Mamiya rushes, passes, returns No. 5 Farrington over Aiea, 52-0

Farrington RB Ranan Mamiya completed a halfback option play with a 71-yard touchdown pass to teammate Kingston Moses-Sanchez in the first quarter. Ken Reyes | Special to SL

Farrington's Swiss Army Knife in the form of Ranan Mamiya proved lethal Saturday night.

The Governors' all-purpose player rushed for one touchdown, passed for another and returned a punt for a score and No. 5 Farrington had its way against Aiea, 52-0, at Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Blue contest.

"We've had players like that in the past," Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. "But he's a special player. The special thing about him is he is very thankful to his teammates. He's very unselfish. That's what I like about him the most."

Farrington (4-0), fifth in the ScoringLive/OC 16 Division I Power Rankings, took a 38-0 lead into the half, starting the 35-point differential mercy rule running clock in the second half against Na Alii (1-2).

Mamiya, who played quarterback at Saint Francis last season, scored the first touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run, later threw a 71-yard TD pass to Kingston Moses-Sanchez after taking backward lateral pass from quarterback Montana Liana. Mamiya finished his night with a 60-yard punt return for a score.

"I was the starting quarterback at Saint Francis when I was there," Mamiya said. "When I transferred, they found out I could pass. When they called the play, I just did what I had to do."

Mamiya said he transferred from Saint Francis, which started its varsity program last year, after learning the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II program announced it was going to drop football. The sport was later reinstated, but Mamiya had made up his mind.

"We've been practicing that," Okimoto said. "We know he has that ability. We want to make sure we keep the defense honest, so that's why we put that in."

Farrington's defense to 53 net yards. Farrington had interceptions by Siaosi Pakileata, who returned his 40 yards for a TD, and by Andrew Aneki. Breiden Fehoko had a sack. The Governors also recovered two Aiea fumbles.

The Governors jumped out early, scoring on their first series of the game starting from their 40. Running back Challen Faamatau's 53-yard run to the Aiea 1 set up Mamiya's rushing TD. Kekoa Sasaoka's PAT gave Farrington a 7-0 lead one minute, 32 seconds into the game.

Later in the quarter, Mamiya's 38-yard punt return was nullified by a block to the back penalty, but still have Farrington the ball at the Aiea 48. Six plays later, Faamatau scored on a 1-yard run to make it 14-0 with 2:19 left in the first quarter.

Just before the quarter ended, Mamiya threw his 71-yard TD pass to Moses-Sanchez to make it 21-0.

Aneki's interception set up Farrington's fourth score of the half, a 27-yard field goal by Sasaoka that made it 24-0.

Aiea's Justin Liilii had his second pass in a row intercepted, this time by Pakileata, who returned it 40 yards to make it 31-0 with 2:32 left in the half.

Another turnover by Aiea, this time a fumble that was recovered by William Prescott at the Na Alii 38, set up Faamatau's 4-yard TD run with 50 seconds in the half to make it 38-0.

Aiea took the second-half kickoff, but had to punt after three plays. The snap from punt formation sailed over the punter and out of the end zone for a safety, increasing Farrington's lead to 40-0 with 8:29 in the third quarter.

Farrington lost a fumble on its first play from scrimmage after the free kick, but Aiea again was forced to punt. That's when Mamiya scored on the 60-yard play to make it 46-0 at 4:16 in the third quarter.

Aiea would recover a Farrington fumble in the fourth quarter, only to give it back with a fumble of its own. That set the stage for running back Freddy Tumbaga's 14-yard TD run with 14 seconds left in the game.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].