Part finesse, part power, full-blooded Marauder.
Alfred Failauga relishes the daily grind of football season, but in the doldrums of the offseason, he and some teammates grab the racquets.
Failauga, Logan Lauti, Fiva Tulafale are part of a group that go full-tilt over tennis. Singles. Doubles. They love it.
“Fiva’s parents take us over there to play,” Failauga said. “His serve is really strong, but I’m actually the best. We haven’t played in a long time, but we’ll get back at it. We have our fun times.”
It gets a bit heated sometimes.
“We always argue. It usually gets so intense that whoever wants the last point usually is lying, but we have that friend on the side not playing, he refs from there,” Failauga said. “We argue, but we don’t fight. We’re all super tight. We’re brothers.”
Football is where Failauga and his tennis pals have put “94 Block” back on the map. He has toted the football a time or two in his four seasons in the backfield. With 5,549 rushing yards, the Waipahu senior is far and away the most productive rusher in Hawaii history, along with 55 rushing TDs on a whopping 874 carries.
“They’re big numbers and I respect it. I’m very proud, but at the end of the day, I don’t really look at the numbers. Fame to me is nothing. A lot of these players these days are all about fame, but the thing is I want to do big things with my team and actually get fame together as a team,” Failauga said. “I’ve been working with this Waipahu community for a very long time and I think they deserve it. That’s why whatever I do I make sure I’m doing it for the community, my family and friends, and everybody out there who supports us.”
Now a 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior, his leadership has been crucial for a relatively young team. Defending Division I state champion Waipahu is 3-5 overall, but 3-2 in OIA play. Failauga had 31 carries for 281 yards and five TDs in a heart-stopping 44-41 overtime win over Aiea on Friday that sealed a playoff berth.
“Whatever is good for the team, I’m willing to do it,” said Failauga, who is averaging 31 attempts and 233 yards per game this year.
He opened the season with 234 yards on 24 carries against Open Division Waianae. He has already rushed for 1,630 yards and 17 TDs on 214 carries, playing in seven of Waipahu’s eight games. Four of Waipahu’s opponents to date are in or have been ranked in the Star-Advertiser Top 10. Failauga missed five games last year to injury. He has missed only one game this season.
“Honestly, I’m going to do what’s best for my team. If it’s the coach’s game plan, we’re going to try our best to follow along,” said Failauga, who picks his spots. “If we’re smashing a team, then I would play it safe and run out of bounds, but if we need that first down or touchdown, I’ll do whatever our team needs.”
In 2016, few outside “94 Block” expected a 5-foot-8, 160-pound freshman straight from the Waipahu Silverbacks, Waipahu Saints, Waipahu Kings and JPS Marauders to unleash this kind of torrential nightmare on defenses. Waipahu coach Bryson Carvalho has a history with the spread option and the run-and-shoot, and didn’t hesitate to utlilize the talent of Failauga.
“He outran his blocks and made my guys miss tackles,” Castle coach John Hao said. “We knew that would be hard to stop, but his quick decision-making on the fly made him stand above the rest. He reminds me of Marshall Faulk when I played at Hawaii.”
Failauga is 30 pounds heaver and 3 inches taller than he was as a starting freshman.
“The more he carries the ball, the stronger he got,” said ‘Iolani coach Wendell Look, who saw Failauga tally 298 yards and two TDs on 41 carries against the Raiders. “He’s a combination of Eric Dickerson and Marcus Allen. A hard, tough runner with elusiveness and speed. He has a bright future at the next level.”
One state-championship coach has a more recent comparable.
“Alfred reminds me of another individual we competed against in 2015, someone he passed for the all-time state rushing record, Vavae Malepeai (of Mililani, now starting at USC),” Hilo coach Kaeo Drummondo said. “Both runners are just so smooth and fluid. Although they competed in different divisions, both are great running backs that you just need to appreciate.”
Failauga has a 4.0 grade-point average this quarter, and he has worked hard to get his cumulative GPA up to 3.0. He is getting close to becoming an NCAA Clearinghouse qualifier.
“Hopefully, someone takes a chance on him,” Damien coach Eddie Klaneski said. “Because he is a very good every-down back. He is very capable of playing on the next level.”
So why hasn’t Alfred Failauga received an FBS or FCS scholarship offer yet? He has healed up fully from a partially torn meniscus. More likely, it’s the math of his GPA plus an SAT score he needs to improve. There’s another SAT he will take this month. If he doesn’t qualify, Failauga says he will move on.
“I would probably become a construction worker with my dad. Just support the family. Honestly, if you’re going to a JC or D-II or D-III, you’re doing another two years of school to try to get that D-I scholarship. It’s not a waste of time, but I don’t really have that much time for that. I believe I could be at the D-I level, but it’s God’s plan,” he said.
To that end, Failauga works. His father, Mark, is up at 5 a.m. and works until 5 p.m., and that commitment has always been a foundation for his six sons.
“What you reap is what you sow. I go through that,” Failauga said, citing his favorite scripture (Gal. 6:9). “You can’t just sit there and pray. I told the team that this past week. You can’t just pray and the Lord is going to drop a blessing,” he said. “You actually have to work within that prayer and that blessing will fall upon you.”
