Waianae plays to the end to beat Farrington

When Farrington pounced on Waianae miscues to jump ahead in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s inaugural state tournament Open Division matchup, Seariders coach Walter Young had a terse message for his team.

“Plenty game left,” Young said. “Just fix the mistakes, play to the end.”

After giving away four turnovers and having a punt blocked, Waianae capitalized on a late takeaway to emerge from a taut defensive battle with a 14-8 win over the Governors at Aloha Stadium and advance to the Open Division semifinals of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA State Football Championships.

After Waianae was awarded a controversial fumble recovery at the Farrington 20, Javen Towne broke loose for a 15-yard touchdown run that gave Waianae the lead with 4:58 left in the game. The Seariders defense held off the Governors from there to set up a meeting with second-seeded Saint Louis on Friday at Aloha Stadium.

“We’ll enjoy this one up to the bus and (today) we’ll start planning for the next one,” Young said. “This is a great opportunity for our kids. They’ve got another game in front of them and a very good team. (Saint Louis senior Tua Tagovailoa is) the No. 1 quarterback in the state, so it’s a great opportunity for my kids.”

The meeting with Saint Louis will pose another test for a Waianae defense that held Farrington running back Challen Faamatau, who entered the game with 1,187 rushing yards this season, to just 32 yards on 20 carries on Saturday.

“We kind of put him at the top and kept going after him. He’s an awesome kid,” said Waianae linebacker Kana’i Mauga, who finished with eight tackles, including a sack.

Towne rushed for 148 yards and the go-ahead touchdown and Waianae generated 335 yards in total offense, while the defense limited Farrington to 75 yards to offset the Seariders’ turnovers.

“They gave us the opportunity at the end and they kept us out of a lot of bad situations. That’s all you can ask of them,” Young said.

Farrington’s defense was equal to the task for most of the night. Defensive back Iosefo Ah Ching came up with interceptions on consecutive possessions in the first half and blocked a punt in the third quarter to help keep Farrington within striking distance despite the yardage disparity.

Waianae quarterback Jaren Ulu returned from an injury and his 28-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Freeney with 19 seconds left in the second quarter represented the game’s lone score going into the fourth quarter.

Farrington got on the board when linebacker Faasisina Masalosalo, who had 14 tackles, dropped Jorell Pontes-Borje for a safety on the opening play of the fourth quarter.

Ulu lost a fumble on Waianae’s next possession and Faamatau capped a four-play drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to give Farrington an 8-7 lead.

After a Waianae punt, Faamatau had the ball knocked loose late on a run up the middle. It initially appeared Faamatau had been ruled down, but after a discussion the officials awarded the ball to Waianae at the Farrington 20 and Towne scored two plays later.

“The guy on our sideline and the back guys said it was a fumble. It ended up going in our favor,” Young said.

With Rico Rosario, Waianae’s leading rusher, sidelined in the first half, Towne carried the load and his 9-yard burst on fourth-and-1 with 39 seconds left sealed the outcome.

“We weren’t able to step up when guys went down,” Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. “So those things affected us, I think, offensively. Usually we have guys step up and it didn’t happen but got to credit Waianae’s defense. Made the critical stops when they needed to.”