Mules Rule!
Leilehua High coach Nolan Tokuda, linebacker Robert Siavii and quarter - back Andrew Manley lead the Mules to a state title
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Del.icio.ushave fun, and ‘I feel bad that I’m leaving my brothers on the JV, who’s heading to the playoffs.’ I already knew he had it upstairs.”
Leaving behind his JV team-mates wasn’t the only unnerving thing for the brand new varsity QB. He also had to ingrain himself with the older players whom he would now have to lead. Thankfully, his teammates made it easy.
“I was kind of nervous at first, but they (the coaches) told me to just have fun, and I went out to talk to the varsity boys and they were 100 percent behind me,” says Manley.
Another fact benefiting the new starter was a defense capable of winning a game on its own.
“They took a lot of pressure off me,” he says. “As you can see, they stop people, they shut Waianae down. They are a great defense, and when they told me to just manage the game, the defensive coaches came up to me and said score when we have to and the defense will shut the other team down. That took a lot of stress off me.”
At 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 200 pounds - his coach says he’s closer to 185 or 190, while the player admits that “I’ve still got some baby fat to lose. I’ve got to put some muscle on.” - Manley sure looks the part of a capable quarterback. But there is a big difference between JV and varsity, where he says the guys are much faster and the hits come more frequently. But as his coaches mentioned, Manley’s success is due more to his maturity than the strength of his arm. Which is saying a lot, since the young man can definitely sling the pigskin. Thoughtful and very well-spoken at an age when most athletes struggle with interviews, as they place them outside of their comfort zone, the sophomore is confident in his answers and quickly gets to the point of his opinion. He also seems to naturally possess a humble style of confidence, which comes through
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