more to do, but going against a higher level team, I think we did pretty good. We need to work on our intensity and not worry about doing everyone else’s job, just doing your own job. I think we’ll be able to compete and hang right there with the Kaisers and Nanakulis (in OIA D-II).”
Farrington (1-0) visits Kapolei of the OIA Open Division for a nonleague game Aug. 12.
The Bulldogs (0-1) hit the road to play Nanakuli in their OIA D-II opener Aug. 20
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