Down to its last play, with the state’s leading rusher sidelined by an injury, top-ranked Farrington survived.
Quarterback Travis Tamapua scored on a 6-yard touchdown run in the final minute after converting on fourth down, and the unbeaten Governors pulled out a thrilling 28-24 win over upset-minded Moanalua in the regular-season finale for both teams on Friday night.
PREP SCOREBOARD
» No. 1 Farrington 28, Moanalua 24 » No. 2 Kahuku 35, Castle 0 » No. 3 Leilehua 40, Mililani 33 » No. 5 Campbell 22, Aiea 18 » Pearl City 43, Kalaheo 21 » Kaiser 39, Roosevelt 14 » Kalani 50, Anuenue 24 » McKinley 42, Waialua 6 |
Farrington (6-0, 8-0) and Moanalua (3-3, 4-4) entered with their seeds in the OIA playoffs set but played as if their seasons were on the line.
Na Menehune took a 24-21 lead on a 48-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dillon Turk to Sheldon Pagba with 2:24 remaining.
The Governors got the ball back on their own 24-yard line and had a fourth and 7 on the Moanalua 15 with an undefeated regular season hanging in the balance.
Tamapua went right back to Tavale Masalosalo, who had dropped a pass on the previous play, with a ball that he caught just in front of the first-down marker.
On the very next play, Tamapua stepped through the outstretched arms of two defenders and dove into the end zone on an option-keeper for the game-winning score with 55 seconds remaining.
"Called the option and just so happened we scored," Tamapua said. "(All those) Saturday practices, coming out early in the morning, is for this."
It’s the first undefeated run through the OIA Red East for Farrington coach Randall Okimoto, who said he stressed all week not to take Moanalua lightly.
Coming off a 14-13 victory over then-No. 1 Kahuku six days earlier, Okimoto was worried about his team getting off to a slow start.
"It’s always hard because you celebrate throughout the whole week and there’s always somebody congratulating you and talking about that game," Okimoto said. "My concern was always the focus on this game, and it showed early, so we told them at halftime they needed to wake up."
Running back Abraham Silva gave the Govs a lift off the bench after starter Tyler Taumua left the game with an injury.
The state’s leading rusher, hurt midway through the third quarter, left after rushing for only 35 yards on 13 carries.
"(Taumua) hurt his hand and we decided to take him out because we’ll need him for the playoffs," Okimoto said. "We went with (Silva) and let him finish it out."
Silva finished with 71 yards on 15 carries, including a 23-yard touchdown run that pulled Farrington within two at 17-15.
The Govs took the lead early in the fourth quarter when Leland Mitchell returned an interception 32 yards for a score.
Farrington had the ball with less than 3 minutes left and was poised to run out the clock when Christopher Owens recovered a fumble by Silva.
On the very next play, Turk, who finished 14-for-26 for 133 yards, threw a quick pass to Pagba in one-on-one coverage. Pagba eluded his defender and had nothing but green in front of him as he raced to the end zone to send the hometown Moanalua crowd into a frenzy.
That frenzy quickly turned into disbelief as the Govs marched 86 yards in eight plays on the winning drive to pull out the win.
"It means a lot (to go undefeated), but now we’re 0-0 going into the playoffs," Okimoto said. "Now it’s a new season for us and we’re looking forward to that."
Na Menehune, who will be the No. 4 seed out of the East, proved they can be a serious threat in the playoffs despite the loss.
Although they finished 3-3 in league play, they hung tight with both Farrington and No. 2 Kahuku, losing to both teams by four points each.
After Masalosalo’s 2-yard touchdown run to open the game, Moanalua scored the next 17 points to take a 10-point lead into the break.
Christian Akana rumbled for a 4-yard touchdown run and Chris Lloyd recovered a Moanalua fumble in the end zone to go up 14-7.
Lee Arakawa added a 32-yard field goal as Moanalua held Taumua to just 14 yards on seven carries in the first half.
Farrington had just 65 total yards heading into halftime.
¯¯¯¯¯
at Moanalua H.S.field
Farrington (6-0, 8-0) |
7 |
0 |
2 |
19 |
— |
28 |
Moanalua (3-3, 4-4) |
7 |
10 |
0 |
7 |
— |
24 |
Far—Tavale Masalosalo 2 run (Keanu Foki kick)
Moan—Christian Akana 4 run (Lee Arakawa kick)
Moan—Chris Lloyd fumble recovery in end zone (Arakawa kick)
Moan—FG Arakawa 32
Far—Safety, Jay Laudato tackled in end zone
Far—Abraham Silva 23 run (pass failed)
Far—Leland Mitchell 32 interception return (pass failed)
Moan—Sheldon Pagba 48 pass from Dillon Turk (Arakawa kick)
Far—Travis Tamapua 6 run (Foki kick)
RUSHING—Farrington: Silva 15-71, Tamapua 6-50, Tyler Taumua 13-35, Masalosalo 10-29, Jackie Anakalea 1-3, TEAM 1-(-2). Moanalua: Laudato 12-63, Kaleo Yanai 5-24, Jon-Michael Sharsh 1-4, Nainoa Eselu 1-0, Thomas Cheong 1-(-2), Akana 11-(-7), Dillon Turk 5-(minus 9), TEAM 1-(-15).
PASSING—Farrington: Tamapua 6-15-2-83. Moanalua: Turk 14-26-1-133, Aaron Kim 0-1-0-0, Akana 2-3-0-16.
RECEIVING—Farrington: Toma Barrett 5-74, Masalosalo 1-9. Moanalua: Anthony Bowen 4-47, Donald Lambert 3-31, Sharsh 3-17, Akana 3-12, Laudato 2-(-6),