Waipahu’s Alfred Failauga got tricky on his first touch of Friday night’s game against Damien. The state’s all-time rushing leader took an option pitch, stopped in the backfield, and heaved it downfield to Jovan Gooman for an 80-yard touchdown.
The rest of the game, the flags were flying instead for Waipahu, which also saw its vaunted run game grounded for most of No. 9 Damien’s 30-21 win on the Marauders’ field.
Failauga, who passed Vavae Malepeai for the all-time state mark last week, was held to 87 yards rushing on 20 carries, far below his season averages. He came in averaging 254 yards on 31-plus carries a game this season, but was held to just 29 yards on eight carries by halftime.
“That’s a lot of props (to the defense) to stop Alfred Failauga. He’s one heck of a runner,” said Damien senior receiver Jarvis Natividad, who caught six balls for 138 yards, including a key 10-yard insurance touchdown on a fade from Jake Holtz (three TDs, no interceptions) with 6:19 left.
“He’s best in the state,” Natividad said. “So I gave all the props to the defense to get us the ball back. It was very amazing how we all came together as one and we just pulled out that win.”
Linebacker Fosi Ulima had two of his three sacks of Waipahu quarterback Cody Marques on the Marauders’ ensuing drive, and Waipahu ended up turning it over on downs at the Damien 46 with 1:38 remaining. The Monarchs ran out the clock.
In a penalty-ridden first half, Waipahu had two passing touchdowns — both from Marques to Failauga — nullified by flags.
“They had a pretty good game plan going into the game. They were trying to stop the run … but ultimately way too much penalties,” Waipahu coach Bryson Carvalho said. “We had two touchdowns called back. That hurt. Two separate drives, that’s 14 points on the board we could’ve had. That’ll hurt anybody.”
The Marauders, trailing 23-7 late in the third, rallied with a 45-yard pass from Marques to Failauga, followed by a Failauga helmet-popping 2-point conversion. After a Damien three-and-out, Failauga finally gained some traction and gained 35 yards on four carries, setting up Marques’ 6-yard keeper TD. But Marques couldn’t find anyone on the 2-point conversion try and Waipahu remained behind 23-21.
Holtz drove his team 60 yards on eight plays on the Monarchs’ opening drive, most notably with a 39-yard pass to Natividad. He finished it off with a 4-yard touchdown sling to running back Amo Sulu, who added a 1-yard TD plunge in the third. Damien took a 10-7 lead at halftime.
Thanks to more Waipahu penalties, Damien started the next drive at the Waipahu 30, and Holtz cashed in with a 27-yard TD pass to Ezra Kaina.
—
OIA-ILH DIVISION I
No. 9 Damien 30, Waipahu 21
At Waipahu High
>> Damien (3-0, 2-0) 10 0 13 7 — 30
>> Waipahu (1-3, 1-1) 7 0 8 6 — 21
Damien — Amo Sulu 4 pass from Jake Holtz (Dippy Souza kick)
Waipahu — Jovan Gooman 80 pass from Alfred Failauga (Brycen Amorozo kick)
Damien — FG Souza 28
Damien — Sulu 1 run (Souza kick)
Damien — Ezra Kaina 27 pass from Holtz (pass failed)
Waipahu — Failauga 45 pass from Cody Marques (Failauga run)
Waipahu — Marques 6 run (pass failed)
Damien — Jarvis Natividad 10 pass from Holtz (Souza kick)
RUSHING — Damien: Sulu 14-74, Holtz 7-22, Team 2-(minus 4). Waipahu: Failauga 20-87, Logan Lauti 1-25, TEAM 2-(minus 10), Marques 9-(minus 23).
PASSING — Damien: Holtz 13-33-0–214. Waipahu: Marques 10-22-1–118, Failauga 1-1-0–80.
RECEIVING – Damien: Natividad 6-138, Sulu 3-27, Makanale‘a Meyer 3-22, Kaina 1-27. Waipahu: Lauti 4-44, Failauga 2-62, Solofa Setu 2-14, Gooman 1-80, Branden Tsuchiyama 1-0, Aston Contado 1-(minus 2).
