The DNA of four-wide, shotgun formations is not easily decoded.
From teacher to disciple, one generation down to the next, the eureka moment for any pupil comes not in a flash, but in this unusual, but exquisite way. The student must be willing to teach as well.
From Mouse Davis to Ron Lee. From Ron Lee to brother Cal Lee to Vinnie Passas. To Darnell Arceneaux and Tim Chang.
From Mouse to June Jones, from JJ to Nick Rolovich.
Extract the knowledge and condense it and have it crystalize over time. This is what Jarin Morikawa possesses. His senior season reads like this: 3,111 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions, 265-for-452. That’s a passer rating of 134.94 and a yards-per-attempt of 6.9.
On the surface, the averages and rating numbers aren’t spectacular, but this is where Morikawa, the disciple, was more than willing to make the sacrifice. Instead of launching bombs often, which he did last year as a junior, coach Rod York implored his offensive leader to use the short pass as a de facto running game. That took trust on the part of York, who assumed offensive coordinator duties this fall.
“That’s where I get into trouble at times, forcing the ball down the field. But as a senior quarterback you’ve got to have more responsibility and play it safe,” said Morikawa, who has a 3.8 grade-point average. “It’s a credit to our coaches. We put in a lot of hard work in the offseason. Repetitions, getting on the same page, rep after rep and getting more confident in it, and a lot of film study,” he said. “Coach (York) knows a lot about coverages and tendencies.”
Morikawa invested in his receivers, teaching and showing what the run-and-shoot offense is about. With the development of deep threats Erren Jean-Pierre and Ekolu Ramos, that number rose drastically during a five-game stretch leading to the OIA Red title game. During that run, Morikawa amassed 1,849 yards and 19 touchdown strikes with only two picks. He connected 131 times in 202 attempts (65 percent).
“Ekolu will go up and fight for the ball against anybody. He has hops. He worked really hard in the offseason,” Morikawa said. “I love the deep ball. Just put it up in front for Erren and let him go make a play.”
Five trojans have at least 27 receptions, and there’s even defensive lineman/tight end Dakota Turner, a reliable target in the red zone.
“He’s like a Rob Gronkowski,” Morikawa said, comparing the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Turner to the New England Patriots tight end. “You get him the ball, he can run some guys over. He moves really well for his size. He has great hands.”
York lets Morikawa call the plays out of empty-backfield, five-receiver sets.
“He’s learned so much from Darnell, Timmy, (former offensive coordinator) Bobby George,” York said. “The No. 1 stat for any quarterback is wins.”
Last weekend’s loss to Kahuku is history now. Mililani begins play in the state tournament on Friday with a game at War Memorial Stadium on Maui against MIL champion Baldwin.
“The loss was very disappointing to us. We should’ve put up a better fight. Turnovers killed us all night, but we just got to learn from that and move on,” said Morikawa, a 6-foot, 180-pound senior. “We’ve got to give Kahuku credit. They were punching the ball out, so we’ve got to do better at securing the ball.
“Our focus has to be on Baldwin right now.”
Morikawa has already given Illinois State, an FCS school, an oral commitment to play football. But two other schools, including Weber State, have made offers, too. Former UH slotback Craig Stutzmann is an assistant coach there.
Since he was in seventh grade, Morikawa and his dad, Jon, a former McKinley signal-caller, made the trek from Central Oahu to town on Sundays to train with Passas, the aptly named passing guru. Passas, the quarterbacks coach at Saint Louis, has provided the weekly offseason clinic for decades, keeping it open to all young hopefuls near and far.
“Almost everything I know, a lot of credit goes to him. He’s been right there with me, pushing me, encouraging me. Make sure you put his name in there,” Morikawa said, making his only request to a reporter.
Throw by throw, rep by rep, Morikawa corrected the three-quarter angle in his delivery — the one he taught himself after watching Colt Brennan hurl Hawaii to a 12-0 regular season five years ago.
“All the great quarterbacks that he’s worked with, he teaches footwork, the release,” Morikawa said of Passas. “He used to record (video of) me on his iPhone to show me where my arm was. I looked up to all the quarterbacks who came — Andrew Manley, Marcus Mariota. I’d look up to them and try to be like them.”
He saw his share of record-setting passers play for UH, going to every home game with his dad. By the time he was in high school, he had an ongoing conversation with some of those same stars.
“Growing up, all I knew was going to every UH game, watching Rolovich, Timmy Chang and Colt Brennan. I got to work with Timmy this year. I talk to Rolovich sometimes,” Morikawa said.
During Mililani’s stunning win over Farrington, Brennan, who recently started volunteering as a coach at Kahuku, couldn’t help but notice the young protege’s talent. A week later — last Friday — Brennan approached Morikawa and offered encouragement after Kahuku overwhelmed Mililani.
“It’s amazing,” Morikawa said.
