EDITOR'S NOTE: Click the arrow above to watch an interview with Farrington High coach Daniel Sanchez.
HONOLULU — The player known as “Poncho” provided the cover, and the Farrington Governors happily fell in under their new leader in the trenches for their first football victory in nearly three years.
Left guard Iapani Laloulu bowled over Waialua defenders like so many red and white pins in his debut varsity game as a Gov, and the hosts at Skippa Diaz Stadium walloped the Bulldogs, 42-7, in the first contest of the Hawaii high school 2022 season on Thursday night. It snapped a nine-game losing streak for Farrington going back to Oct. 4, 2019.
No play better summed up the impact of Poncho, a transfer from Saint Louis, than one late in the first half. With the Govs on the cusp of the red zone, a screen pass was called for running back Zechariah Molitau. The massive Laloulu rumbled downfield, easily pushing aside would-be tacklers and guiding Molitau into the end zone untouched for the 28-yard score. Then, he lifted Molitau to the sky in celebration.
“See that guy right there, 65? Poncho? That guy is fun,” Molitau said as he pointed out Laloulu on the field after the teams shook hands. “Fun to run behind, because nobody’s going to get past him.”
Laloulu said he was just happy to play in front of his Kalihi community for the first time since his freshman year, when he was on the JV. He didn’t have a season in 2020 when the pandemic wiped out all football in the state, and he transferred to Saint Louis his junior year.
It was time to come back to his community, he decided. It coincided with the Govs dropping down to Division I this season after going winless at the Open Division level last year.
The college prospect – Laloulu said he’s taken an official visit to Arizona and has one lined up for Oregon – plans to graduate by January so he can attend his future school in the spring to get acclimated.
In the meantime, the Govs captain said he takes pleasure in letting his teammates thrive behind him, and insisted the win wasn’t about him.
“I see that these kids are very hungry and one thing I really learned about Saint Louis last year is, the Brotherhood is really strong over there where, win or lose, it doesn’t matter, we all stay really tight together,” Laloulu said. “Just like over here, but you got a lot of young guys that’s very hungry.”
Quarterback MJ Moreno tossed all of his 200 yards before halftime on 6-for-8 passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Molitau had 103 yards rushing on nine carries.
When Waialua quarterback Tyson Apau slung a 2-yard score to Jayvie Arellano with 1:13 left in the half, the Govs responded immediately with an 84-yard kickoff return touchdown by Kamakana Tisalona-Perez for a 28-7 lead at the break.
Farrington methodically worked the ball upfield in the third quarter behind its line advantage. Running backs Ikaika Kuaana-Lacno and Kingston Miles were the beneficiaries and tore off scoring runs of 37 and 18 yards, respectively, to send the game into running clock mode.
The only thing that really held back the Govs were their own penalties, of which there were many, even for a first game of the year that is typically slipshod.
“It definitely sets the tone in the direction we want to go,” Farrington coach Daniel Sanchez said. “It’s always good to win, just not happy with the execution on both sides of the ball and special teams. We’ve gotta do a better job, a lot to work on but a lot of good stuff to build on.”
Waialua coach Gary Wirtz, meanwhile, was reasonably pleased at how his Division II team from the North Shore performed against a Town team that was recently two tiers up, in the Open Division.
He tried to have his Bulldogs avoid going man-up with Farrington at the line, instead going “half a man” and battling with speed instead of strength.
“I think we’ll be able to compete. I think we’ll be able to hang right there with the Kaisers and Nanakulis,” the second-year coach said.
Apau was 16-for-28 for 132 yards and no interceptions.
According to Hawaii Prep World, it was the teams’ first meeting since 1976.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.