Former Farrington head coach Skippa Diaz surveys the field at the OIA Red title game between the Govs and the Trojans. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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HALAWA — Of the many faithful fans cheering on Farrington in its Oahu Interscholastic Association Red Conference championship game against Mililani at Aloha Stadium Friday night was perhaps the man most synonymous with its storied football program, Edward "Skippa" Diaz.

The 17-year coach of the Govenors took in the game — which the Trojans won 37-6 — from the South end zone press box with his wife of 36 years, Mary — both proudly sporting the maroon and white of Farrington.

While Diaz is most closely associated with the Kalihi school where he coached and taught history and science for 21 years, many don't know that was an assistant at Mililani from 1974 to 1981, when the Central Oahu-school was in its infancy.

"We had some good times when (former Trojans' coach and athletic director) John Kauinana was coaching there," said the 69-year-old Diaz. "They had some good kids and they were doing some good things then, but this has been a just a fantastic year for Mililani. Back in the 70's, we had to do some practices out on the pineapple field because we didn't have a stadium at Mililani."

Diaz, who was a standout defensive tackle at Farrington where he graduated from in 1962, went on to become an All-Pac 10 player at Oregon State. After earning his degree from OSU in 1968, Diaz played for the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League before returning to Hawaii. He taught at Washington Intermediate and was an assistant at Kalani before replacing Norm Chow as head coach at Waialua in 1972 before leaving for Mililani two years later.

"When I first went went out (to Mililani), I was really pleased with the coaching staff," Diaz said. "(Kauinana) put together a good group of guys and some of them are still there like (athletic director) Glenn Nitta — he's not coaching, but he's there and participating in the action — and I thought it was one of my better times coaching when I was coaching there; It was a different school, but Mililani was one of the better coaching opportunities for me."

Diaz coached the Trojans' defensive line. Among his standouts was James Millwood, who went on to become head coach at Mililani years later.

"I talked to James Millwood and Glenn Nitta — who's a Farrington grad — and they have a very good ball club and I think that they might be able make a run at a state championship," said Diaz, who returned to his alma mater in 1982.

Diaz succeeded his high school coach, Alfred "Eki" Espinda, at Farrington and spent 17 years as head coach of the football program. The Govs went to the playoffs 12 times in his tenure, including nine straight postseason appearances.

"Last week when I was watching the (Farrington-Campbell) game, I looked down on the field and I saw (head coach) Randall (Okimoto), as usual, but I also saw six or seven other coaches there — all Farrington grads and some of them were guys that I coached — so that was really nice to see that," Diaz said. "The coaches that are there are from Farrington and they're giving back and they're doing some really positive stuff, just like Mililani has done. I'm pretty pleased to see the kids that I coached are down there coaching — that's pretty special."

Diaz made special mention of the unwavering support the Govs have from their rabid fan base — something that he says has not changed much from his days as head coach.

"That part of the city has some real strong support from the community itself for the football team — that's another part of it that I like — but in doing the coaching and the teaching over there, I wanted to make sure that the kids got their education," said Diaz, who retiring from teaching in 1999. "That's the part that I was real serious about and knowing full well that when you have kids that want to play sports, they'll do anything to play — even get good grades and be good kids — and they'll come out OK and contribute to the cause, so that's why I was pleased with what I saw from the coaching staff the other week."

While Friday's game may not have gone the way of Diaz's beloved Govs, the fact that he was there at all is a miracle in itself. Diaz was diagnosed with stage-four esophageal cancer back in 2002 and the once 340-pound coaching luminary saw his weight dip to 185 at one point. He underwent chemotherapy treatments and has brought his weight back up to 215 pounds, but Diaz is still battling the disease.

These days Diaz and his wife split time between Hawaii and Door Country, Wisc. (about 50 miles north of Green Bay, as he describes it), where Mary's family reigns from.

"We're there for five months and here for seven," Diaz said. "We enjoy our time over there, but Hawaii will always be our home. As any local boy finds, once there's snow on the ground, it's time to get out of there."