Farrington running back Challen Faamatau points to the sky following a touchdown run against Kailua. Faamatau racked up a season-high 237 yards on the ground in the win. Tyler Guieb | SL

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Sat, Sep 12, 2015 @ Roosevelt [ 5:00 pm ]

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Kailua

13

Farrington

19

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Kailua (7-3-0)	0	0	6	7	13
Farrington (7-4-0)	0	7	0	12	19

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Bishop Rapoza 59 yd

Noah Auld 217 yd 1 TD

Challen Faamatau 237 yd 3 TD

Gabriel LeLesch 24 yd

Kingsley Moses-Sanchez 39 yd

Isaiah Damo-Agcaoili 77 yd

MAKIKI — Farrington kept its offense grounded for most of the night and made the least mistakes in its 19-13 Oahu Interscholastic Association Blue Division win over Kailua at Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium Saturday.

Running back Challen Faamatau rumbled for three touchdowns and had career-highs in carries (32) and rushing yards (237) to help the sixth-ranked Governors (5-0) remain unbeaten. Kailua, ranked eighth in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Division I Football Power Rankings, suffered its first loss of the year and fell to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in league play.

"Today we did a terrific job," said Faamatau. "I couldn't have done it without my linemen, my fullback Freedom Alualu and the receivers blocking. I love them to death. I give God the glory for this win. He gave me the strength and speed to do what I did tonight."

Faamatau played a big role in Farrington's ability to move the chains, rushing for 13 total first downs. The junior running back's churning legs also netted five first downs on third down situations. 

"He's a great player," Kailua coach Joseph Wong said on Faamatau. "We just have to be fundamentally sound in the tackling game. We can't go out and tackle him high because he's a tough individual."

The lone error in Faamatau's performance was a fumble inside the red zone on the Governors' opening series of the game. Kailua took over on its own 10-yard line and had a lengthy drive that saw the Surfriders setting up shop at the Farrington 25-yard line at the end of the first quarter.

When play resumed, Kailua quarterback Noah Auld was whistled for an intentional grounding penalty that moved the ball back 12 yards with fourth down looming. The Surfriders gambled on the ensuing play with Auld's deep shot into the end zone for Koolau Gaspar, but it was deflected by Kody Leiu at the last second for a turnover on downs.

"I'm happy for our guys for overcoming adversity," said Farrington coach Randall Okimoto, who saw 12 to 15 players miss practice with the flu during the week. "We like to stress responding and not getting our heads down when things get down in the game."

Farrington was unable to get a score on its next possession, but got the ball back after Jace Baguio recovered a muffed punt by Gaspar. Faamatau ran it in off right tackle from 13 yards out a play later to give the Governors their first score of the game. Finau Walter's PAT gave Farrington a 7-0 lead with 8:13 to go in the second quarter.

The Surfriders would just commit one turnover afterwards, although it was a costly one. Kailua trailed 19-13 and had a first-and-10 situation at the Governors' 19-yard line with 3:27 left in regulation. However, Kailua was whistled for a holding penalty that brought the ball all the way back to the Farrington 40-yard line. After a timeout, Auld floated a pass off his back foot under duress and was picked off by Farrington's Ryota Kony. The Surfriders never saw the ball again as Faamatau and the Governors were able to run out the clock.

"Against a good team like that, we can't give them opportunities, especially in those areas," said Wong. "It came down to the last turnover of the game and unfortunately it happened on our drive. They gave away one to us, and we gave two to them. It hurts. You can't give a team like this those kinds of turnovers."

To Auld's credit, the senior quarterback made clutch plays all night long. Auld was 23-for-31 passing for 217 yards and a touchdown, with majority of his throws coming out of a sack attempt. He could have easily been the lead of the story had it not been for two drops by his receivers in the end zone. His favorite target on the night, slotback Isaiah Damo-Agcaoili, caught eight passes for 77 yards in the loss.

Even though Farrington's defense allowed Auld to complete nearly 75 percent of his pass attempts, the Governors' were able to make enough stops in critical moments to preserve the lead. Walter and Ponifasio Sio had back-to-back sacks to keep Kailua out of field goal range near the end of the second quarter and Wesley Ulugalu-Sula was a tackling machine with 11 tackles.

Kailua got its first score of the game after the Governors got caught with 12 man on the field prior to a punt return. The penalty gave Kailua a fresh set of downs and allowed the Surfriders to get inside the Governors' 5-yard line after an 11-yard reception by Damo-Agcaoili and a 23-yard catch-and-run by Christian Mejia. Two plays later Mark Lagazo took a pitch around right end from three yards out to put Kailua on the board. The PAT was off its mark to make the score 7-6 with 1:20 to go in the third.

Farrington struck back quickly with a 7-play drive that was aided by Kingsley Moses-Sanchez's 39-yard reception from Bishop Rapoza. Faamatau's 2-yard rush gave Farrington a 13-6 lead one minute into the fourth quarter as the Governors' 2-point conversion try was botched.

The Governors failed to recover the ensuing onside kick attempt and Kailua capitalized on the good field position. Auld tossed a beautiful back shoulder pass to Gaspar for a 5-yard score and Jonovan Lee's PAT made it a 13-all ball game with 8:39 left in regulation.

Faamatau took over the game on the Governors' next series and carried it three straight times before breaking loose for a 51-yard touchdown run for the final score of the game.

While the Governors can celebrate that they came away with the victory, Okimoto knows that his squad had to be better if they hope to compete with defending state champion Mililani next Thursday. Farrington was also whistled for 12 penalties that resulted in 100 total yards.

"We had so many miscues that we cannot do against Mililani," he said. "If we do, we're going to pay for it."

Kailua will try to get back to its winning ways when it travels to Moanalua next Friday.