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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as he answers questions with “Yes, sir” and “No, sir” responses while at the same time being strong enough to sit down his older team-mates to give them a pep talk during the biggest game of his life. To his coach, this comes as no surprise as he credits the strong relationship among the young athletes and a strong family presence.
“I keep telling everybody that’s how he was raised - a strong father/son relationship,” the coach says. ” Dad really loves his son and Mom raised him well, and I think that’s why he’s such a good, confident kid and at the same time he is grounded as well.”
He’s also a bit of a joker, according to his coach. Prior to the OIA championship game against Waianae, Tokuda told his quarterback to write out all of the Seariders’ defenses against Leilehua’s offensive packages, in an exercise to help Manley visualize the throws he’d need to make during the game. The next day he was to return to the coach with any questions he may have, and it was then that Tokuda learned that pressure is no problem for his new leader.
“He comes back the next day and I ask him, ‘Andrew, do you have questions?’ and he’s like, ‘Yeah, coach.’ I was ready to answer any questions he had about our offensive packages, and he said, ‘Coach, do you think I could get into a size small pants because they will make my butt look nicer because the medium pants are kind of baggy around here.’ I told him get out of my room,” laughs the coach. “Here is a kid getting ready to play the OIA championship game, and he’s looking at ‘I’ve got to look good.’ I was just thinking, ‘Oh, God, this goofy guy is going to win the state for us.‘And he did.”
But it wasn’t easy. Leilehua went to overtime to beat Mililani. The defenses took over the following week as the Mules nipped Farrington 7-3. Then it was another tough game and a 12-3 win over Waianae to sew up the OIA title. The offense righted itself as Leilehua battled Baldwin in a 41-34 win that proved to the Mules that they were a serious contender for the crown against the best team in the state.
“Everybody doubted us against Saint Louis,” says the quarterback ,who has been jokingly called Clumsy and Rubbishburger. “They were undefeated and Micah (Mamiya) is a good quarterback, undefeated as a quarterback. After we beat Baldwin, we came together and said, ‘Let’s go do it and prove everybody wrong,’ and that’s what we did.”
Led by Mamiya - last year’s 2006 All State Player of the Year - Saint Louis dominated Waianae in a 21-6 victory that left no doubt that the Crusaders were the favorite to take yet another state title.
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“When you watch them on video, they are flawless,” says Tokuda. “I think he (Mamiya) threw for 28 or 29 touchdowns with only three interceptions. That’s like Colt Brennan-type numbers. You look at their defense - amazing, they swarm, they’re athletic. You look at their special teams, they’re very solid. Their coaching staff is extremely knowledgeable. We knew that the only way we were going to beat a team like that was to be together. And the only way for us to be together is if we look to the guy to the right of us, to the left of us and say, ‘I’m playing for him instead of myself.’ So that, when we decide to surrender me to we, that’s when we became a more powerful team.”
It worked. The country school defeated the state’s most celebrated high school athletic program in a thrilling 20-16 come-from-behind victory that united a small community.
“We knew it meant a lot when there was so many people at the game supporting us,” says Manley. “And then on our way through Wahiawa coming back on the bus, the whole way there were people cheering us on, fireworks, with cops escorting us. The community has always supported us.”
With a state title has come a certain amount of fame. The recently appointed junior varsity quarterback is recognized in town, but has not let success go to his head.
“Nothing has changed,” he says. “You’ve just got to keep living life. Right now I’m playing basketball. I have to keep my grades up, so nothing has really changed. The only difference is outside of the school, walking through the community. When I go down to the park, the little kids, the Thunderbolts, recognize me and that’s cool. I go talk to them and shake their hands.”
But with fame comes responsibility - even for a Wahiawa celebrity.
“I never got into trouble, but it is motivation not to,” the young QB says. “It’s motivation to keep my grades up and to keep doing good in the community.”
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