Blaine Hipa left his junior varsity playing days in the past Friday night, leading No. 5 Campbell to a 42-26 victory over Farrington in the OIA Open Division third-place game at Aloha Stadium.
Hipa, however, was not the only freshman in the house carrying some varsity swag. Rjay Tagataese gave needed life to the Governors in the second half and got them within 15 points.
A 6-foot, 170-pound ninth-grader who was a late addition from the JV to the Sabers’ varsity roster, Hipa posted a 241-yard, four-touchdown passing performance that catapulted the Sabers into the Open state tournament that starts in two weeks. He got the call as the starter over two seniors — Krenston Kaipo and Kaniala Kalaola.
Kawehena Johnson, the Campbell OC and son of head coach Darren Johnson, made the decision on who would start.
“He had a good week of practice,” head coach Johnson said. “We are one program and he knows the system. Kawe picked the guy who had a better week of practice.”
Campbell (8-4) will be gearing up for another shot at the Mililani Trojans — who defeated the Sabers 52-14 in September — on Nov. 16 in the state semifinals.
“We’re in states and we’re excited about it,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be a great championship.”
The Governors (2-10) charged back after a lackluster first half in which they fell behind 35-6. Tagataese came in for starter Chris Afe-Alaivanu late in the first half. After the break, he threw a 29-yard TD pass to Raymond Millare, and when Selau Kalani scored on a 1-yard run, Farrington was right back in it at 35-20 with 6:43 left in the game.
“We were struggling in the first half,” Govs coach Daniel Sanchez said. “We figured we needed to get Rjay in the game and maybe add some juice. He definitely did that. It’s unfortunate we didn’t get it started in the first half. I think if we were able to do that, maybe the outcome would have been different.”
With less than four minutes left, Farrington chose to go for it on fourth down and long at its 40, but Campbell’s JL Lavea sacked Tagataese for a 15-yard loss.
After taking over at the Govs’ 25, Campbell made it 42-20 and virtually sealed it with 3:04 to go on Hipa’s 11-yard TD pass to Titus Mokiao-Atimalala.
Farrington made one final dent with 1:01 left when Tagataese heaved a 40-yard TD pass to Kalani for the final 42-26 count.
Mokiao-Atimalala finished with five catches for 137 yards and two TDs. Hipa also threw two TD passes to Poki’i Adkins-Kupukaa.
“A lot of things were different (than JV),” Hipa said. “The speed of the game, especially. But the O-line was the biggest part. They supported me the whole week and today they had my back, making sure I was doing my job and making sure I was doing all right. And the wideouts and running backs were making plays.”
Sky Lactaoen also scored twice for Campbell — on first-half runs of 17 and 7 yards.
Tagataese wound up with 135 passing yards.
Farrington’s long season is done. The Govs finished the regular season tied with Waianae and Kapolei for the final OIA Open playoff spot, and a victory on a coin flip made the postseason appearance possible.
“We look forward to having a great offseason, which actually starts Monday,” Sanchez said. “We have young guys coming back at receiver and running back and we’ll be getting what the JV brings us. We’ll have a different look next year.”
GAME SUMMARY
OIA third-place game
Campbell 42, Farrington 26
At Aloha Stadium
>> Farrington (2-10) 0 6 6 14 — 26
>> Campbell (8-4) 14 21 0 7 — 42
Campbell — Sky Lactaoen 17 run (Jadon Arola kick)
Campbell — Pokii Adkins-Kupukaa 15 pass from Blaine Hipa (Arola kick)
Farrington — Raymond Millare 1 run (kick failed)
Campbell — Lactaoen 7 run (Arola kick)
Campbell — Titus Mokiao-Atimalala 76 pass from Hipa (Arola kick)
Campbell — Adkins-Kupukaa 16 pass from Hipa (Arola kick)
Farrington — Selau Kalani 1 run (pass failed)
Farrington — Millare 29 pass from Rjay Tagataese (Demetry Shoaf pass
from Tagataese)
Campbell — Ti. Mokiao-Atimalala 11 pass from Hipa (Arola kick)
Farrington — Kalani 40 pass from Tagataese (pass failed)
RUSHING — Farrington: Kalani 17-42, Millare 11-33, Chris Afe-Alaivanu 2-14, Tagataese 7-4, Samsen Tanuvasa 1-1, EJ Liua 1-(minus-14). Campbell: Sky Lactaoen 15-100, Adkins-Kupukaa 1-6, Hipa 1-5, Team 1-(minus-1), Kaniala Kalaola 1-(minus-7), Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala 1-(minus-28).
PASSING — Farrington: Afe-Alaivanu 2-8-0-10, Tagataese 10-22-1-135. Campbell: Hipa 11-21-0-241, Kaniala Kalaola 3-6-1-3.
RECEIVING — Farrington: Kalani 4-54, AJ Fernandez 3-18, Millare 2-35, Liua 1-13, Demetry Shoaf 1-13, Isaiah Rios 1-12. Campbell: Adkins-Kupukaa 6-79, Ti. Mokiao-Atimalala 5-137, Ta. Mokiao-Atimalala 2-7, Jalen Henderson 1-21.
