Farrington finds a way into final

It was so good the first time, Farrington and Kahuku get to do it again.

Tyler Taumua rushed for 154 yards and two touchdowns, but it was the Governors defense coming up big in the end, shutting down Campbell on its final drive to pull out a thrilling 27-24 victory on Friday night in the semifinals of the OIA Red football playoffs at Aloha Stadium.

The undefeated Governors (10-0), who won their fourth straight game by five points or less, will play Kahuku next Friday and try to win their first OIA championship in 21 years.

“It’s only fitting that we had to end it with our defense,” Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. “I tell you, it’s something you can never get used to.

“The power of prayer really helps to settle you down and handle this; otherwise you get heart attacks and all those things.”

Since beating Kahuku 14-13 four weeks ago, the Govs have stayed undefeated with a four-point win over Moanalua and a 25-20 win over Mililani last week, setting up Friday night’s nailbiter against the Sabers.

Campbell (7-2), which trailed 27-12 with 3 minutes left in the third quarter, scored two touchdowns in a 90-second span to pull within a field goal at 27-24.

Each team scored four touchdowns, but the Sabers didn’t convert any extra points, missing three kicks and failing on a 2-point attempt.

“Hats off to Farrington, which I thought is the best team we’ve played this year,” Campbell coach Amosa Amosa said. “I’m sure when we look at the tape we’ll see a lot of mistakes we made and things we could have done better, but I’m proud of the way our guys battled back.”

Junior Justin Tago-Su’e started at quarterback for the Sabers and was 11-for-22 for 89 yards and a touchdown, but was pulled after his second interception starting the second half.

Backup Isaac Hurd completed six of his first seven passes and finished 9-for-14 for 83 yards, scoring on a 3-yard quarterback sneak early in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 27-24.

Campbell forced a punt to get the ball back with 4:29 remaining on its 6-yard line.

Tago-Su’e replaced Hurd, who hurt his wrist on the previous drive, and completed two big passes to move the ball to midfield.

A personal foul call moved the ball inside the Farrington 40 and Tago-Su’e threw a perfect strike to a receiver who dropped a would-be completion inside the Farrington 5.

On fourth and 4 at the 35, Tago-Su’e’s pass fell incomplete, ending a second straight OIA semifinal game that went down to the wire.

“We just held down, with all the injuries we had, and played our game,” said defensive lineman Keanu Foki, who had four tackles and a sack. “We came out with a little lapse in the second half, but we woke up.”

Farrington’s starting offensive line, consisting of five juniors averaging 318 pounds, took it to Campbell from the opening play.

Taumua had 154 of Farrington’s 237 rushing yards, but only 60 came after halftime as Campbell’s defense adjusted.

“We wanted to control the ball early, but with Taumua, they did a really good job of running the ball on us,” Amosa said. “We calmed down in the second half and controlled their running game, which gave us opportunities to do the things we needed to do.”

Jordan Lee ran for 124 yards and found the end zone twice as the Raiders defeated the Monarchs.
At ‘Iolani