OIA Football
Mikaele, No. 14 Farrington manhandles Nanakuli


Michael Lasquero | ScoringLive
August 26, 2023, 3:26am

  


Fri, Aug 25, 2023 @ Farrington [ 7:30 pm ]

Nanakuli

0

Farrington

40

Final 1 2 3 4 T
Nanakuli (1-6-1) 0 0 0 00
Farrington (7-4-0) 7 27 6 040
Marcus Moreno 123 yd 1 TD
Kanoa Torres 153 yd
Sitani Mikaele 209 yd 3 TD
Christian Asinsin 10 yd
Chansen Smith 47 yd 1 TD
Richard Federico 122 yd

KALIHI — All aboard the Sitani Mikaele express.

The senior running back rumbled for 209 yards and three touchdowns on just 15 carries as No. 14 Farrington dominated visiting Farrington, 40-0, Friday night in an OIA Division I contest at Edward ‘Skippa' Diaz Stadium at Kusunoki Field.

Defensively the Governors (2-0 overall, 1-0 league) recovered two fumbles and recorded four interceptions — one of which went for a 42-yard pick-6 — to shut down the Golden Hawks (0-2, 0-1).

Neither team saw success on their respective opening possessions, but that all changed when Mikaele broke a couple of tackles before sprinting down the right sideline for a 48-yard TD run on the first play of Farrington's second series.

Mikaele, who played for Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) last season, showed off his big play ability again in the second quarter when he shrug off a number of defenders in the back field for an 80-yard scoring run to give the Governors a 28-0 lead.

"He's the best running back in the state," right guard Kingston Jennings said of Mikaele. "With a guy that can read the holes and just pound it in, it's just amazing watching him trust us and see the openings. Couldn't ask for anything better."

The 5-foot-10, 238-pound senior capped the home team's scoring with a 17-yard TD run at the 9:53 mark of the third quarter to put the game into a running clock.

"He's a big part of our offense," Farrington coach Daniel Sanchez said of Mikaele. "Hopefully he keeps it up and we'll see some big things out of him."

Farrington RG Kingston Jennings drops back into pass protection against Nanakuli. CJ Caraang | SL    Purchase image

Most of Mikaele's big runs came on plays towards the right side of the field with Jennings (6-foot-2, 341 pounds) and right tackle Jacob Maneafaiga (6-foot-5, 344 pounds) leading the way.

"Kingston, he's one of the hardest workers. He's always bringing the energy to practice," said Mikaele. "Jake, he's always doing his job. I appreciate my whole O-line. They all do their part and I appreciate it."

The Governors had five total takedowns behind the line of scrimmage as they held the Golden Hawks to negative yards rushing.

Jordan Paredes had Farrington's lone sack, but it turned into a strip sack that was recovered by Zion "Ziggy" Vea. Heimana Richmond also recovered a Nanakuli fumble and tipped a ball at the line of scrimmage that turned into Kilinahe Aki's pick-6 to give the Governors a 21-0 lead.

Toren Pruitt also had an interception in the second quarter while Everest Rodriguez had two picks in the fourth quarter to preserve the shutout for Farrington.

Quarterback Marcus "MJ" Moreno did his part under center to keep the Governors rolling. After sitting out the first quarter, Moreno finished with 123 passing yards on 6-for-11 passing. He threw a 20-yard TD pass to Chansen Smith at the 8:58 mark of the second quarter and scrambled for a 5-yard score just before halftime.

Nanakuli junior receiver Richard Federico was a bright spot in the loss. He finished with a game-high seven receptions for 122 yards.


Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].




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