Posted on: Sunday, October 31, 2004

Leilehua squeezes by Farrington, 7-6

By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer

Leilehua won last night's O'ahu Interscholastic Association's "Mud Bowl" at Hugh Yoshida Stadium.

The Mules (8-1) overcame muddy and slippery conditions to beat Farrington, 7-6, in a Red Conference quarterfinal.

Leilehua's Bryant Moniz scored the game-tying touchdown on a 3-yard bootleg to the left side and Ryan Bibilone kicked the PAT with 6:57 remaining in the game.

"We knew Farrington was going to stack the box and come inside hard so we wanted to run something to the outside," Leilehua coach Nolan Tokuda said. "We got better blocking from the wide receivers and slots and we knew we were going to bootleg it in. Moniz has a nose for the end zone, that's the type of player he is."

Bibilone's extra point was anything but routine with the middle of the field grass-less and slippery.

"J.B. is our money man, our MVP and we're going to go with him and he'll get the job done," Tokuda said.

Leilehua, ranked No. 8 in The Advertiser's Top 10 poll, will face top-ranked Kahuku in the semifinals Friday at Aloha Stadium.

It rained heavily earlier in the day, but drizzled only slightly once the game started. Field conditions got worse as the game wore on, and officials had to switch footballs on virtually every play.

Both offenses struggled. Leilehua gained 123 total yards and Farrington (4-6) had 94.

The Mules blew a golden opportunity when they had first-and-goal at the 3 late in the third quarter. But they wound up losing yardage back to the 17 and threw an incomplete pass on fourth down.

"Against a good team like Farrington, you need to cash in," Tokuda said.

The Mules' defense forced a three-and-out and their offense took over at the Farrington 31 after a 12-yard punt return by Mason Edra.

Leilehua reached the end zone after five straight running plays.

"It was a game of field position, we got behind the 8-ball — we were on our side of the 50 and we couldn't get our running game going," Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. "They did a good job of stopping us up front on our running game."

Farrington had one last chance to get the ball, but it muffed a punt at its 15 with under a minute remaining, and Leilehua's John Felix recovered.

Early in the game, Farrington got a break when a snap by Leilehua got by the punter and was downed at the Mules' 5.

Two plays later, Ameko Vaimasanuu scored from the 3 to put Farrington up 6-0 with 8:39 left in the first quarter. The extra-point kick failed.

In the first half, Farrington's average starting field position on its six possessions was the Leilehua 34.

"We didn't take care of the opportunities that we had," Okimoto said. "The defense got us the ball three, four times and we got close to the goal line but didn't score and that proved to be the difference."

Governors defensive back Ropeti Gafa intercepted three passes and forced a fumble.

FARRINGTON 6 0 0 0 — 6
LEILEHUA 0 0 0 7 — 7

Farr—Ameko Vaimasanuu 3 run (kick failed)

Lei—Bryant Moniz 3 run (Ryan Bibilone kick)

RUSHING—Farrington: Eti Atonio 2-(minus 12), Vaimasanuu 14-12, James Hakuole 8-13, Kenneth Faumui 1-14, Alex Mendoza 1-11, team 1-(minus 1). Leilehua: Anthony Palomares 2-13, Justin Lawelawe 17-52, Sione Faleofa 7-36, Moniz 6-(minus 13), team 1-(minus 36).

PASSING—Farrington: Atonio 9-23-1—57. Leilehua: Moniz 10-30-3—64, Chustin Senas 1-(minus 3).

RECEIVING—Farrington: Tanner Fatui 2-13, Vaimasanuu 1-5, Brandon Agbunag 2-10, Mendoza 4-29. Leilehua: Palomares 5-40, Senas 3-19, John Felix 1-4, Lawelawe 1-1, Moniz 1-(minus 3).

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8041.