They call him "Amo," which might as well be short for ammunition.

No. 4 Farrington went to backup running back Abraham Silva early and often, and the 5-foot-10, 212-pound senior responded with 223 yards on 28 carries in his debut as a starter. That triggered a second-half rally that lifted the fourth-ranked Governors over Waianae

37-23 in nonconference play at John Velasco Stadium on the grounds of Radford High School.

"The best thing was our offense did their thing today. The offensive line did the work. Without them, I wouldn’t have had that many yards," said Silva, who filled in for injured starter Tyler Taumua (shoulder). "The defense did good, too. We struggled in the first half, but in the second we did good."

Sophomore quarterback Montana Liana was also steady in his first start, completing 59 percent of his passes (13-for-22) without a pick. His favorite target was James Hashimoto, a 128-pound wide receiver. Hashimoto finished with six receptions for 76 yards, including a 29-yard catch for a touchdown that broke a

16-all tie early in the fourth quarter.

Then came a high snap over the head of Waianae punter Sheaven Ferreira-Delima. He hustled back to pick up the ball, but his punt was blocked by Syndreck Dsio and recovered in the end zone by Dane Tai to give the Govs a 30-16 lead with 9:24 remaining.

Jackie Anakalea’s 1-yard plunge with 1:49 left sealed it for Farrington.

"Farrington’s a tough team, a great team," Waianae coach Danny Matsumoto said. "We had some highlights, but we need consistency. We tested our character."

Silva and the "Bamboolas" offensive line set the tone early with his 61-yard leap over a pile and jaunt to pay dirt.

Waianae also scored on its opening series, scoring on a 5-yard toss from Kekoa Kaluhiokalani to Keanu Chung in the back of the end zone. That tied it at 7-all with 7:47 left in the opening quarter.

The rest of the first half was a battle of field goals. Justin Tamashiro’s 27-yard kick gave the Govs a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter. Waianae got field goals of 27, 22 and 20 yards from Jacoby Cid. The latter came after a muffed punt by the Govs that was recovered by Cameron Cardus-Hampp at the Farrington 28-yard line with less than a minute left in the half.

Kaluhiokalani completed passes to Chung and Alakai Kealoha to set up Cid’s field goal to end the half.

Silva had 130 rushing yards on 15 attempts in the first half.

"What a runner," Matsumoto said of Silva. "He’s explosive and quick to get to the outside. He was real impressive."

Waianae has time to prepare for the regular season.

"Farrington’s a real good team, real respectful," defensive tackle Kennedy Tulimasealii said. "We’ll try to execute better. It’s about assignment. alignment and pursuit. We’ll work on that."