Chase for the Championship
No. 6 Farrington shuts down Maui, 22-6; Mililani up next


   



Fri, Nov 7, 2014 @ Aloha Stadium [ 4:30 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
Farrington (9-3-0) 7 0 15 022
Maui (7-3-0) 6 0 0 06
Austin Hoe 89 yd
Montana Liana 106 yd 1 TD
Daniel Kelley 66 yd 1 TD
Ranan Mamiya 159 yd 1 TD

Despite stumbling out of the blocks offensively, No. 6 Farrington had enough horse power in the backfield to hold off Maui, 22-6, Friday night in the opening round of the First Hawaiian Bank Division I state football tournament.

The Sabers (7-3) owned a 6-0 lead before the Governors (9-2) responded with three TDs at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium. The Governors will play No. 2 Mililani (11-0) in one semifinal 4 p.m. next Saturday at the stadium. It is a rematch of Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Blue teams; the Trojans won the regular season meeting, 41-14, on Sept. 27.

While Farrington was somewhat relieved it came out on top in wake of three turnovers and the loss of Ranan Mamiya for most of the second half, Maui was disappointed it wasn't able to capitalize and keep up with the larger Governors.

"Kind of a tough pill to swallow right now," Maui coach David Bui said. "We're just not happy to be here. We felt like we had a good chance to win, but hats off to Farrington. They're just so overpowering. It's tough to overcome that sometimes."

Running backs Mamiya and Challen Faamatau combined to rush for 300 yards and a touchdown apiece. Mamiya had 13 carries for 159 yards, including a 69-yard TD that answered Maui's score. Faamatau had 141 yards on 13 carries, including a 4-yard TD on Farrington's first series of the second half.

But the Governors had a scare in the third quarter when Mamiya went down after a four-yard gain at the Maui 13. He said he sustained "slightly torn MCL (medial collateral ligament)" and left the game with 7:59 in the third quarter. He said he expects to be back for the Mililani game.

"I could've returned, but the doctor said it would be better if I rested," Mamiya said.

Faamatau picked up where Mamiya left off.

"I talked to the trainers and they said they were holding him out because we had the game in hand," Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. "We were confident with Challen."

Farrington's defense kept the Sabers in check, containing them to 209 yards.

Maui's only score came off a Farrington fumble. Christopher-James Liana caught a Montana Liana pass behind the line of scrimmage at Farrington's 33. But Lucas-Joe Ibanez knocked the ball out and Justin Carvalho recovered at the Farrington 30. Two plays later, running back Daniel Kelly Jr. ran up the middle for a 17-yard TD with 2:04 in the first quarter. Jayden Wilhelm's PAT hit the left upright and bounced back, but a roughing the kicker penalty allowed the Sabers to re-kick, but could not cash in because Asalemo Sia blocked it to keep the score 6-0.

Farrington took the ensuing kickoff to its 31 and on first down, Mamiya took a handoff and raced down the right sideline for the 69-yard TD. Kekoa Sasaoka made the PAT to give Farrington a 7-6 lead with 1:43 in the first quarter.

"There was a miscommunication with the D-line," Maui linebacker/running back Onosai Emelio said. "One of them kind of shifted away and Ranan just took advantage of that and bounced it outside."

The second quarter was a grind. Maui QB Austin Hoe's deep pass was deflected by Joey Maae into the hands of Siaosi Pakileata at the Farrington 40. The Governors reached the Maui 20, but lost the ball on the center-quarterback exchange and Maui's Alexander Vainikolo recovered at the Maui 28. But Maui eventually punted. Maui punted after another series, but kept the Governors off the board in their next two series.

"We played a pretty clean first half," Bui said. "Penalty-wise, we tried to limit our mistakes and our turnovers. First half, we were pretty sharp on that. Second half, we made little bit more mistakes than we could afford."

Mamiya opened the second with a 30-yard kickoff return to the Farrington 42. The Govs marched 58 yards in eight plays, scoring on Faamatau's 4-yard run off the right side to increase their lead to 14-6 with 8:38 in the third quarter.

Maui took the ensuing kickoff to its 14, but RB Lusitania Tongi Jr. lost the ball on a fumble at its own 17. But Maui's defense held its ground; Farrington's Sasaoka's 31-yard field goal attempt went wide left. It came after a delay of game penalty against Farrington moved the ball back five yards.

Maui, though, could not capitalize and eventually punted. Faamatau's 25-yard return to the Maui 35 set up the final score of the game. On first down, Montana Liana hit Derrick Chaffin on pass to the right flat, where a couple of blockers paved the way for the 35-yard TD. Farrington lined up in a lone-center formation for the 2-point conversion that was executed on Bryce Tatupu-Leopoldo's run from behind wall of blockers to make it 22-6.

Maui threatened twice on its next two series. It reached the Farrington 24 on fourth-and-7, but lineman Breiden Fehoko sacked Hoe to halt the drive.

Maui reached the Farrington 30 on its next drive, but on fourth-and-16, Pakileata came up with his second interception inside the Farrington 10 to end that threat.

"It's a two-sided game: offense, defense and actually special teams," said Fehoko, who had four tackles of lost yardage, including two sacks. "The offense was kind of slow at the get go, but we did what we have to do and played Farrington football."

Farrington's slow start on offense is a concern for Okimoto.

"We shouldn't be confused at this juncture of the season and it looks like we are," Okimoto said. "So we have to correct those things. It's not like we're running different stuff; there's no excuse for that. The good thing was the second half we came out with that good drive.

"In order to beat Mililani, we can't be making those mistakes."

Quarterback Liana said he felt the team did not have good workouts during the week.

"The result showed in the first half," Liana said. "We came out and didn't score points. We had one touchdown, but that's not our football. Next week, we have to try harder and have to play every day of the week seriously. Champions are built Monday through Saturday. Not just Saturday."

But Maui's defense - its most experienced side of the ball with eight seniors - showed it could hold its own early. But a few breakdowns, such as on Mamiya's long run, proved costly.

"Our defense came into the game real confident," Emelio said. "We believed we could stop them. Just the little mistakes hurt us a lot."



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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