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Week 2 of ASHSAA Football: Vikings move to No. 1 & JV kicks off

Two Faga’itua Viking defenders break up a passTafuna Warriors ball carrier at the sidelines andSamoana Sharks’ Marcus Samia is apprehended by two Tafuna WarriorsTafuna Warriors quarterback Oakland Salave’a breaking out The return man for the Nu’uuli Wildcats returning a kick offFaga’itua Vikings quarterback Fitu Amata behind his blockersFaga’itua Vikings’ Manuita Sofeni greeting Palepua of the WildcatsManuita Sofeni of the Faga’itua Vikings turning this one upfield
tony@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — This past Saturday at Veterans Memorial Stadium, the American Samoa High School Athletics Association (ASHSAA) kicked off its 2nd week of football action with the official opening of the Junior Varsity season the evening prior — Friday — during which Faga’itua won 32-8 against the Lions, despite the game being called off in the 6th minute of the final quarter due to a Leone player being severely injured.      

Coverage of the 2019-2020 ASHSAA football season is sponsored by Congresswoman Aumua Amata.

Saturday morning’s triple header kicked off with the JV battle between the Warriors and Sharks. Tafuna shut down Samoana in a 42-0 victory. Tafuna showed dominance on both offense and defense, and even though it was their first game of the season, head coach Kevin Magalei’s young squad appears to be the most threatening team in the JV division this year.

WARRIORS 36, SHARKS 28 (Varsity)

It’s still unclear why Samoana decided to sit out starting quarterback Viliamu Tanielu during the opening half of their match up against the Warriors; and it had an impact on the Sharks’ offensive unit’s performance during the first half of play, as they struggled against a dominating Tafuna defense led by defensive coordinator Nathan Magalei.

Although the Warriors bagged this one for the records — It was actually the Blue Empire who drew first blood, putting up the first 3 points after suffering a three and out against the Warriors’ defense inside the red zone. Samoana sent out their PAT unit and Viliamu Tanielu’s kick was good.

But it didn’t take long for the Warriors to respond — 5:14 in the opening quarter and Oakland Salave’a dials up Isaiah Gurr on a quick seam route pass to record a 59-yard touchdown reception that put the Warriors in the lead.

Samoana opted to put wide receiver Avory Seumanutafa at starting quarterback. The Sharks managed to put on a flashy running game with a very skilled running back, Marcus Samia, a sophomore out of Vatia. They had a strong running game and Tafuna’s defense took the bait, just in time for Samoana to switch to their air attack, as Seumanutafa threaded the needle and found Kobe Lefiti inside the end zone for Samoana’s first touchdown of the game.

This put the Sharks back in the lead, 11-6, with just 10:21 into the second quarter of play, after a field goal conversion by Tanielu. Having your quarterback as your punter can come in handy, and it worked out quite well for Tafuna when they were in a devastating 4th and long situation at midfield. Salave’a, who was in a punting formation, faked the punt and charged up a perfect pass to Herman Sufia who hauled in the pass and stormed off to the end zone to score the Warriors second TD of the match.

This was just a warm-up for a dominating opening half for Tafuna. By the end of the third quarter, Tafuna had already scored 3 more touchdowns by Herman Sufia, Oakland Salave’a, and Niko Soava which pushed the Warriors ahead, 36-11.

Just as the Warriors were settling in comfortably, Viliamu Tanielu came in to take the helm for the Sharks during the second half of play. 8:02 in the fourth and Tanielu throws a bullet between Alex Seagai to score the Sharks’ second touchdown.

3:22 remaining, and the Sharks engineered another threatening offensive play as they utilize Tanielu in an air attack – Samoana’s first down from the 33-yard line and Tanielu turns to Seagai to score their third touchdown of the game, as the Sharks inched back to trail the Warriors 22-36. Even though the game seemed out of touch for the Sharks, they didn’t give up, as they gave it their all against a very powerful Tafuna defense, and they managed to pull off one more TD reception. With just 1:46 remaining, Tanielu bombed a long pass to Lefiti on a third and long situation to record a 33-yard touchdown. But it still wasn’t enough for the win

VIKINGS 42, WILDCATS 12 (Varsity)      

Head coach Andrew Bill Ena and his Wildcats sent a message to the league during the opening half of their match up against the Vikings — and that is, they will not be fooling around this season. It was by far the best opening for the Wildcats in a very long time. Unfortunately, they couldn’t be consistent going into the second half as head coach Sua’ese Pooch Ta’ase and the Vikings lived up to their second half reputation, once again.

The Vikings had picked up former Samoana Shark star wide receiver Fitu Amata during the summer, and they are now running with Amata at the helm, leading the offense at quarterback – a very dangerous combination of both the pass and ground game.

Faga’itua didn’t hesitate to score the opening touchdown of the game with just 9:22 into the opening quarter.

Vikings second down at the 25-yard line and Amata rolls out to fire a perfect pass to Ronnie Oa for the first touchdown of the game. The two point conversion by Manuita Sofeni was good enough for an early 8-point lead.

Everyone thought the Vikings would dominate and the mercy rule would be applied early in the first half; but it wasn’t easy for the Vikings to push through a vicious Nu’uuli defensive unit that held their ground. And with Nathaniel Maea at quarterback, the Nuuuli team started to show that they too could dominate in both the run and passing game.

5:22 in the first quarter, and Nu’uuli’s first down possession at the 3-yard line turned in for six after Maea sent a quick pass straight down the middle to Palepua in a slant route to score the Wildcats’ first touchdown and tie things up at 6 a piece. Faga’itua switched up their offensive pace to a harsh ground and pound strategy, and turned up the heat when they ran with Sofeni and Joseph Umu in the backfield.

6:11 in the second quarter, and the Vikings finally cross the goal line again with Joseph Umu on a 3-yard reception. Umu’s conversion punched two more points in for Faga’itua, making it a 14-6 lead. Near the end of the first half, Sofeni went straight up the middle to score the Vikings’ third touchdown of the game, a stunning 46-yard reception that extended the lead 20-6.

Nu’uuli came back strong in the second half, led by Maea, scoring their second touchdown, inching back to trail the Vikings 12-20. Their two-point attempt was held short by Maurice Ta’ala and his solid front line. Ta’ase and his Vikings continued to wreak havoc throughout the remainder of the second half. evident in their 42-12 win.