Farrington broke open a close game with two second-half touchdowns on the way to a 19-7 victory over Leilehua on Monday night at Aloha Stadium.
The Mules (1-4, 1-3 Oahu Interscholastic Association Red) held a one-point edge, 7-6, going into the second half, but the Govs never stopped giving the ball to their running backs, especially the dynamic Challen Faamatau, who carried the ball 30 times for 172 yards and a touchdown and caught four passes for another 35 yards.
By the end of the game, with the Leilehua defense getting tired, Farrington continued to pound it with backups TJ Tautolo (54 yards rushing) and Sefo Ah Ching (43 yards).
After the halftime break, a short Mules punt gave the seventh-ranked Govs (3-1, 3-1) great field position at the Leilehua 37. Faamatau had six straight touches and capped the drive with a go-ahead 1-yard touchdown. With 3:04 left in the third quarter, Farrington had the lead for good, 12-7.
“We continue to play a little sloppy here and there,” Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. “We just gotta put everything together. Heading toward the postseason, we want to eliminate those things — high snaps, stuff like that. Castle is next and we’re playing for positioning in the playoffs, which is so important. All the running backs coming in — Tautolo, Sefo — really helped and (quarterback) Justin Uahinui taking it down the sidelines (for a 48-yard gain) in the first half — we need more of that.”
William Rodrigues’ second interception of the night (two Leilehua quarterbacks combined to throw five) led to Farrington’s back-breaking touchdown with 9:26 left in the game. This time, Tautolo went in from 4 yards out to make it 19-7.
“With all the turnovers we created and not being able to punch it in and capitalize, it really hurt us,” Farrington’s Okimoto said.
Earlier, after a scoreless first quarter, the Mules drove 65 yards to break the ice. Keanu Hirota scored on a 5-yard swing pass from Kaleo Aloha Piceno for a 7-0 lead.
Faamatau’s 45-yard kickoff return set up Farrington’s first touchdown — Freedom Alualu’s 14-yard run — for the 7-6 halftime count.
“Guys didn’t stick to their assignments, and when you make those mistakes against a good team, that’s what’s going to happen,” Leilehua coach Nolan Tokuda said about the loss. “They’re going to take advantage of it. Then we turn over the ball and put our defense back on the field. We’re proud of them, though. They played their hearts out all the way to the end.”
Correction: Foi Sila was one of the Farrington defenders who tackled Leilehua quarterback Kaleo Aloha Piceno, forcing a fumble during Monday’s game at Aloha Stadium. He was misidentified as Tyrese Futialo in a photo caption in an earlier version of this story and in Monday’s print edition.
