Two of the top running backs in state take the field Saturday as Farrington's Challen Faamatau (591 yards combined rushing and receiving, three total touchdowns) gets set to face off with Moanalua's Michael Feliciano (560 yards combined rushing and receiving, nine rushing touchdowns). ScoringLive photo illustration

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There could be a lot of points on the board when tenth-ranked Moanalua meets sixth-ranked Farrington in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Blue game at Roosevelt's Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium Saturday night.

Through their first three games of the year, Na Menehune (2-1 overall, 1-1 league) is averaging better than 46 points per game offensively. The Governors (2-0, 1-0) are scoring 49 points per game on offense.

The difference could come down to defense. Opponents are averaging a respectable 23 points per game against Moanalua, but Farrington has held the opposition to just seven points per game.

That's a fact not lost on Na Menehune coach Jason Cauley.

"Farrington lost a lot on defense, but they just replace," Cauley said. "They're one of those teams that can just throw someone out there if they lose someone and that's a luxury we don't have. We have to scrape the bottom of the barrel. They lose their linebackers and they just reload. Their defensive front is big and their linebackers are big and athletic."

The Govs' defense will surely be keying on running back Michael Feliciano, the Moanalua senior who enters the contest leading in both rushing yards (458) and rushing touchdowns (9). Feliciano, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound speedster, is averaging 8.8 yards per carry and 152.7 yards per game.

"We know him pretty well because he played for us his freshman year, so he's actually from Farrington," said Farrington coach Randall Okimoto, whose defense is allowing an average of just 38.5 rushing yards per game by opposing offenses. "I know he's gotten better. He's a guy that can usually break the first tackle, so we've just got to focus on fundamental tackling. He's pretty quick, too. When he breaks away he has the potential to take it all the way, so we've got no room for errors. We've got to read our keys."

Feliciano had a field day in a season-opening 62-7 win over Waiakea three weeks ago when he ran for 230 yards and three touchdowns on just eight carries in a little over one half of work. However, a week later he had a costly fumble near the goal line on Moanalua's lone drive of overtime in a 43-37 loss to Waianae.

"I don't blame him for that and I didn't say a word to him after the fumble because he was doing something where he thought he was going to get the ball across (the goal line), but it did make him think and be more secure with the ball," Cauley said. "I think it can ground some people and keep them humble and that's always a good thing. He's the kind of guy that if he doesn't get it, he's going to try harder next time. He had one heck of a game, but he came to practice that next week and told me ‘It won't happen again, coach.' "

Feliciano still reeled off 128 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries in the loss. Last week he was "held" to a season-low 100 rushing yards on 26 carries, but found the end zone four times in a 40-19 win at Aiea.

"We got our confidence back against Aiea, who was doing well especially on the offensive side of the ball, so that was a morale booster for our offensive line and our offense as a whole," Cauley said.

Junior quarterback Alakai Yuen threw for a career-best 248 yards against Na Alii and has 563 passing yards on the season, which ranks third best in the all of Division I. He has thrown five touchdowns to one interception and has completed 59.3 percent of his pass attempts on the year.

"We've got a young quarterback and anytime you have a young quarterback and come away with a rare conference win and lead the offense like he did, throwing for 250 yards for the first time, it's pretty good," Cauley said.

Defensively, Moanalua will be without perhaps its top playmaker in strong safety Kyle Bender, who was ejected from the game against Aiea and must sit out this weekend's game.

"That really hurts, especially against a team like Farrington because he's a great run-support safety — probably the best in the state — so that's a blow to us and we're trying to reconfigure things on defense," Cauley said.

Furthermore, defensive lineman Logan Serikawa (ankle) and free safety Dalton Nascimento (hamstring) are both questionable for Saturday's game.

"Neither guy has practiced all week, but other than that we'll be healthy," Cauley said. "We just have to mix and match here and there."

In addition to its perennially-strong rushing attack, Farrington's offense has shown the added ability to throw the ball this season, averaging 251 yards per game through the air.

The Govs have used a trio of gun-slingers at quarterback this season. Junior Bishop Rapoza (199 passing yards-4 TDs-0 INT) has started both games, but senior Joziah Anakalea (102-1-0) and junior Justin Uahinui (201-2-0) have both seen significant time under center as well.

Perhaps the most versatile player for Farrington has been junior running back Challen Faamatau, who leads the team in both rushing yards (222) and receiving yards (269). In a season-opening 46-6 win over Waipahu two weeks ago, Faamatau rushed for 95 yards with a touchdown on just eight carries and caught four passes for 118 yards and two more scores. He didn't find the end zone in last week's 52-8 win at Aiea, but racked up 127 rushing yards to go with 151 receiving yards nonetheless.

"It's what we expected out of him," Okimoto said of Faamatau. "We need to work on holding on to the football, because we've turned it over a few times, but other than that he's been productive and he's staying healthy. I think it's important not to just focus on him, but we've got to spread it out more. That's going to be important for us."

Despite the stingy stats from opposing offenses, Okimoto said there is much progression to be had from his defense.

"We're OK, (but) there is a lot of room for improvement, especially in our fundamental reads and recognitions we need to get better, because when you play the elite teams they will expose that," Okimoto said.

Aside from middle linebacker Joey Maae (hand), Farrington is relatively healthy entering the weekend.

"We lost him actually after the Waipahu game, but he should be back," Okimoto said of Maae. "He's playing with a cast, so his hand is wrapped, but other than that we're pretty much OK."

Okimoto is cautious about Moanalua's high-powered offense, but is really more concerned about his defense's execution.

"Moanalua plays hard, they play to the end, their offense is uptempo and they can score points, so if we can hold them down and keep them out of the end zone it's really going to help us," Okimoto said. "We've got to make sure we don't get out of position. We got out of position early against Iolani and that's how they scored. We made the correction and we were successful, but I'd like to see us do it from the get go and we need to do that against Moanalua."

Na Menehune and the Governors will kickoff 25 minutes following the completion of Saturday's 3 p.m. junior varsity game.