Farrington overcame a sluggish second half and held off a late Kaiser rally to win, 28-12, last night in O'ahu Interscholastic Association football action at Roosevelt's Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium.

The Governors improved to 2-0 overall with their opening victory in the OIA's Red Conference Eastern Division. Kaiser, making its OIA Red debut after many years in the White Conference, fell to 0-2, 0-1.

The Cougars trailed 28-3 at the half but made things interesting toward the end, after a Farrington punt snap sailed out of the end zone for a safety to close it to 28-12 with 3:44 remaining in the game. Following the ensuing free kick, Kaiser advanced the ball to second-and-1 from the Govs' 43, but two long passes fell incomplete and fullback Shogo Inagaki was stopped short of the first down on fourth-and-1 with 2:38 left.

Farrington was able to run out the clock after fullback Tavale Masalosalo ran for nine yards on third-and-6 from his own 47 with 44 seconds remaining.

That play represented the Governors' second-longest gain of the second half, after scoring three offensive touchdowns in the first half.

Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said injuries and illness this week caused the Govs to go with a makeshift offensive unit which did not get many reps together.

"It showed," said Okimoto, who said a center and two running backs were out due to various ailments including chicken pox.

That did not help starting quarterback Jared Hakuole, who missed on his first six attempts and finished 5 of 16 for 60 yards.

"Jared could never find his rhythm," Okimoto said.

Fortunately for Farrington, the Governors' trademark explosive defense again made big plays while the offense struggled. After Kamaka Diaz made a 36-yard field goal despite a fumbled snap to put Kaiser up, 3-0, midway through the first quarter, Farrington safety Kula Solomon returned a tipped interception 37 yards back to the house to help give the Govs the lead for good at 7-3 with 3:13 left in the first quarter.

After the ensuing kickoff, Ioane Sagapolu recovered a blocked punt at the Cougars' 16 and Farrington converted three plays later on Hakuole's 18-yard TD pass to Toma Barrett on a slant pattern. Andrew Gangloff's extra point made it 14-3 with 26 seconds remaining in the quarter.

The Governors extended the lead to 21-3 four minutes into the second quarter after Scotland Smith's 24-yard touchdown scamper, and took a 28-3 advantage into the locker room following Masalosalo's 1-yard scoring plunge with 4:20 before the half.

---