Tyler Taumua scored on a 1-yard touchdown with seven seconds remaining last night to lift Farrington to a pulsating 25-20 victory over upset-minded Mililani in O'ahu Interscholastic Association football playoff action.

A stunned crowd of about 2,500 at Roosevelt's rainy Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium watched the Governors -- who have been No. 1 in the ScoringLive/OC16 Power Rankings for the past three weeks -- improve to 9-0 despite trailing 14-0 in the first quarter and 20-6 at halftime. They will face the winner of tonight's quarterfinal between No. 4 Campbell (7-1) and 'Aiea (4-5).
Mililani's season ends at 4-6, but the Trojans were one play and seven seconds away from pulling off the season's hugest upset by far.

Taumua's winning score came on second-and-goal from just inches out, but with Farrington out of timeouts, it would have been the final play of the game if he were stopped. Instead, Taumua -- the state's leading rusher with 1,377 yards and 15 TDs -- took a handoff out of his tailback position from quarterback Travis Tamapua and scooted into the end zone off-tackle and untouched.

Tamapua had been stopped short on a first-down keeper the play before, and Govs coach Randall Okimoto said he and his staff considered a similar try during a timeout afterward.

"The original call was a quarterback sneak, but we changed it," Okimoto said.

Taumua, who finished with a game-high 150 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, said he was more than happy to get the ball.

"I haven't been on my game lately, so I wanted the chance," he said.

After the ensuing kickoff, Mililani completed a swing pass that went for a short gain as time expired.

"Great job by Farrington and Coach Okimoto," Trojans coach Rod York said. "Give them credit, they made big plays."

In the first half, it seemed like Mililani was making all the big plays as Trojans quarterback Jarin Morikawa torched the Governors defense by completing 18 of 26 passes for 270 yards and three TDs. Defensively, Mililani defensive back Bronson Kauleinamoku-Chun made two interceptions in the end zone and the Trojans limited Taumua to just 30 yards on nine carries.

Mililani took the opening kickoff and needed just seven plays to travel 73 yards, capped by Morikawa's 3-yard scoring pass to Deshawn Duncan-Benson. Morikawa tacked on the extra point himself, then found Duncan-Benson again on a 7-yard touchdown strike with 2:48 left in the first quarter and converted the PAT to make it 14-0.

Farrington closed it to 14-6 with nine seconds remaining in the quarter when Tamapua threw a 28-yard TD pass to Toma Barrett on fourth-and-7, but the Trojans pushed the lead to 20-6 on Morikawa's 14-yard touchdown pass to Kaimi Wilson with 5:12 left in the half.

"It was all about trusting themselves," Okimoto said of his secondary's first-half struggles. "We were giving (Mililani receivers) too much cushion. We needed to play them closer, stay in the tight man (coverage)."

The Trojans dodged a bullet just before halftime after Govs defensive lineman Semo Sila recovered a fumble at the Mililani 5-yard line with 25 seconds remaining, but Farrington was stoped short on two runs and Tamapua was sacked on third-and-goal as time expired.

The Governors closed it to 20-12 on Tamapua's 2-yard sneak with 3:46 left in the third quarter, then made it 20-18 on Taumua's 31-yard scoring dash just over two minutes later. The two-point conversion attempts failed both times.

Farrington began the game-winning series on its own 15 with just over three minutes left and needed 12 plays to reach the 1, with Taumua's 4-yard run on fourth-and-1 from midfield and Tamapua's 34-yard pass to Francis Evagelia highlighting the drive.

Morikawa finished 24 of 38 for 316 yards, but he was intercepted twice in the second half. Duncan-Benson was limited to that final catch after notching seven receptions for 114 yards in the first half.

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