Farrington’s Ground Attack Ends Kealakehe’s Season

In a ground-and-pound, “old school” rushing showdown, the team that usually finds itself on the wrong end of the scoreboard is usually the team that wears out the quickest on defense.

On Friday night, the out-manned Kealakehe Waveriders showed big signs of fatigue in the second half, and the Farrington Governors took advantage, rushing for 305 yards in their 34-25 win in the opening round of the First Hawaiian Bank / Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Football Championships.

The Governors were led by a tremendous effort by their one-two rushing duo of Abraham Silva and Tyler Taumua, who combined for 316 yards on 43 carries and five touchdowns. Kealakehe, meanwhile, countered with Lennox Jones’ 141 yard rushing effort with a pair of scores on 18 carries.

Jones would lead the Waveriders on an opening drive touchdown with a one-yard touchdown run with 8:31 left in the first quarter. He would miss the extra point try, however, limiting his team’s early lead to 6-0.

Kealakehe (10-2) allowed Farrington to get on the scoreboard several times thanks to mistakes. After a low snap to punter Bronson Cariaga led to a loss of yardage, Farrington got the ball in Kealakehe territory and capitalized with a Taumua two-yard touchdown run. After several offside penalties against Kealakehe, Farrington decided to go for two and got it with Taumua’s rushing conversion, making the score 8-6 with 2:00 left in the opening quarter.

After Jordan Cristobal threw an interception to Farrington’s Aisea Tavae, Taumua would punish the Waveriders with another score, a 17 yard touchdown run to increase the lead to 14-6 with 5:30 left in the first half. Justin Tamashiro missed the extra point try.

Farrington (10-2) took that lead into halftime and was supposed to start the second half with the football. But, a fumble on the kickoff allowed Kealakehe to have the ball in Governor territory. Several plays later, Kainoa Kipapa finished the drive with a one-yard touchdown run. The two-point run failed, cutting Farrington’s lead to 14-12 with 8:54 in the thrid quarter.

Immediately, Farrington got the ball and rattled off big play after big play, exposing Kealakehe’s lack of depth on the defensive side of the ball. Silva got his first of his two scoring runs to end that drive with a 16 yard run, pushing Farrington’s lead to 21-12 with 7:08 remaining in the third period.

Kealakehe continued to hang around, despite their defense’s struggles. David Fangupo ran in a three-yard touchdown run to get Kealakehe within three. Keoni Yates, who missed most of the regular season with a knee injury, returned to kick the extra point to cut the score down to 21-19 with 11:56 remaining in the fourth quarter. Yates was cleared to play in the middle of the game by team doctors.

Once again, the Governors quickly drove down the field with little resistance from the Kealakehe defense. Silva picked up his second touchdown run of the evening with a five-yard score to extend the lead to 27-19. Tamashiro missed the extra point, however, leaving the door open for Kealakehe to score and tie the game with 10:27 left.

A key penalty on Farrington for roughing the punter on fourth down kept Kealakehe’s next drive alive, and Lennox Jones capitalized with a 40 yard touchdown run to get the Waveriders within two points at 27-25 with 6:48 remaining. Jones tried to run the ball into the end zone to tie the game, but was stopped a yard short.

Taumua put the game out of reach with 2:41 remaining by finding the left edge and scoring a seven-yard touchdown run. Tamashiro’s point-after try made it 34-25 with 2:41 left. Cristobal was intercepted on the next drive to seal Farrington’s victory.

Farrington advances to the semifinals next Friday night. They will face tournament top seed Kahuku at 7:30 pm at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium. The game will be televised on OC16.

Farrington 8 6 7 13 – 34

Kealakehe 6 0 6 13 – 25

Scoring Summary

1st (8:31) – KEALAKEHE: Lennox Jones 1 yd TD run (Jones XPT failed)

1st (2:00) – FARRINGTON: Tyler Yaumua 2 yd TD run (Taumua 2PT run good)

2nd (5:30) – FARRINGTON: Taumua 17 yd TD tun (Justin Tamashiro XPT failed)

3rd (8:54) – KEALAKEHE: Kainoa Kipapa 1 yd TD run (Kipapa 2PT run failed)

3rd (7:08) – FARRINGTON: Abraham Silva 16 yd TD run (Tamashiro XPT good)

4th (11:56) – KEALAKEHE: David Fangupo 3 yd TD run (Keoni Yates XPT good)

4th (10:27) – FARRINGTON: Silva 5 yd TD run (Tamashiro XPT no good)

4th (6:48) – KEALAKEHE: Jones 40 yd TD run (Jones 2PT run failed)

4th (2:41) – FARRINGTON: Taumua 7 yd TD run (Tamashiro XPT good)