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For a change, it was Farrington's defense that came through in the clutch.

The Governors, ranked first in the ScoringLive/OC16 Power Rankings, stopped rally-minded Campbell, 27-24, Friday night in the semifinals of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red football tournament at Aloha Stadium.

Farrington (10-0) will meet No. 3 Kahuku (9-1) for the OIA championship Nov. 4. It is a rematch of their regular-season meeting won by the Governors, 14-13. It's Farrington's first title appearance since 2008, when it lost to Kahuku, 22-19, in double overtime. Kahuku reached last year's title game, only to have to forfeit it, as well as other playoff games, for using an ineligible player. Both teams have secured Division I state tournament berths.

The No. 4 Sabers (9-2) will play No. 2 Leilehua (8-1-1) for third place Nov. 5 at Leilehua. A time will be determined later. The winner gets the OIA's third and final Division I state berth. The game also is a rematch of a regular-season meeting that the Mules won, 32-13, at Hugh Yoshida Stadium.

"I told the team, you have to have faith in each other," Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. "When the atmosphere is loud, and we've been through three games (like this), it was only fitting that our defense had to come up with the stop. Our last two games, our offense had to come up with the wins."

Farrington rallied from half-time deficits to beat Moanalua in its regular-season finale and to beat Mililani in last week's quarterfinals. But last night, the onus was on the defense.

"Since Day 1, we've been practicing really hard," Farrington linebacker Semo Sila said. "Everyday, we take it seriously. We take it to heart everyday."

The Governors had a commanding 27-12 lead late in the third quarter after scoring on RB Tyler Taumua's second TD of the game after cashing in on a Campbell fumble. But with sophomore Isaac Hurd taking over for starter Justin Tago-Su'e, the Sabers began to rally. Hurd capped an eight-play, 65-yard drive with a 10-yard TD pass to Keoni Piceno with six seconds left in the third quarter to pull Campbell to 27-18.

Following a low-line drive kickoff that deflected off a Farrington lineman, the Sabers recovered at the Govs' 37. Hurd completed a 34-yard pass to BJ Halmos that was tipped by Farrington DB Leland Mitchell to end the quarter. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Hurd scored on a three-yard sneak to pull the Sabers to 27-24. The usually reliable Jaelan Subia-Etrata had missed his third PAT on the night.

Farrington got the ball back twice, only to have to punt it each time. The second punt buried the Sabers at their 6 with 4:29 left. But this time, Tago-Su'e returned to quarterback, as Hurd had hurt his wrist on the TD run, Campbell coach Amosa Amosa said.

The Sabers moved quickly and reached their 33. On first down, the Governors thought they had recovered a fumble after a two-yard reception by Bronson Ader. But after conferring, the officials ruled the pass incomplete. With the second life, the Sabers continued to roll down field, aided by a third-and-10 pass interference penalty. But four plays after the automatic first down, the drive died at the Farrington 35 on an incomplete pass from Tago-Su'e for Piceno with 39 seconds to play.

Out of timeouts, the Sabers could only watch the Governors take a knee to milk the rest of the clock.

The Governors seemed to have control of the game with the big lead and the way Taumua was piling up yardage against the Sabers three-man front. Taumua had 169 yards on 26 carries and scored twice.

The Sabers' defense adjusted in the second half, allowing only one score to give the offense a chance to cut the deficit. But the damage might have been done early. The Sabers hurt themselves with turnovers (two were recycled for Farrington TDs), penalties (12 for 104 yards) and not converting any PATs.

"We still have to play smart," Amosa said. "I know we're very aggressive, but some of (the penalties) were judgment calls. We had our late hits here and there; that kind of killed us more than the pass interference and the helmet-to-helmet contact. Of course, if we make all of our PATs. . ."

Farrington's defense made its move early when Mitchell intercepted a pass off running back Aries Pihi that gave the Govs possession at the Sabers 27. Five plays later, with the aide of a personal foul against Campbell, the Governors scored on Travis Tamapua's seven-yard pass to Toma Barrett on a slant to the left. Keanu Foki's PAT gave Farrington a 7-0 lead with six minutes, 41 seconds left in the first quarter.

Joshua Torres returned the ensuing kickoff 20 yards to the Farrington 38 and the the left-handed Tago-Su'e guided the Sabers downfield, ending the drive with a five-yard TD pass to RB Paul-Andrew Rhoden on rollout to the left. Subia-Etrata missed the first of three PAT tries, keeping the score 7-6.

But Farrington scored on its next series with a 14-play, 77-yard drive, which was aided by a pass interference penalty, that concluded with a two-yard TD run by Taumua to make it 14-6 with 10:36 in the second quarter.

The Sabers closed to 14-12 when Jyrelle Umali returned an interception 79 yards for a TD, weaving and juking his way through traffic en route to the end zone. The Sabers went for the 2-point conversion, but the pass was incomplete.

But Farrington answered yet again on its following series, ending a 67-yard drive with a one-yard TD run by Abraham Silva with 1:17 left in the half to make it 21-12.

The Sabers took the ensuing kickoff with 1:08 left at their 32. The drive reached the Farrington 10 before time ran out for the half.

Campbell's offense turned over the ball on its first two series of the second half. The second one hurt Campbell, which could not take advantage of the good field position from its 42 after Romelo Wilson's 23-yard punt return. The Sabers, with Hurd entering the game for the first time, moved to the Farrington 6. But the Sabers fumbled the handoff and Farrington's Vaotea Sagapolu recovered it at the Farrington 10.

The Governors, aided by a 50-yard pass from Tamapua to Barrett and later with pass interference and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, scored on Taumua's second one-yard run to make it 27-12.

"I'm proud of our kids," Amosa said. "But my hat goes off to Farrington, Randall and his staff. They made more of the plays than we did. We have to look at this loss and see what we can learn from it and get ready for the next game. We really want to get to the states."

Though the game was heated and intense, players and coaches from both teams gathered together after the game. After Okimoto and Amosa made speeches, a prayer was led by one of the players. The players then sang 'Ia Pepese, a Samoan church song.