Farrington edges Aiea, 10-0


In a playoff victory not big on style points, Farrington held 'Aiea to 33 yards of total offense and trudged past Na Ali'i, 10-0, last night to advance to next week's O'ahu Interscholastic Association quarterfinals.

The Governors, ranked No. 9 in the ScoringLive-OC16 Power rankings, improved to 6-3 and will travel to Red Conference Western Division champion Mililani (7-1) on Friday.

'Aiea's season ends at 4-5.

Sung Saengpetsiriphan's 26-yard field goal with 8:23 remaining in the second quarter was the game's only scoring until Tyler Taumua's 1-yard touchdown plunge with 2:02 left in the fourth.

The touchdown was set up five plays earlier when Farrington took over at the Na Ali'i 16 after a shanked 10-yard punt.

"We had good field position that time, so we had to pound it in," said Taumua, a 5-foot-9, 170-pound sophomore running back who rushed for a game-high 66 yards on 20 carries. "We had to put the game away."

'Aiea lost the ball on downs following the ensuing kickoff and the Govs took a knee to run out the clock.

Earlier, Farrington put together several long drives only to come up empty. A 13-play, 59-yard march to the Na Ali'i 21 just before halftime ended with an interception. The Governors opened the second half with another 13-play drive that went 54 yards to the 'Aiea 12, but their 29-yard field goal attempt was low and wide left.

Even the second-quarter drive that ended with Saengpetsiriphan's field goal was kept alive only after a 26-yard pass from upback Travis Tamapua to James Amina on a fake punt.

But Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said Na Ali'i's defense deserves credit for the Govs' stalled drives.

"They were No. 2 in the state in rushing and pass defense," Okimoto said. "We were very concerned about their defense, and they played like we expected them to. Fortunately, our guys were able to protect the ball and not turn it over."