Hawaiian Electric Game of the Week
No. 10 Waianae to face off with No. 6 Farrington Friday




Time has been of the essence for the Waianae football team this week.

Following a 42-26 win over Aiea to keep its season alive in the opening round of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Football Tournament Saturday, Waianae will have the tough task of playing on just five days of rest in another do-or-die game against a rested Farrington team Friday night.

The Seariders (5-3), who finished third in the Red Division, were among those affected by Wednesday's announcement by the league office that no games would be played on Saturday due to the threat of Tropical Storm Ana. The Waianae-Farrington, as well as the Kaiser-Mililani quarterfinal, were moved up 24 hours as a precaution.

"We thought we were going to play on Saturday, so the scheduling messed us up, but we've got to make do with what we have," Waianae coach Dan Matsumoto said. "It made things hectic around here. Finding out last minute that we lost a day really hurt us, but you can't help it. We just had to cram in a lot of stuff, so the last two practices we've been sending the boys home late."

Matsumoto said trying to prepare for the multiple offensive sets that the Governors (6-1) employ has been a chore.

"Oh boy, we've seen so many offensive sets (that) it's been difficult to practice because we're trying to figure out how they will come out — whether they will open it up with the pass or run the ball — because they have the capability to do both," Matsumoto said. "That's been the hardest part, figuring out what our base defense will be and whether to defend the pass or the run, but it looks like they're strength is the run-game — they're so explosive and they're huge — so we're trying to prepare for the run."

Farrington averages nearly 197 rushing yards and 34.7 points per game. Running back Ranan Mamiya ranks third in the OIA with 691 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns.

"I think one of our keys is if our offense can be consistent, move the ball on their defense and keep them on the field as long as possible and keep their offense off the field," Matsumoto said. "Defensively, we'll have our hands full trying to stop Mamiya. They have so many other outstanding athletes besides Mamiya, so it's hard to key on one guy, but definitely he is the key one for them."

Meanwhile, the Govs have not played since a 29-27 win over Campbell in their regular-season finale nearly two weeks ago. As the Blue Division's second seed in the tournament, they earned a first-round bye last weekend.

"Losing a day wasn't too bad for us because we had a bye last week and we were already preparing for Waianae, so it didn't affect us too much," Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said.

Okimoto's squad gets back it's three-year starter at quarterback in Montana Liana, who is coming off a one-game league-mandated suspension for a late hit and did not play against the Sabers.

"We got a key win against Campbell without Montana and so now that he's back, I think he's hungry because it's his senior year and he doesn't want to miss any games, so I think he's excited to play another game," Okimoto said.

The Seariders' rushing attack — which averages just under 189 yards per game — has been Okimoto's main point of concern heading into the game.

"They run the ball well, so it's important that we focus on stopping the run," Okimoto said. "That quarterback (Ioane Kaluhiokalani Jr.) is athletic — he can throw and run, as well — so I think we've got to respect that."

Kickoff between the Seariders and Govs is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Roosevelt's Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium.


Other games of interest:

-No. 8 Campbell at No. 7 Leilehua, 6 p.m. Friday
The Sabers (6-2) are coming off a 56-0 shellacking of Waipahu in an OIA D1 tournament first-round game last weekend. Running back Terell Johnson ran for 130 yards and three touchdowns in the win, while the defense held the Marauders to just 26 total yards. The Mules (6-1) finished second in the Red Division and had a bye last weekend.

-No. 9 Kaiser at No. 2 Mililani, 7 p.m. Friday
The Cougars (5-3) and Trojans (8-0) won the OIA's D2 and D1 titles, respectively, in 2013. Kaiser won in an opening-round shootout over Moanalua last week, 54-48, to claim its fifth victory in six weeks. Mililani had a first-round bye as the Blue Division top seed. The winner will play the Campbell-Leilehua winner in next Thursday's semifinal round at Aloha Stadium.

-Kapolei at No. 4 Kahuku, 7:30 p.m. Friday
The Hurricanes (4-4) and Red Raiders (6-1) met back on Aug. 15 in each team's season opener. Kahuku scored 26 straight points over a stretch of eight minutes and 36 seconds in the second and third quarters to rally from a 7-0 first-quarter deficit and ultimately won, 33-19. The winner will play the Waianae-Farrington winner in next Thursday's semifinal round at Aloha Stadium.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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