In a classic finish to a back-and-forth affair, top-ranked Punahou fended off No. 4 Farrington, 35-28, last night in a semifinal of the First Hawaiian Bank Division I State Football Tournament.

The Buffanblu (11-1) will play No. 5 and defending champion Leilehua (11-2) in Friday's state championship at Aloha Stadium.

There seemed to be something happening all 48 minutes of a game that ended with a non-factoring 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Farrington's Ani Isumu before 10,083 at Aloha Stadium.

"It was a hard-fought game from beginning to end," said Punahou senior linebacker Manti Te'o. "It was a tight game. Hats off to Farrington and their coaching staff."

"I love these kinds of games," Punahou senior running back/receiver/defensive back Dalton Hilliard added. "It shows the kind of character you have. It shows your heart."

It was a fast-beating heart for the Buffanblu, who took the lead for good with 5:33 left in the game when Hilliard made a catch near the left sideline, made an assortment of moves to break loose of converging Farrington players to complete a 40-yard TD pass play from Cayman Shutter. Hilliard then caught a pass from Shutter on the 2-point conversion to give Punahou a 29-22 lead.

Running back Te'o dropped a toss from Shutter on fourth-and-1 from the Farrington 4 that Justin Vele returned to the Punahou 41 with 31 seconds left. But two plays later, Robert Toma returned an interception off Dayton Kealoha 74 yards for a TD to seal the game, making it 35-22 with 15 seconds left.

"My fault," Kealoha explained. "I took a long time (to make the pass)."

It was a heart-breaking end for Kealoha, who passed for a season-high 235 yards with two TDs.

"Really disappointed," Kealoha said. "We fought hard offensively, defensively. We made a lot of good plays, but it just ended up this way."

After passing for 317 yards to beat Saint Louis two weeks ago, Shutter completed 34 of 55 passes for a season-high 412 yards with three TDs.

As they did to beat Saint Louis, the Buffanblu got mileage out of their big-time players. Te'o, Hilliard and Toma all contributed on both sides of the ball.

"All the big guys went two ways," Punahou coach Kale Ane said. "It was just a big reward for everybody."

The lead changed seven times before the Hilliard catch from Shutter.

The Buffanblu had to play catchup in taking a 14-10 lead at the half.

The Governors' special teams sparked Farrington's first half. A 72-yard punt by James Smith pinned the Buffanblu to their 1. Punahou eventually punted from its 3 and Farrington (9-4) took over at the Buffanblu 35. Six plays later, Kealoha hit Sila Tonga on a cross to complete a two-yard TD pass. Robert Molina's PAT made it 7-0 with 3:02 left in the first quarter.

The Buffanblu relied on big plays in their first scoring drive that ended with Hilliard scoring from the 1 off left tackle. Robert Izuta's PAT tied the game at 7 with 9:30 left in the half. The drive started with a 29-yard pass from Shutter to Toma and later included a 20-yard pass from Shutter to Hilliard to put the ball at the 1.

But Isumu's 34 return on the ensuing kickoff gave Farrington possession at its 38. The Govs moved 46 yards in six plays and regained the lead on Apelu So'oalo's 34-yard field goal to make it 10-7 with 7:29 left in the half.

The Buffanblu again got some big plays in their next scoring drive in which Shutter hit Te'o in the right flat after he went uncovered out of the backfield to complete a 16-yard TD pass play from Shutter to make it 14-10 with 2:21 left in the half. The drive was kept alive on a nice catch of 12 yards by Kimo Makaula on third-and-10 from the Punahou 26. Hilliard also had a 30-yard catch before the TD play to Te'o.

Farrington scored on their first drive to start the second half with a three-yard TD run by So'oalo, but Molina' PAT missed keeping it 16-14 in favor of Farrington.

But just before the end of the third quarter, Shutter hit Toma on a 10-yard TD pass to give Punahou a 21-16 lead with 1:27 left in the third quarter.

The Govs surprised everyone with a 63-yard TD pass from Kealoha to Drake Miller with 8:39 left in the game, but they missed the 2-point try and held on to a 22-21 lead.

Then came Hilliard's 40-yard TD catch to make it 29-22 and Toma's interception return sealed it at 35-22, negating Isumu's 97-yard kickoff return for a TD with no time showing.

"I'm just thankful we can move on," Ane said.

FARRINGTON (9-4) 7 3 6 12-28

PUNAHOU (11-1) 0 14 7 14-35

Farr — Sila Tonga 2 pass from Dayton Kealoha (Robert Molina kick)

Pun — Dalton Hilliard 1 run (Robert Izuta kick)

Farr — FG Apelu So'oalo 34

Pun — Manti Te'o 16 pass from Cayman Shutter (Izuta kick)

Farr — So'oalo 3 run (kick failed)

Pun — Robert Toma 10 pass from Shutter (Izuta kick)

Farr — Drake Miller 63 pass from Kealoha (pass failed)

Pun — Hilliard 40 pass from Shutter (Hilliard pass from Shutter)

Pun — Toma 74 interception return (kick failed)

Farr — Ani Isuma 97 kickoff return

RUSHING — Farrington: S'ooalo 23-112, Siaosi Feleunga 4-28, Harry Tuimaseve 4-12. Punahou: Hilliard 9-40, Te'o 10-49, Alaka'i Aglipay 2-7, Shutter 2-1.

PASSING — Farrington: Kealoha 10-22-2-235. Punahou: Shutter 34-55-2-412.

RECEIVING — Farrington: Miller 4-139, Isumi 4-86, So'oalo 1-8, Tonga 1-2. Punahou: Hilliard 13-139, Toma 9-124, Kimo Makaula 4-64, Mark Silverstein 4-47, Te'o 2-27, Aglipay 1-6, Galen Arakawa 1-5.