Congratulations, Farrington.

The school commemorated 85 years of service as “The Pride of Kalihi” with a 12-page section inserted in the Star-Advertiser on Nov. 17.

There was an article written by former Gov. Ben Cayetano, and a certificate from the Hawaii State Legislature commending the school, as well as messages from the principal and president and pictures of renowned Farrington alumni and other programs the school offers.

The “Farrington High School Timeline” grabbed my attention. There were mentions of the 1980 OIA East Basketball Champions, the 1991 OIA football championship …

TIME OUT! TIME OUT!

No mention of the seminal moment in Farrington athletics? Farrington’s 16-6 victory over Kamehameha for the ILH title in 1965 played before a sellout crowd of 24,171 at the “Termite Palace” called Honolulu Stadium.

Even those Farrington players were stunned.

“When that paper came out, I was in Vegas, so guys were texting me, some even called me, (saying) what’s going on? They said nothing about our team,” said Tom Gushiken, 73, a retired Waipahu High School counselor who was an integral part of that memorable Farrington team.

“People, 10, 20, 30 (years), even now. When I get introduced, (they say), ‘You the football guy from Farrington?’ Even though baseball was my sport.”

The game was played on Thanksgiving in what was then an extremely popular event called the Turkey Day doubleheader. It was considered the state championship, and the life-changing result reverberated throughout the Kalihi area, providing a source of pride and inspiring a community.

What elevated its importance and brought the community to tears was a front page article in the Star-Bulletin with the headline “The day the Govs won it all …”

The story was written by general interest columnist Jim Becker, a legendary journalist who covered the Cuban Missile Crisis and Jackie Robinson’s first MLB game and had been on the job with the Star-Bulletin for only about six months.

“We didn’t realize the impact it had in community and that article written by Jim Becker, oh my god, people kept talking about it, talking about it. Even today, people are talking about it,” Gushiken said.

Becker, 95, recalls with vivid accuracy the details of that day, Nov. 25, 1965.

“I was going to write something on the social highlight of the year. Everybody went to the Turkey Day doubleheader,” Becker said last week.

“I called (coach) Tom (Kiyosaki) on Wednesday and he said to come on over.”

Kiyosaki decided to put his team up in the Coco Palms Hotel in Waikiki for the night before the game.

“He wanted the kids out of the housing and away from the gamblers,” Becker said. “He took the whole team and he invited me to go along. So I went along.

“I was so impressed with the kids. I remember the next day, he took them to the team meal. When the kids finished eating, they all got up and took their dirty dishes to the kitchen.”

Becker recalls riding a rusty 1942 bus to the stadium and walking to the dressing room, where he was even more awestruck by what followed.

“I still remember, the captain was John Kameenui. He gathered the team and said, ‘This is it, this is our last game for the school.’ He said, ‘Close your eyes and get down on your knees.’ This is an 18-year-old kid from Kalihi. And he said, ‘We pray for guidance, we pray that no one gets injured — on their team or our team. And we pray that we all play our best game for our school, and our families, and our teammates.’ How’s that for an 18-year-old kid?

“I knew I was in a special thing.”

Farrington lost to Kamehameha 25-6 during the regular season and entered the game an eight-point underdog. But the Govs won behind the all-around efforts of Stan “The Man” Cadiente, who tossed two touchdown passes, intercepted a Kamehameha pass in the end zone, and kept the Warriors at bay with his punting.

“He was just completely awesome,” Gushiken said. “Completely in control of the whole game. In the huddle, we all get excited. (He said) ‘Hey, just calm down.’ Great (leader). Him and (center and linebacker) Ambrose Costa.”

According to the game story written by Bill Kwon, Gushiken made two “spectacular catches” of 30 and 37 yards that set up both Farrington touchdowns — passes from Cadiente to Walter Rodrigues.

When it was over, it was bedlam.

“Oh, I tell you. A lot of us, me included, we shed a few tears,” Gushiken said. “We’re champions. We’re champions. We did it. We did it. Farrington is No. 1. (We were) hugging each other, hugging coaches. Next thing I remember people were all over the field with us.”

“I remember after the game,” Becker said. “The players lined up on the sideline and facing the stands and the Farrington band played the alma mater, and Tom Kiyosaki — big, tough, burly guy — he had tears in his eyes and he walked down that line and he shook each player’s hand, and he said, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you’ and that’s pretty impressive stuff. He knew what it meant to those kids to win the ILH … I might add, Farrington never won it again.”

After Becker got a ride from broadcaster Frank Valenti back to Waikiki to retrieve his car, he returned to the office “and I sat down and I wrote the longest story in the history of Hawaiian journalism. I mean, it was long. I didn’t know what they would do with it. I just felt it.”

“When the editors came in at 5 a.m. and they read it. We decided to put it on the front page. They threw out all the bad news and we ran it on the front page. And they put headline on it: “The day the Govs won it all …”

“When the paper hit the street I went home and my phone started to ring and I got seven calls one right after the other, people from Kalihi. And they were crying. The eighth call came from the Gov. Jack Burns — he grew up in Kalihi but he went to Saint Louis. And he was impressed.”

Since then, that team has kept in touch and held numerous reunions, with Becker joining members of the team.

“Years after, I keep meeting people who tell me ‘my grandfather was on that team’,” Becker said.

“What a special bunch they were, and they still are.”

Becker said the upshot of the game changed the community’s self-esteem and boosted its confidence.

“He saw so much in us and it uplifted me,” said TV personality Emme Tomimbang, who was a sophomore then and was one of the distinguished Farrington alum pictured in the Nov. 19 special section. “He’s writing sports and he saw so much potential. He could see so much good for us, so we gotta be somebody.”

“It made people from Kalihi feel like they belonged,” said Randy Cadiente, the younger brother of Stan and a star quarterback himself at Farrington. “It made us not feel like second-class citizens. Kalihi always had a bad reputation.

“I was in the stands (for the game),” continued Cadiente, a Kalakaua Intermediate student then and a 1969 Farrington grad. “When the game was over I actually got down on the field and I got to see Walter Rodrigues express his emotions by crying out loud. That tugged at your heart strings to see someone that good, and that big, cry. And then to read Jim Becker’s column the following day, that was more moving. It hit it right on the nail from start to finish.”

Becker noted that Farrington has since produced “a governor from Farrington (Cayetano) and a chief of police from Farrington (Michael Nakamura).”

“I remember I was in a restaurant in Waikiki with my wife years later and I asked for the check and the manager came over. He said, ‘No check, Mr. Becker. I went to Farrington. You made us proud.’

“It changed lives in Kalihi and changed mine.”