The first edition of Friday night lights in Kalihi was spoiled by the private school kids from up the street.
Kamehameha senior Kalamaku Kuewa intercepted two passes and returned one for a touchdown as the Warriors and second-year coach Abu Ma’afala scored a 34-15 nonleague victory on Friday night at brand-new Skippa Diaz Stadium.
Kanoa Shannon rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown and Thomas Yam threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to Onyx Freitas to help give the seventh-ranked Warriors an impressive debut win in 2017.
“From an overall team standpoint, we were physical, and any time you can go be physical with a team like Farrington, you have to feel good about that as you move into the season,” Ma’afala said.
FOLLOW ALONG
>> Friday’s game summaries
A game of interest not on the radio or TV? Then follow our live blogs on HawaiiPrepWorld.com. Here are the bloggers for today’s games:
>> Damien at Castle, 3 p.m. — Billy Hull
>> Lahainaluna at Pearl City, 6 p.m. — Nick Abramo
>> Pac-Five vs. McKinley, at Skippa Diaz Stadium, 6 p.m. — Christian Shimabuku
>> Saint Louis at Waianae, 6:30 p.m. — Paul Honda
>> St. Francis at Leilehua, 6:30 p.m. — Brian McInnis
The victory spoiled the first home game on the Farrington campus for the eighth-ranked Govs, who advanced to the OIA title game last season.
Farrington rotated quarterbacks, with starter Stephen Eter throwing two touchdown passes, including a 56-yarder to Tymon Paleafei late in the fourth quarter.
Junior Chris Afe got most of the reps behind center and showed a strong arm, finishing 12-for-24 for 76 yards against a relentless pass rush.
Both interceptions were hauled in by Kuewa, including the second one early in the fourth quarter he returned 71 yards to the opposite end zone to put the game away.
“On that pick-6, I just went to my depth and then broke to the ball,” Kuewa said. “Next thing you know God gave me a gift.”
Farrington lost to Kamehameha for the 15th time in 20 meetings since Farrington left the ILH in 1969.
The normally down-hill running Governors were held to 57 rushing yards and averaged just 1.8 yards per carry as they work to replace eight starters on both offense and defense.
“Good to see our kids build character and not give up,” Govs coach Randall Okimoto said. “A lot of things were there, but fundamentally we need to work. We’ve got to drill these guys and drill it into them so they can display it on the field.”
After a scoreless opening 12 minutes, Kamehameha stuck to the running game to quickly take a 14-0 lead.
A nine-play drive that featured all running plays ended when Shannon scored on a 21-yard run on the first play of the second quarter.
The Kamehameha defense forced a second consecutive three-and-out and the offense took advantage. Yam completed his first pass — a 25-yard gainer to Brock Ai — before Reino Bush’s 10-yard scamper put the Warriors up two touchdowns.
Farrington linebacker Titan Alii Pesamino came up with a third-down sack and then blocked a punt to put the Govs in business late in the half.
Farrington started on its 30 and got its first touchdown of the season on a play-action pass from Eter to Reginald Faamatau.
Despite the loss, a crowd of approximately 4,700 were happy to see Farrington finally hosting football games on its own campus.
“All I can say is what a blessing,” Okimoto said. “I’m so happy that Kalihi and Farrington has this. It’s one of those things that you can die happier now.”
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