Farrington escapes with a victory

Photo Galleries: 2 games – Pearl City v. Kalani; Farrington v. Kapolei

With his star running back out, Montana Liana dialed up the biggest play of his two-year starting career.

The Farrington quarterback threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Baguio with the score tied in the fourth quarter and finished with a career-high 211 passing yards to lead the Governors to a 17-10 win over Kapolei on Friday night.

Farrington (7-2) improved to 5-0 all-time against Kapolei to advance to the semifinals of the OIA Red playoffs next Thursday against Campbell at Aloha Stadium.

Kapolei, which won five of six to start the season, finishes at 6-4.

"This one hurts," Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said.

The Hurricanes had two chances to take the lead in the fourth quarter, but missed field goals from 35 and 24 yards.

On the very next play following the second miss, Liana threw a quick pass to Baguio, who broke two tackles and outraced the Kapolei secondary for the game-winning score.

"It was real shocking I actually did that," said Baguio, who caught five passes for 127 yards.

The Governors lost starting running back Sanele Lavatai to a hamstring injury in the first half.

Without the OIA Red East’s leading rusher, Farrington had only one first down and 37 total yards in the second half when Liana hit the touchdown throw to win it.

"It was a play that I had to read the outside ‘backer, and once he made his move, I knew I had that open pass," Liana said. "(Baguio)’s fast. Once he got that I knew he had the touchdown."

Farrington is a win away from clinching a berth in the state tournament. The Govs have won seven straight since starting the season 0-2, which included a 38-3 loss to Kamehameha.

"We have a lot of haters, and that motivates us to push harder," Liana said. "After that Kamehameha game, we grew as brothers, and that’s what has built us into the team we are."

Kapolei also lost its starting running back when Triston Pebria was hit in the throat on a 33-yard touchdown run early in the second half that was called back because of a holding penalty.

Pebria ran for 72 yards on 12 carries, scoring on a 29-yard run in the second quarter to put Kapolei in front 7-3 with 3:22 remaining in the first half.

Farrington responded with a late touchdown as Liana completed a 35-yard bomb to Jacob McEnroe to put the ball on the Kapolei 16 with less than a minute remaining.

Two plays later, Liana found Baguio for a 15-yard touchdown hookup to give the Govs a 10-7 lead with 30 seconds left.

Mana Reis, who had 48 rushing yards on six carries and caught six passes for 69 yards, took the ensuing kickoff back up the middle, but was stopped by Kekoa Sasaoka, the Farrington kicker, who made a touchdown-saving tackle at the Farrington 40.

With 15 seconds remaining, quarterback Aizon Kahana scrambled 17 yards on a quarterback keeper. With the clock down to seven seconds, Kahana tried to run the same play but fumbled after getting whacked by two Farrington defenders, ending the half.

On the next play following Liana’s second touchdown pass to Baguio, Reis fumbled.

Sasaoka missed a 50-yard field goal to give Kapolei the ball back, but Kahana was intercepted at midfield.

"The longest pass play we gave up before that was like 25 yards," Hernandez said. "It’s tough to go out like this. Bottom line is we made too many mistakes and Farrington’s defense came to play more than ours."

At Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium