No. 1-ranked Farrington rallies past Moanalua, 28-24

Travis Tamapua runs in the winning score with seconds remaining in the contest. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Travis Tamapua scored on a 6-yard quarterback keeper with 55 seconds remaining last night to lift visiting Farrington to a heart-stopping 28-24 victory over Moanalua.

A capacity crowd of about 2,200 at Moanalua watched the Governors, No. 1 in the ScoringLive/OC16 Power Rankings, improve to 8-0 overall and complete a 6-0 run through the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's Red Conference Eastern Division. Na Menehune fell to 4-4, 3-3.

Moanalua will begin OIA playoff action next week, while Farrington has clinched a first-round bye and will open its playoff action in the quarterfinals two weeks from now.

"It feels good, we worked hard all week for this," said Tamapua, whose TD run capped an eight-play, 76-yard drive that started with 2:20 left on the clock and the Govs trailing 24-21. "We weren't expecting to be down like that, but we just told ourselves to keep our heads up."

Keanu Foki's extra point made it 28-24, and on the ensuing series Na Menehune lost the ball on downs at midfield after four straight incompletions.

Moanalua had taken the lead on Dillon Turk's short slant pass to Sheldon Pagba that turned into a 48-yard touchdown as Pagba made one cut and dashed to the end zone with 2:27 remaining. But the Governors repsonded with the winning drive that was highlighted by two key plays: a 38-yard diving catch behind two defenders by Toma Barrett and a nine-yard pass from Tamapua to fullback Tavale Masalosalo on fourth-and-7, setting up Tamapua's go-ahead TD run.

"We were thinking about going for the touchdown all the way, we already clinched the No. 1 (playoff) seed, so we weren't gonna kick a field goal and play for the tie," Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. "We practice the two-minute offense every day, and I'm so glad (Masalosalo) made that catch. He dropped one on the play before, but we still had confidence in him."

The closing sequences capped a game that was on the wild side from the beginning.

The Governors took the early lead on a 2-yard plunge by Masalosalo with 7:24 left in the first quarter after Na Menehune failed to convert on a fake punt from their own 11. Foki's extra point made it 7-0, but Moanalua tied it at 7-7 with 3:49 remaining in the quarter after Christian Akana's 4-yard TD rush up the middle.

That drive started on the Na Menehune 26-yard line after Christopher Owens recovered a fumbled punt return.

Moanalua later took a 14-7 lead after its own fumble was recovered in the end zone by offensive lineman Chris Loyd with 6:44 left in the second quarter. Lee Arakawa's 32-yard field goal increased the lead to 17-7 two minutes later.

Farrington was held to 87 total yards in the first half, and Tyler Taumua -- the state's leading rusher -- was limited to 24 yards on eight carries in the first two quarters.

"We kept shooting ourselves in the foot, we had some uncharacteristic penalties and that got us out of our game plan," Okimoto said. "But some of that was because of Moanalua's defense -- they're physical and were causing us some problems up front."

Na Menehune came up with a goal-line stand late in the third quarter, stopping Masalosalo on fourth-and-1, but the Govs tackled running back Jay Laudato in the end zone for a safety one play later and Abraham Silva scored on a 24-yard touchdown run 12 seconds into the fourth quarter to cut it to 17-15.

The two-point conversion pass attempt failed, but Farrington scored again four plays later when defensive back Leland Mitchell stepped in front of a swing pass to the right side and returned it 30 yards back to the house for a pick-six.

The two-point conversion pass attempt failed again, but the Govs led, 21-15, with 10:40 remaining.

It appeared that lead would stand as Farrington later was running out the clock, but Martin Tualelei recovered a fumble and Moanalua took the lead back one play later on the 48-yard touchdown pass from Turk to Pagba.

"We had our opportunities, and sometimes that all you want, is to have opportunities," Na Menehune coach Arnold Martinez said. "Our kids responded when we got behind and they played hard. I'm proud of them, we've been blessed all season. We're right there, we just gotta get over that hump."