Farrington grinds its way past Kahuku

At 0-2 and outscored 71-19, Farrington coach Randall Okimoto cautioned against writing his team off.

“My first few years I think we were in the same boat,” Okimoto said after Farrington’s 35-point blowout loss to Kamehameha in mid-August. “But we finished strong.”

The Governors’ defense was more than just strong on Thursday night, holding No. 5 Kahuku to seven first downs and 143 total yards in a 21-7 win at Aloha Stadium.

Senior Sanele Lavatai ground out 118 rushing yards and two touchdowns, putting the game away with a 5-yard TD run with 1:13 left to deliver the Govs their second OIA Red East title in three years.

They did it by beating Kahuku for just the second time in the past 18 meetings between the two rival football powerhouses.

“I couldn’t ask for better execution of our gameplan,” Okimoto said. “Things came together at the right time. We started the season slowly and that actually helped us.”

Lavatai nearly ran out the clock to end the game but fumbled on his seventh straight carry to give Kahuku the ball back with 2:20 left.

A penalty wiped out an 11-yard completion for a first down, and Kahuku quarterback Tuli Wily-Matagi scrambled for three yards before three straight incompletions turned the ball over on downs.

Lavatai scored two plays later to give Farrington its 18th win in its past 19 OIA regular-season games.

The Govs (6-2, 6-0) get the No. 1 seed, while Kahuku (5-3, 5-1) finishes with the No. 2 seed out of the East. Both will get first-round byes, using next week to rest after a physical game.

“They shut us down … they controlled the line of scrimmage with that front seven and controlled our run, which is usually our bread and butter,” Kahuku coach Reggie Torres said. “They did a great job and played great football for four quarters.”

Farrington opened the game with a 14-play, 72-yard drive that took more than six minutes.

Montana Liana was 4-for-5 for 38 yards on the drive before scoring on a 1-yard sneak on fourth-and-goal to put Farrington in front 7-0.

The Govs had more offensive success on their first drive than the Red Raiders did in the entire first half.

Wily-Matagi did not complete a pass, as Kahuku was held to 26 total yards and one first down.

“The defense came out with a mind-set tonight ready to roll,” Farrington junior Breiden Fehoko said.

“From the first snap to the last snap, we made sure we were going to bring it.”

With Fehoko drawing consistent double teams, it opened the way for Motu Heimuli to make big plays on the Farrington defensive line.

Heimuli had four tackles and a sack in the first half that set up Farrington’s second touchdown.

His sack of Wily-Matagi forced Kahuku to punt from its 1-yard line, setting up good field position for the Govs.

Farrington took over early in the second quarter on the Kahuku 30, and Liana completed passes of 10 and 19 yards to set up Lavatai’s 1-yard TD run to make it 14-0 Govs.

Kahuku punted three straight times to start the second half, and didn’t pick up its second first down until a 27-yard pass from Wily-Matagi to Kuuliko Carvalho with less than a minute left in the third quarter.

Polikapo Liua Jr. capped an 11-play, 68-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run with 9:41 left to cut the Farrington lead to 14-7.

Kahuku got the ball back midway through the fourth quarter but punted again after its eighth three-and-out.

Wily-Matagi completed two of his first 13 throws before finishing the game 6-for-18 for 60 yards and an interception