Leading Navy football to two straight wins to close out the 2021 season has completely transformed starting quarterback Tai Lavatai.
Making winning plays and no major mistakes while directing the offense during a 17-13 upset of archrival Army worked wonders for the sophomore’s mindset, coaches and teammates say.
Lavatai has taken total control of the offense during spring camp, showing more leadership and a better understanding of Navy’s intricate triple-option system in the process.
“Tai’s confidence level, his grasp of the offense … he just looks like a totally different player,” Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said after practice last Thursday. “Playing well and beating Army has catapulted his confidence. He’s a lot more vocal and is bringing great energy.”
Navy defensive coordinator Brian Newberry is employing a wide variety of alignments and schemes to challenge the quarterbacks. He is changing fronts pre-snap and utilizing stunts to further confuse the reads.
Niumatalolo said Lavatai has been doing an outstanding job of reading the defense, checking plays and making sure the ball gets to the right spot.
“Tai is seeing things much better. Going against Coach Newberry’s defense is really hard, but he’s recognizing things,” Niumatalolo said. “I’ve been really, really pleased because when the quarterback gets us in the right play, this offense works.”
While Lavatai further solidifies his hold on the starting job, rising senior Maasai Maynor is making a strong bid to become the backup.
Xavier Arline, the backup for most of last season, is missing spring football camp because he’s playing for the Navy men’s lacrosse team. Arline’s absence means more practice repetitions for Maynor and he’s taking advantage, Niumatalolo said.
“Maasai has improved by leaps and bounds and is playing really well,” Niumatalolo said. “We always knew he’s a talented young man. Now that he has a better understanding of the offense that talent is starting to show through.”
Navy quarterbacks coach Ivin Jasper said Maynor has struggled to transfer his knowledge of the offense from the classroom to the practice field. He will answer questions correctly when quizzed in the quarterbacks meeting room, then fail to correctly make checks at the line of scrimmage when working live against the defense.
Jasper has made it clear this is a critical spring camp for Maynor, who made cameo appearances in four varsity games as a sophomore and junior. Maynor, who directed a spread offense out of shotgun formation at Saint Peter’s Prep, must prove he is comfortable operating the triple-option.
“I challenged Maasai and said, ‘You need to decide to solidify yourself as someone we can feel good about putting in the game.’ He needs to be able to recognize defenses and get us into the right play,” Jasper said.
Maynor has a strong, accurate arm and is probably the best passer of all the Navy quarterbacks. The 6-foot, 200-pound product of North Brunswick, New Jersey, has completed 8 of 16 passes for 88 yards over the last two seasons.
“Maasai probably throws the ball better than Tai. He has a really good arm and throws a tight spiral,” Jasper said.
QB experiment
Niumatalolo and Jasper are using spring practice as an opportunity to evaluate Kai Pauiloa-Rojas as a quarterback. He played the position at St. Bonaventure High in Ventura, California, and the Naval Academy Prep School but was switched to slotback as a plebe in Annapolis.
Pauiloa-Rojas was a pleasant surprise last season, emerging as a playmaker averaging 10 yards every time he touched the ball. The 6-foot, 190-pound sophomore picked up 77 yards on 13 pitchouts and caught three passes for 84 yards and a touchdown.
Niumatalolo said last week the Pauiloa-Rojas experiment was “going well” and the youngster has shown steady progress.
“Kai knows the offense. It’s just a matter of learning stuff from the quarterback position,” Niumatalolo said. “He’s smart, a real hard worker and is doing some good things.”
Jasper is watching closely to determine whether Pauiloa-Rojas looks comfortable running the triple-option and if he can be an effective thrower. Two weeks into spring camp, the former second team All-California Interscholastic Federation pick was still practicing at the position.
“Kai is a good athlete and was one of the slots we had that made people miss,” Jasper said. “He asked about playing quarterback and we felt we should give him a shot. Does he have those quarterback qualities? Does he have the right mentality? That is what we’re trying to figure out.”
Young quarterbacks
Navy did not play any junior varsity games during the 2021 season and that really hindered the development of three plebe quarterbacks. Jasper said Isaiah Knowles is ahead of classmates Zachary Branam and Cam Jordan.
Knowles was a two-time All-State selection in Florida and graduated from Seffner Academy as the school’s career record-holder in all passing categories. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound resident of Riverview, Florida, amassed 7,126 passing yards and 91 passing touchdowns as a three-year starter.
“I think Isaiah is probably the furthest along among the young guys. Hopefully, we can get Isaiah ready if needed during the fall,” Jasper said.
Arline attends meetings
Although focused on lacrosse this spring, Arline is still heavily invested in football and regularly attends the quarterback meetings. Jasper makes sure to routinely question the sophomore, too
“Just making sure he’s staying sharp, that he’s always up-to-date on what we’re doing offensively,” Jasper said.
Arline replaced an injured Lavatai midway through the season opener against Marshall then started against Air Force and Houston. His playing time dwindled down the stretch as Lavatai seized control of the starting job.
Throwin’ Samoan
Gina Lavatai long ago nicknamed her son the “Throwin’ Samoan” in a nod to his heritage. That moniker applied during Lavatai’s career at Creekwood High in Florida as he was a prolific passer and posted impressive numbers.
Lavatai does not throw as much in Navy’s ground-oriented attack, but enjoyed moderate success when doing so last season — completing 34 of 61 attempts (55.7%) for 449 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions.
Lavatai recently revealed that he’s developed a friendship with the original “Throwin’ Samoan” — former Washington State and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jack Thompson.
Thompson, who was born in Tutuila, American Samoa, concluded his collegiate career as the NCAA record-holder with 7,818 passing yards. Cincinnati made Thompson the third overall selection of the 1979 draft, but he was unable to supplant established starter Kenny Anderson.
Lavatai learned through an exchange of direct messages that Thompson wanted to attend the Army-Navy game because it was on his bucket list. Thompson was able to obtain tickets, but they were located in the upper bowl of MetLife Stadium.
“[Thompson] was in the nosebleed, but fortunately my mother had extra seats down in lower bowl and he was able to come down there for most of the game,” Lavatai said.
Lavatai was thrilled to meet Thompson after the game.
