Mililani's Jalen Olomua and Darius Muasau combined to make a stop on Farrington's Tanielu Alaivanu-Afe. Jim Lebeau | SL

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Sat, Aug 27, 2016 @ Mililani [ 6:30 pm ]

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Farrington

28

Mililani

31

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Farrington (8-4-0)	0	6	8	14	28
Mililani (9-3-0)	7	0	7	17	31

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Dillon Gabriel 238 yd 1 TD

Bishop Rapoza 206 yd 3 TD

Kailiohu Kila 100 yd 1 TD

Challen Faamatau 55 yd

Cy Kuboyama-Hayashi 101 yd

Tanielu Alaivanu-Afe 97 yd 2 TD

MILILANI – No. 6 Mililani got an all-around effort to hold off No. 5 Farrington, 31-28, Saturday night at John Kauinana Stadium.

Offense, defense and special teams made contributions for the Trojans (3-0) to remain undefeated and earn sole possession of first place in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Red. The Trojans continue to be a nemesis to the Governors (2-1), who have dropped their last six meetings in a row to see Mililani take an 8-7-1 series lead.

"Team win, team win," Mililani coach Rod York said. "Special teams came up big. Offense came up when we needed it and defense came when we needed it. We're just inconsistent, but a lot has to do with Farrington. Great team. They never quit."

Sophomore quarterback Dillon Gabriel overcame a three-interception first half with 238 yards passing and one TD and two rushing TDs.

"Two (of the interceptions) were my fault," York said. "I called the wrong play."

Gabriel finished 17 of 32 for 238 yards.

The Trojans' defense came up with 10 tackles for lost yardage, six alone against Farrington's top running back Challen Faamatau, who was contained to 55 yards rushing on 21 carries.

"He's one of the best players in the state," York said. "It was a no-brainer we had to key on him. We didn't stop him, but we slowed him down."

Sophomore LB Darius Muasau, the spy for Faamatau, had two tackles for losses on his target.

"Just read his hips," Muasau said of keying on Faamatau. "He's a pretty fast guy; I just had to stick on him.

"It's a pretty hard job as a sophomore coming in, stopping an all-star."

Farrington finished with 51 yards net rushing.

"They did a pretty good job stopping the running game," Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. "We have to fix some things here and there. We kind of had some guys in-and-out, in-and-out on the offensive line. We're still trying to put that together."

On special teams, Damien Santiago had well-placed kickoffs to the sidelines and booted a 29-yard field goal to so along with four PATs.

The Governors trailed 31-20 after Gabriel's 3-yard keeper with two minutes, 36 seconds in the game. But Farrington made it a game when TJ Tautolo scored on a 12-yard TD pass from Bishop Rapoza, who then passed to Iosefo Ah Ching-Noga for the 2-point conversion to pull the Govs to within one possession game with 1:29 left.

But Farrington could not execute the ensuing onside kickoff giving the Trojans the ball at their 44 with 1:27 left. Although Farrington had their three timeouts, it did not use them after a first down play that netted nine yards. The Trojans ran for a first down on second-and-1 at their 47 before Farrington used its first of three timeouts with 45 seconds left. The Trojans continued to run the ball, but Farrington's remaining timeouts were not enough to stop the clock to get the ball back.

The Trojans took the opening kickoff, only to see their first series end when TJ Taulolo intercept Gabriel's pass in the right flat. But Farrington failed to capitalize on the turnover and punted. This time Gabriel made up for the interception with an 11-yard TD pass to Jalen Olomua at 6:26 in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead.

The Trojans struggled the rest of the quarter and then paid the price when Isaiah Taumua returned an interception off Gabriel and returned it 70 yards for a TD. The Govs missed the PAT, so still trailed, 7-6, with 4:06 left in the half.

Gabriel was intercepted a third time just before the end of the half on a pick by Ah Ching-Noga, but the Trojans' defense stiffened and kept the Govs off the board before the end of the half.

Farrington's offensive woes continued early in the second half and Mililani added to its lead on a 59-yard TD run up the middle by RB Kailiohu Kila to make it 14-6. He led all rushers with 100 yards on 11 carries.

Farrington's offense finally got into gear midway in the third when QB Bishop Rapoza hit Tanielu Avaivanu-Afe on a 33-yard TD pass. Faamatau rushed in the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 14 with 4:46 in the third.

Mililani punted on its ensuing series, but eventually punted and buried Farrington at its 8.  The Govs punted from their 5 and a 25-yard boot gave Mililani possession at the Farrington 30. Five plays later, Gabriel scored on a 3-yard bootleg to make it 21-14 with 11:28 in the game.

The Trojans padded their lead with Santiago's 29-yard field goal with 7:27 left.

Farrington pulled to with 24-20 after Rapoza's 22-yard TD pass to Alaivanu-Afe with 3:54 in the game.

But the Govs could not stop the Trojans' offense, which was now clicking on the ground and air. A four-play, 62-yard drive ended with Gabriel keeping the ball on a 27-yard TD run to make it 31-20.

Farrington scored later on Rapoza's 12-yard TD pass to Tautolo and the 2-point conversion, but fell short in its rally.

Quarterbacks Rapoza and Justin Uahinui shared snaps in the first half, but the former took the majority in the second half. Rapoza finished 16 of 28 for 206 yards and three TDs while chasing the Trojans.