Emotional Farrington shuts down Baldwin

WAILUKU >> Playing with heavy hearts, Farrington’s football team turned back Baldwin 21-3 on Friday at War Memorial Stadium.

The Governors got a pair of touchdowns — a 9-yard run by Sanele Lavatai and a 12-yard pass from Montana Liana to Jacob Baguio — to go ahead 14-3 at halftime.

Farrington’s defense did the rest, shutting out Baldwin the rest of the way en route to its first postseason win over the Bears in three tries.

Campbell defeated Hilo 42-27 in Friday night’s other First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA State Football Championship Division Igame.

Farrington advances to face top-ranked Punahou, while the Sabers move on to face Mililani. Both games are set for Friday at Aloha Stadium.

About 2,500 people attended the game, many emotional over the tragic loss of former Farrington defensive back Dayne Ortiz, who disappeared last Saturday when his kayak capsized in rough waters at Mokuleia Beach. An extensive search followed and the team paid tribute to him and the Ortiz family Sunday.

The Governors paid tribute to Ortiz and his family again on Friday with initials on their helmets, their hair bleached, and his number 29 on t-shirts close to their hearts.

"First and foremost tonight we wanted to keep our mind-set on the victory. Playing for Dayne Ortiz really meant a lot to us and his presence was felt tonight on that defense alone and it was a real emotional night as our hearts was full," defensive lineman Breiden Fehoko said.

"His presence can be felt on this field right now. The guys were so enthusiastic about playing tonight, just forgetting about the tragedy and more keeping it a blessing. I am just so excited about the fact that we got this victory and we are able to move on to Punahou."

Farrington rolled up 407 yards in total offense, averaging 6.1 yards per play, while limiting Baldwin to just 111 yards.

"Before the game we talked about us not playing overemotional," Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. "We were all kind of edgy this week, wanting to win the game so bad for Dayne and his family and for what happened. But we also wanted to be careful that we don’t be overemotional and get our heads out of the game. And I was proud of them for keeping their heads in the game."

Lavatai rushed for a game-high 105 yards on 16 carries, all in the first half.

"We decided to keep him out and rest him in the second half," Okimoto said.

"Defensively we made the plays when we needed to, even when Baldwin was getting some first downs we were able to get them out of those third-and-long, or third-and-short situations. We bended, but weren’t broken and I’m really happy about that and now we can move on to the semifinal against a good Punahou team."

Farrington junior quarterback Liana passed for 196 yards, completing 14 of 27 attempts.

Baldwin’s only points came on a 43-yard field goal by Ricky Casco with 7 minutes, 17 seconds to play in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, Farrington’s Sitale Hufanga put the game away with a 7-yard touchdown run with 3:49 to play in the game.

"We haven’t won here for a while, so it is nice to finally win here," Okimoto said.