OIA Football
No. 6 Seariders stand strong over No. 10 Governors, 27-21


  



Fri, Oct 13, 2017 @ Waianae [ 7:30 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
Farrington (5-5-0) 0 7 0 1421
Waianae (7-5-0) 14 0 7 627

WAIANAE — Another year, another Farrington season ended by the hands of the Seariders.

Waianae (6-3) fended off a late-game rally from Farrington (5-5) to stand strong over the Governors, 27-21, Friday night in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Playoffs quarterfinal matchup at Raymond Torii Field on the campus of Waianae High School.

Last season, the Seariders defeated the Governors, 14-8, in the first round of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Open Division state tournament.

"It was just focused on win or go home," Waianae senior defensive back J-zen Napierala-Rose said. "We wasn't focused on Farrington. We were just focusing on executing our plays both sides of the ball and playing as brothers, working as a team and we ended up with a victory."

With a win in sight after Waianae junior running back Eteuati Lui capped a 12-play, 78-yard scoring drive by bullying his way from seven yards out for a touchdown run at the 7:16 mark in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 27-7, the Seariders looked to wind the game down to a close.

On the first play on the ensuing Farrington possession, quarterback Stephen Eter's pass was intercepted by Seariders defensive back Braiden Ayala, who returned the ball 20 yards to the Governors 26 yard line. Five plays later, Elijah Lujan got his first carry of the game, but Farrington senior Chasen Castilliano twisted the ball out and returned it 74 yards for a strip and score to cut into the deficit with 5:30 left.

Farrington failed to convert on the onside kick attempt but forced a three-and-out to get the ball back starting from its own nine yard line. The Govs marched down the field courtesy of a 53-yard hook and lateral play (Tre Barrett to Bobby Alualu-Alo) from Eter, but it was his legs that got it done to punch it in from eight yards out to make it a six-point game with just over a minute remaining in the game.

However, the onside kick attempt was again unsuccessful as the Seariders set up in victory formation to end the game.

"Even though they caught up at the end, we still used whatever we had left to punch it in the bag and finish it off," Napierala-Rose said, who had two interceptions including a 26-yard pick six to start the scoring in the first quarter.

Although much of Hawaii experienced rain showers earlier in the day, it was dry as an alligator on the Leeward side. But that didn't stop the ball from being a slippery eel as both teams combined for nine total turnovers — five for Farrington and four for Waianae. Each team recovered a pair of lost fumbles and had an interception returned for a touchdown. Four of the first five possessions of the game through five and a half minutes of play ended with a ball turned over to the other side.

Despite narrowly winning the turnover battle, the Seariders opened up a big lead on the legs of senior running back Rico Rosario. The 2016 OIA Blue Offensive Player of the Year ran the ball 29 times for 171 yards and two scores of nine and eight yards.

Waianae racked up 367 offensive yards with 286 coming on the ground.

Lui finished with 13 carries and 52 yards. Skyler Kaleiohi took five carries for 33 yards, and Kaai Tambaoan-Kaeo had three rushes for 23 yards as well.

The Seariders — ranked sixth in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Division I Football Power Rankings — advance to the OIA Playoffs semifinals to take on Red Division champion Mililani (9-0). The two teams last met up almost an exact year ago when Waianae ended the Trojans' bid for the OIA Championship and a spot in the HHSAA Open Division state tournament.

The winner of next Friday's matchup at Aloha Stadium will advance to the league title game and in the process will secure a spot in this year's Division I-Open state tournament. The loser's season will not yet be over as they will play the loser of the other semifinal game for the third and final OIA D1 spot in the state tournament.

Farrington's season ends at 5-5.



Reach Spencer Honda at [email protected].




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