Farrington shuts down Hilo, 27-0
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
KEA'AU, Hawai'i — The Farrington High School football team, drowsy on Thursday but refreshed yesterday, took the Big Island by storm last night with a 27-0 whitewash of Hilo in a state quarterfinal game.
The Governors (7-4-1) will play O'ahu Interscholastic Association rival Kahuku (12-0) in Friday's semfinal at Aloha Stadium.
After a last-minute change in travel plans from Kona to Hilo, Farrington's players had to endure what coach Randall Okimoto called "the longest morning ever" on Thursday. The Govs slept in their gym Wednesday night, woke up at 3 a.m., caught a 5:20 flight to Hilo and then took a field trip to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park (some 30 miles away) before finally checking into their hotel at Naniloa in the afternoon.
But Farrington showed no signs of weariness in a dominant first half last night before an overflow crowd of about 3,500 at sparkling Kea'au Stadium. The Govs out-gained Hilo, 130 yards to minus-5, in the first quarter and 187 to minus-5 for the half in jumping out to a 21-0 lead.
"Wednesday night wasn't too good," said Farrington quarterback Eti Atonio, who was 9 of 11 in the first half for 135 yards, and finished 11 of 15 for 179 yards and two touchdowns. "We had to wake up at 3, then pack everything into army bags and leave at 4. Everybody was tired, and we never got our rest. But this was a business trip, and we focused on winning."
Farrington wasted little time getting started, scoring on the second play from scrimmage on Atonio's 47-yard touchdown pass to Alvin Faumui. Defensive back Jerome Crisostomo then intercepted a pass on Hilo's third play and Farrington drove to the Vikings' 1-yard line, but fumbled the ball away.
The Govs made it 14-0 with 7:42 remaining in the half on Matt Bell's 4-yard run on fourth-and-goal on a broken halfback option pass. They recovered a Hilo fumble on the Vikings' 24 and converted it into a touchdown on Atonio's 17-yard touchdown pass to Faumui on third-and-goal, and Ropeti Gafa's extra point made it 21-0.
"Turnovers and penalties killed us, and (Farrington) executed well," Hilo coach Albert Kawelu said. "They scouted us well, and their kids played tough."
Hilo (8-3) finally got a jump start in the third quarter, as tailback Royden Nabarro's 51-yard run on the first play of the half helped the Vikings advance to the 17. But Farrington's Jeffrey Ah Ching Noga made an interception on fourth-and-15 and returned it 47 yards, setting up Bell's 15-yard touchdown run which made it 27-0. The extra point attempt failed.
Later in the quarter, Nabarro carried six straight times for 77 yards to help the Vikings advance to the 1, but he was stopped on fourth-and-goal.
"(Cornerback) Taolele Fagalele gave us pressure off the edge, and (defensive backs) Jerome and Jeffrey have been consistent and made big plays for us all year," Okimoto said. "Our guys up front did a good job, too."
Bell rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns, and Nabarro finished with a game-high 141 yards rushing on 17 carries, all of the positive yardage coming after halftime.
In the end, Atonio said coming in a day before the game proved to be worth it.
"We got to get used to (the Big Island), because the weather here is different from O'ahu," Atonio said. "We usually have nice-kine days at home, but here it's more cloudy and cold. But everybody sacrificed, and now we're finally getting it all together and proving we're for real."
Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456.
