Talk about a feel-good win.
Farrington defended its home turf at Skippa Diaz Stadium Saturday night by blanking No. 8 Kapolei 13-0.
The Govs (2-4, 1-2 OIA Open) pulled off the upset with muscle up front, muscle at running back and muscle on defense. It was old-school all the way.
Samsen Tanuvasa carried the ball 25 times for 90 yards, eating up chucks of real estate and time on the clock. Cameron Faletufuga, a defensive lineman, and Calijah Mareko led an in-your-face ‘D.’
The win, during a merry homecoming celebration, was huge for Farrington. It gives them hope as the stretch run nears.
“We’re starting to believe and once we believe, we get confidence and hopefully it rolls on to next week and we can continue on with another victory,” Govs coach Daniel Sanchez said. “It’s a good win for the school and a good win for the community.”
Added Tanuvasa, who scored one of his team’s TDs with a 4-yard run: “We deserve this win. It’s a big, big win that we can hold on to since we’ve been losing these past games. This is a boost for us. It was homecoming, with everybody coming out and we came out with the win.”
While Farrington’s hopes were getting inflated, Kapolei’s fortunes took on some deflation. The Hurricanes, who used three quarterbacks, never got untracked on offense.
“Their defense was outstanding,” Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said about the Governors. “We were really off. Credit to them. They took it to us on both sides of the line. They won the game in the trenches. This is a humbling experience for us and we’ve got to learn from our mistakes.”
Tanuvasa’s TD came in the third quarter to make it 13-0. It padded the lead that the Govs took in the first quarter on Chris Afe‘s 36-yard TD pass to Selau Kalani.
Landan Shove gave Kapolei some reason for optimism in the fourth quarter with two big plays — an interception and a strip of a Farrington runner that led to Sonny Semeatu‘s recovery. Neither play led to the much needed points.
The Hurricanes (3-3, 1-1 OIA Open) came really close with less than four minutes to go, when backup quarterback Mason Gomez (who was in at the position after Noa Bailey and Christian Rapis) stood in the pocket and threw what looked like a possible TD pass to Sinai-Taheed Robello. Gomez was hit hard on the play by Faletufuga, and it turned out that Robello was over the end line when he made the catch.
Gomez looked poised in his brief time on the field, completing two of his seven passes for 39 yards and finding ways to escape Farrington’s rush. But he was injured on that near-touchdown, and Hernandez isn’t sure about the extent of it.
Kapolei hosts No. 1 Saint Louis (4-0, 3-0 ILH Open) on Friday. The same night, Farrington is at No. 6 Kamehameha (2-3, 1-3 ILH Open).
COMMENTS