Sixth-ranked Farrington hangs on to beat Aiea, 28-20

Farrington's Kingsley Moses-Sanchez heads to the endzone on a 67 yard pass from Bishop Rapoza in a win over Aiea. CJ Caraang | SL

Bishop Rapoza threw for 220 yards and 3 touchdowns to fuel the offense, and Farrington's defense came up big down the stretch in a 28-20 win over Aiea.

The 5-foot-11 junior, who completed 13-of-28 passes on the night, including scoring passes of 21, 31 and 67 to three different receivers, was complemented by the ground work laid out by running back Challen Faamatau, who ran for a game high 126 yards on 17 carries.

Farrington outgained Aiea 370 to 148 on offense, but were hurt by three interceptions, two fumbles lost and two punt blocks.

Defense was the story in the early going, as Na Alii dodged a number of Governors' parries deep in Aiea territory.

Then, with about 40 seconds left in the opening quarter, Aiea's Ariq Vergado-Duclayan drove in from three yards out for the game's opening score.

Na Alii got the ball back in the opening moments of the second quarter thanks to a Noah Taiese interception and looked poised to capitalize on the turnover, but Govs' defensive back Christian Acorda had a different plan.

His pick off of a Kobe Kato pass was taken back 50 yards for six, and Freedom Alualu tacked on the extra point to put Farrington up by a point.

Aiea's special teams came up big in the later stages of the second, blocking a Farrington punt to set Na Alii up with great field position, but Farrington's defense was equal to the task, picking off Kato once again to set up a 21 yard Bishop Rapoza to Kingston Moses-Sanchez touchdown connection. Jathen Chaffin bulled his way into the endzone on the extra-point try to extend the margin to 15-6.

Farrington turned the ball over late in the second quarter on a long pass attempt that was intercepted by Zelius Maae-Liupaono, his second of the half, and Aiea cashed in. Kato found Pohaku Kealoha-Cambe on consecutive plays, the second a 12 yard scoring strike, to trim the lead to just two at the break.

In the second half, defense was the name of the game again, as neither team found any real rhythm on offense until Cisco Fejeran came through with a huge punt block, the second for him on the night, to put Na Alii in business just inside the 20.

Kato made the most of the opportunity, finding Kame Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo on a perfect pass from 22 yards out to vault Na Alii back ahead. Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo finished with a game-high 72 yards receiving on 5 catches.

Farrington took the advantage back at the 4:17 mark of the third quarter, when Rapoza connected with Faamatau on a perfect throw from 32 yards out to give the Govs a 21-20 lead. The ensuing point after touchdown pass failed, leaving the margin just a single point.

Rapoza threw his third touchdown pass to open the fourth quarter, hooking up with Kingsley Moses-Sanchez on a 67-yard pitch and catch to push the margin to 8.

That margin proved to be more than enough for the Govs' defense, who were stout defensively throughout, and exceptional up front against the run, holding Na Alii to negative 19 yards on the ground.