The Governors' defense clamped down on the Sabers' vaunted Wing-T rushing attack, limiting it to just 120 yards on 42 carries in a quarterfinal win. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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110714_GovSab_0335.jpg - Greg Yamamoto | SL

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HALAWA — After falling behind early, Farrington got the wake-up call it needed and rode its defense en route to its 22-6 win over Maui Friday night.

The Governors (9-2) clamped down on the Sabers' vaunted Wing-T rushing attack, limiting it to just 120 yards on 42 carries, to advance to next week's semifinal round of the First Hawaiian Bank/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Football State Championships.

The Sabers (7-3) got on the board first with a 17-yard touchdown run up the middle by running back Daniel Kelly to seize a 6-0 lead.

"That touchdown was a wake-up call," said Govs' linebacker Bryce Tatupu-Leopoldo, who amassed a game-high 11 tackles. "Thankfully we adjusted to it and we were able to change some stuff and stop them and get some three-and-outs."

Maui was limited to just 2.9 yards per rush Friday night. It entered the game with nearly 2,000 rushing yards on the year and averaging just over 295 per game.

"It was just a matter of our guys getting their minds right on our fundamentals," Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. "Quick fullback trap, read your keys, don't come up the field and make the play. It's as simple as that. We've practiced that year, but you know, you get overzealous. Maui was running some counters and stuff like that, but it was just about playing disciplined football."

The Govs recorded 12 tackles for loss, including four by defensive tackle Breiden Fehoko, who also had 6 1/2 tackles and two sacks.

"We noticed they were shooting the A-gaps, so the coaches made real good adjustments and we just did what we needed to do and we came out and played our game," Fehoko said.

Defensive end Ansen Faamasino also had a pair of sacks and defensive back Siaosi Pakileata twice intercepted Sabers' quarterback Austin Hoe.

"I just played assignment ball and stuck to what I had to do and the two picks came naturally," Pakileata said. "It felt great. We practiced everything during practice and went through all the assignments."

Maui fourth-year coach David Bui said the Govs' physical superiority wore down his team over the course of the game.

"They were just overpowering," Bui said. "We had some of our veterans get hurt in the first half and coming out in the second half we had some of the younger guys step in there and I think, for whatever reason, we were just misaligned a lot of the time defensively so we had some missed assignments going on in the second half there. That and just size and strength of Farrington — they just overpowered us."

Kelly, a junior running back/linebacker, finished with 66 rushing yards on 12 carries, both team highs.

"Their D line worked hard and Farrington was just the better team tonight," Kelly said. "We worked hard, but it just wasn't enough and I want to say good luck to Farrington next week. They did a great job tonight."

The Govs now turn their attention to second-ranked Mililani, which had a first-round bye. The Trojans won the regular-season meeting by a score of 41-14 back on Sept. 27.

"That's the game I want and hopefully our preparation is on point this week, hopefully everybody shows 100 percent effort at practice this week and hopefully we'll be prepared this time," Tatupu-Leopoldo said.