Outmanned Mounties Take a Beating, 28-7 : Football: Randall Okimoto runs for 230 yards and three touchdowns for Farrington of Honolulu.

Be charitable and call it a numbers shortage.

Three Montclair Prep starters--including the Mounties’ best two players--left Thursday’s season-opening football game with injuries. Three more starters were declared ineligible before the game.

Considering the fact that nine Mounties were expected to play on both offense and defense, losing six was really like losing 11 or 12.

It all added up to a loss, period. Farrington High outscored the outmanned Mounties, 28-7, in the second game of the four-game Shawn Akina Memorial Classic before a crowd of 5,500 at Aloha Stadium.

Montclair Prep scored first on an 11-yard run by Derek Sparks early in the first quarter, but Farrington simply outmuscled the weary Mounties.

“I had a good feeling by the second quarter,” said Skippa Diaz, Farrington’s coach. “They had us down on the 15, but they called (a) timeout and every guy wearing a blue jersey was down on his knees, looking at the ground, just sucking air.”

The Governors led only 14-7 at halftime, but when Sparks, who scored 35 touchdowns and rushed for 1,944 yards last season, went out with an ankle injury after his first carry of the third quarter, there was little chance for a comeback.

Sparks, who finished with 63 yards in 16 carries, returned for a few plays in the fourth quarter. Trailing, 21-7, Montclair Prep took over on the Farrington 24-yard line after a 14-yard Governor punt. Sparks scored on a 21-yard run, limping into the end zone after making several nifty moves.

But the play was nullified by a motion penalty.

After Montclair Prep quarterback Mike Lincavage threw an interception--his third of four in the game--Farrington marched 72 yards for a score to take a 28-7 lead with seven minutes to play.

Randall Okimoto dashed 28 yards for the final score, his third of the game. Okimoto, the game’s most valuable player, rushed for 230 yards in 24 carries.

The Mounties began to show fatigue as early as the first quarter. John Goldbaum, a two-way starter on the line, left the game with a leg injury. In the second quarter, Donovan Roy, the team’s best lineman, had to be helped off the field with a sprained ankle. He played sparingly thereafter.

Farrington outgained Montclair Prep, 366 yards to 196. Both teams favored the ground game; Montclair Prep completed five of 13 passes for 41 yards and Farrington completed one of three for 19 yards.

The walk to the locker room must have seemed like 1,000 yards for the Mounties, many of whom were limping. “We had a lot of people going down,” Roy said. “The turf was so hot. We underestimated them.”

Farrington suited up 52 players, none of whom were two-way starters. Montclair Prep, meanwhile, brought 28 players, and, by game’s end, the number of eligible, healthy players had dwindled to the few, the brave.

NONLEAGUE Honolulu Farrington 28, Montclair Prep 7

Montclair Prep 7 0 0 0--7 Farrington 7 7 77--28 M--Sparks 11 run (Fulmer kick) F--Okimoto 65 run (Malvar kick) F--Okimoto 13 run (Malvar kick) F--Sanchez 31 run (Malvar kick) F--Okimoto 28 run (Malvar kick) Records: Montclair Prep 0-1; Farrington 2-0.

NONLEAGUE Crespi 21, Kahuku 14

Crespi 0 7 77--21 Kahuku 0 14 00--14 K--Atuaia 2 run (kick failed) C--Keiling 19 pass from Smith (Canalez kick) K--Maiava 21 run (Vierra run) C--Keiling 19 pass from Smith (Canalez kick) C--Lee 45 pass from Smith (Canalez kick) Records: Crespi 1-0; Kahuku 1-1.