Sanele Lavatai rushed for 34 yards on the ground, including the game-winning touchdown run from 10 yards out in a see-saw win over Castle. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Sat, Aug 31, 2013 @ Castle [ 6:00 pm ]

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Farrington

20

Castle

14

Final/OT	1	2	3	4	OT	T
Farrington (9-4-0)	0	0	0	14	0	20
Castle (3-6-0)	0	14	0	0	0	14

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Stephen Lee 154 yd 2 TD

Jathen Chaffin 104 yd

Ryan Mohika 22 yd

Sanele Lavatai 34 yd 1 TD

Kyle Urasaki 81 yd 1 TD

Enele Scanlan 47 yd

After an 0-2 start to the 2013 prep football season, the Farrington Governors were eager to start out league play on the right foot.

But it wouldn't come easily.

Following a 33-16 season-opening loss at Waianae and a 38-3 drubbing at Kamehameha a week later, the Govs were coming off of a much-needed bye week going into the then-OIA Red East contest at Castle.

Randall Okimoto spent 16 years as head coach of his alma mater before stepping down following the 2017 season.

"I know we struggled with academic probation that year and so the first two games of the year we were under-manned, we didn't have all of our starters, but we did have some," Okimoto said during a recent phone interview.

Okimoto, a former all-state running back for the Govs, vividly recalled seeing his senior tailback Sanele Lavatai — who went on to run more than 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns that season — take a jarring hit from a defender in the Kamehameha loss.

"I remember him suffering a concussion and I remember that hit because I was on the sideline and as soon as he took the hit, I was like, ‘oh, man,' " he detailed. "I called the trainers because I remember his body just going limp, so it was good that we had a bye that next week because he was able to come back (to play against Castle); he wasn't at full capacity, but he was able to come back."

While Lavatai was available for the game against the Knights, Farrington would have to play without junior quarterback Montana Liana, who underwent knee surgery just three days prior.

Sophomore Jathen Chaffin started at quarterback in Liana's place and senior Roger "Tre" Boyd, who started in the defensive backfield, also took some snaps under center.

"Tre would come in for a few snaps, just to give Jathen a break and take the pressure off of him, so we tried to manage the game that way, but Montana was so used to being the guy that would run, especially our passing offense and so without him it was a different dynamic," Okimoto said.

That was certainly evident in the first half, when Farrington managed just 47 yards of total offense.

Castle's 14-0 lead at halftime stood through three quarters before Boyd got the Govs on the board with a 10-yard TD run less than two minutes into the final stanza.

The Knights appeared on the brink of extending it back to a two-score game on their ensuing possession. Quarterback Stephen Lee completed a short pass over the middle to a crossing Sonny Oana, but linebacker Manly "Pumba" Williams punched the ball out of Oana's grasp just before he crossed the plane of the goal line and through the back of the end zone for a touchback.

"Talk about a huge play for him to punch that ball out," Okimoto said of Williams, who, like his high school coach, went on to play for the University of Hawaii.

Courtesy Hawaii News Now

In the 2019 season opener for the Rainbow Warriors, Williams made a similarly heroic effort on the final play of a thrilling win over the University of Arizona. Williams, a defensive tackle, sprinted some 40 yards behind quarterback Khalil Tate and teamed with defensive back Kalen Hicks to make a game-saving tackle just before Tate reached the end zone.

The all-out effort from Williams on the play garnered adoration from across the country, including Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit.

"Pumba was the cerebral player, so he's the guy that would really buy into when the coaches say to ‘finish the play, run to the ball.' When you coach all of those things, you've got some guys that it goes in one ear and out the other, but for Pumba, he really would listen to whatever we had to share with him and so that doesn't surprise me when he does those things, when he made that tackle at UH to help win that Arizona game," Okimoto said.

Farrington's offense was unable to capitalize on Williams' big play, however. Castle defensive back Colby Kruse intercepted a Chaffin pass to give his team the ball at their own 35-yard line with a 14-7 lead and three minutes and 15 seconds left on the game clock.

The Govs' defense stepped up once again. After a two-yard loss on a first-down run, the Knights opted to throw the ball on second down. The pass fell incomplete and stopped the clock to set-up third-and-12. Lee stood out of the shotgun, but the snap from center was low and went between his legs. Farrington linebacker Titus Lave picked up the loose football and took it to the house for a 19-yard scoop-and-score.

"Titus Lave returning that fumble for a touchdown at that moment of the game was huge," said Okimoto, who played and coached at Farrington with Lave's father, Tony Paleafei.

The score was tied at 14 following the Kekoa Sasaoka extra point with 2:05 left in regulation.

The teams went to overtime, with Castle getting possession of the football first. However, the Knights could only pick-up a yard on its first three downs and set-up for a 36-yard Kyle Urasaki field goal try.

The kick was no good, but the Govs were initially flagged for roughing the kicker on the play. Okimoto called a timeout during the sequence in order to talk to lobby the officiating crew that the kick was tipped, which would negate the penalty and give his offense possession.

It worked.

"Oh yes, (I was) lobbying for the tip on that last one and I saw it, our guy did tip the ball. It was a hell of an effort on his part," Okimoto said in his postgame comments. "You could see how the flight of the ball changed. That's the reason why I called the timeout."

Just three plays later, Lavatai easily scored on a 10-yard burst up the middle to cap the unlikely, walk-off victory for the Govs.

"He practically walked into the end zone, I remember, so the offensive line was motivated as well," Okimoto pointed out. "You talk about a total team effort; that's the way we coached most of our team. Sometimes when I watch our old games on TV, even from when I was playing, I say to myself, ‘wow, how did we win those games?' Because we made so many mistakes, but some how, some way the whole team would contribute and this game was just like that."

Of Farrington's many contributors to the win that night, it remains Dayne Ortiz whose memory shines the brightest.

Ortiz, a senior defensive back, recorded the block on the potential go-ahead Castle field goal in OT.

"We would emphasize special teams in practice and take that serious, practicing blocking field goals and kicks," Okimoto said. "Dayne was a player that was always humble, like Pumba, and just a coachable young man. He came off the edge and I could see him lay out — I mean, talk about effort — he had to fully lay out to just be able to tip it."

Just two months after Ortiz helped the Govs rally past the Knights, he was tragically lost at sea while kayaking with his family off of Mokuleia on Oahu's North Shore.

"It's tragic, yet you look at his legacy, Dayne Ortiz, and how it affected not only our community, but the whole state at that time and it highlighted not only his character, but the way he honored his parents and the way he was committed to having faith, not fear," said Okimoto, who added that he found his personal faith while coaching football at his alma mater.

Okimoto, along with his wife, Melanie, were baptized in 2012.

"And then the year after, this happened," he said.

"It just really affected me and thrust me into a position where it wasn't about football; it really tested us."

Farrington played its final two games of the 2013 season without Ortiz, both of them state-tournament games: a 21-3 win over Baldwin in Wailuku, followed by a season-ending 48-6 loss to Punahou at Aloha Stadium.

"I remember losing to Punahou in the state semifinal and we had been there before and lost, but normally 85 percent of the team, they're crying after that loss. That year, because of what happened with Dayne, I only saw two or three kids crying and to me, that showed how fast they matured and how quickly they realized that football was just a game and that life was more important," Okimoto said.

The 20-14 win over Castle back on Aug. 31 of that year was the first of eight consecutive wins for the Govs. Okimoto points to that game as a turning point in the season.

"As I reflect back, I think that's what we needed both on the field and off the field, because that was a wake-up call to let everybody know that school is number one — you've got to focus on that in order for you to get on the field to play — and I think losing those first two games was what really got their attention," Okimoto said. "It's kind of like this pandemic: when we face this kind of crisis, it really reveals the character and it forces us to change."

Farrington's win streak included a 21-7 win over Kahuku and led to a perfect 6-0 divisional record to finish atop the OIA Red East standings. It finished 9-4 overall, including an appearance in the OIA Red (Division I) championship game.

"We had just graduated a bunch of talented guys the year before in 2012 — guys like Tyler Taumua and Abraham Silva — so we were thinking it would be a reason where we would rebuild and learn, but it's just a testament to the coaching staff and the players how they continued to coach and play and just come together," Okimoto said.

Okimoto stepped away from football in 2018, after racking up more than 100 wins in his coaching career, in order to devote more time to Melanie and their two children — Mayah, who turns 11 on Sept. 11 and Elliot, 6.

"I'm still coaching. I was coaching my son's Little League baseball team — but just an assistant coach," Okimoto quipped. "I really enjoyed that."

Much of his time these days is also spent giving back to the Metro Christian Church. He also serves on the board of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

"That's been the things that have been not only keeping me busy, but been really fulfilling as well," he said.

A return to the sidelines isn't in the plans for any time soon, Okimoto added.

"I miss the relationships, of course, and the excitement that you get sometimes in the game, but I do not miss the time that I had to put in because all of that time would be taken away from seeing my kids grow up and just being involved in their school and extracurricular things and the ministry, so I don't miss the time commitment, but I do miss those other things."