Baseball
Schools
Schedules
Standings
Stats
Players
Softball
Boys VB
JV boys VB
Girls Water Polo
» Football
» Girls Volleyball
» JV Football
» JV/White Girls Vball
» Baseball
» Softball
» Boys Volleyball
» Girls Water Polo
» JV Boys Volleyball
» Boys Basketball
» Girls Basketball
» Boys Soccer
» Girls Soccer
» JV Boys Basketball
» JV Girls Basketball
» JV Boys Soccer
» JV Girls Soccer
All-Hawaii
Power Rankings
Distinguished Athlete
Newcomer Award
Top Performers
Stories
About SL
Contact
Privacy
Advertise
Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveOctober 28, 2023, 1:03am
Fri, Oct 27, 2023 @ Farrington [ 7:30 pm ]
KALIHI — Sitani Mikaele did much of the heavy lifting and Willis Lilly put on the finishing touches to set up Farrington's first trip to a league championship game in seven years.
Mikaele ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns and Lilly recorded a pair of interceptions to help No. 11 Farrington escape with a 13-10 win over unranked Kailua in a semifinal game of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I tournament Friday night.
A crowd of about 2,000 fans at Edward ‘Skippa' Diaz Stadium at Kusunoki Field saw the Governors (5-2) secure a state tournament berth and a spot in next week's OIA championship game against No. 12 Waipahu.
The Surfriders (5-5) made sure it did not come easy.
Kailua led for much of the first half thanks to Matthew Mashiba's 33-yard field goal a few minutes into the contest and eventually had a chance to pull back ahead late in the fourth quarter.
The Surfriders' final possession began with 6:50 on the clock and trailing the Govs, 13-10. It converted a pair of fourth downs on the drive, which penetrated to the Farrington 31-yard line. However, Lilly, a senior cornerback, abruptly halted Kailua's momentum with an interception in the end zone to get his team the ball back with 1:58 to play.
"Honestly, I had a feeling they were throwing to my side because the QB looked dead at me and I really just prayed and asked God to just get me through this last series and I feel like God came through," Lilly said. "I mean, all glory to God."
It was Lilly's second pick of the night; His first came with 5:42 left in the first quarter and just three plays after his own quarterback, MJ Moreno, was intercepted by Kailua's Shaison Hosino-Marquez.
Farrington struggled offensively early on. It ran just eight plays from scrimmage and generated just 20 yards of total offense in the first quarter.
The Govs got things going with a 11-play, 80-yard drive that took more than five minutes off the clock in the second quarter and culminated with a 3-yard touchdown run by Mikaele, who took a direct snap in a full house package on the play. He did that a number of times during the drive, which included two third-down conversions on runs of 2 and 22 yards by Mikaele.
After his 22-yard jaunt to set-up first-and-goal from the Kailua 6-yard line, Mikaele got up gingerly while noticeably limping.
"It was pretty good going in the beginning, but I tried to leap over there a little bit and my ankle just went out," Mikaele said. "It was tough. I didn't want to go out. It was really bugging me, it was really sore, but I was just thinking of the community and the family over there and I just had to represent, put them on my back and keep going."
Mikaele briefly exited to the Govs' sideline, but missed just one play and returned to the field to get his team on the board. The ensuing extra point was no good to keep Farrington's lead at 6-3 with 6:25 remaining until halftime.
The score through the intermission and until the 2:45 mark of the third quarter. Mikaele finished off a 10-play, 50-yard drive with his 4-yard TD run on another direct snap. It came just one play after Mikaele picked up eight yards to convert a third-and-7. Earlier in the possession, the Govs moved the chains on a third-and-6 with Noah Spencer's 8-yard pass completion to Chansen Smith.
However, the Surfriders answered the Farrington touchdown with one of their own just five plays later. Quarterback Romeo Ortiz scampered 34 yards for a touchdown on a read-option play and Mashiba tacked on the PAT to cut it to a 13-10 Govs' lead with 17 seconds to play in the third quarter.
Farrington drove to the Kailua 39-yard line before it was forced to punt. That gave the Surfriders their final possession from their own 12-yard line with just under seven minutes in the game.
Ortiz scrambled for 10 yards on fourth-and-4 on the ninth play of the drive and a 15-yard personal foul penalty against Farrington for a late hit was tacked onto the run to put the ball just outside the Govs' 30-yard line. However, on first-and-10, Ortiz's pass toward the left sideline — intended for Stoney Pocock — was snatched out of the air by Lilly.
Lilly credited his position coach, Ray Sayers, for putting him in the right place at the right time.
"Really, if it wasn't for my coaches I wouldn't be ready, because coach Sayers kept telling us, ‘They're gonna throw it, just let it develop. They're gonna throw it,' and as you guys (saw), the last drive they threw it and it was a pick," said Lilly, a 5-foot-9, 155-pound senior.
It was Lilly's third interception of the season.
"I just have a lot of happiness in me and I want to thank all my teammates, especially my defense (for) having my back and not giving up on me," he said.
The turnover was a tough pill to swallow for Kailua coach Hauoli Wong, but he credited Lilly for making the play.
"I mean, that's everything at that point in the game. We gotta be better than that — I gotta be better than that — but we had our opportunity all game. It was a slugfest all game. I mean, we stopped them, they stopped us and in the end, you know, one mistake in the end cost us the game," Wong said.
Kailua's defense held its own against Farrington's offense — which entered the game averaging better than 32 points and 316 total yards (206 rushing) per game — and Mikaele, the state's leading rusher.
"I give props to Kailua because they really stopped Sitani and that's hard to say, but I feel like we knew that once we (saw) Sitani get stopped, we just had to step up as a defense and put our team on our back," Lilly expressed.
The Govs ran for 198 of their 223 total yards Friday night. They tallied only 13 first downs — just one more than Kailua notched.
"That's the type of football we like. We like ground and pound and it fell into what we do. We're physical, too, and it showed out there today," Wong said. "It was a tough game all the way down to the wire. I just wish we would have had a better shot in the end."
Kailua tallied 188 net yards, including 174 rushing.
Ortiz ran 11 times for 94 yards and Ikaika Quidachay carried 11 times for 74 yards in the loss.
The Surfriders were 2 of 10 on third downs, while the Govs converted 5 of 12 third downs.
Farrington will be making its first appearance in an OIA championship game since it lost to Kahuku in the 2016 Division I final by a score of 44-8.
"To be going to a championship game, it's really a blessing. Everybody knows that Farrington's been down the past couple years, but we got new players, we got new coaches and it just brings new energy and new excitement to the game," Lilly said.
The Govs captured their only league crown in 1990.
Farrington and Waipahu, which defeated Leilehua, 37-21, in the other semifinal, will meet Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Mililani's John Kauinana Stadium. It will be preceded by the OIA D2 championship game.
The Govs and Marauders will represent the OIA in next month's six-team First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA D1 State Championships.
Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.
Please consider making a contribution today.
ADVERTISEMENT
Shysten Nagasako did work on both the mound and at the plate in the Seariders' mercy rule shortened win...
Na Alii posted a 3-1 win over Roosevelt behind Aidan Yoshida's complete game, while two pitchers combined...
Campbell defeated Roosevelt in four sets Thursday, while Moanalua topped Waipahu in the nightcap as both...
The Hurricanes found their offensive groove in the late stages, scoring 14 runs down the stretch to back...
Bob Manintin pitched six strong innings as the Warriors snapped the Red Raiders' seven-game winning streak.
Teizsha Kaopuiki hit two home runs to power the Seariders in the opening round of the OIA Division I...
