By Wes Nakama
Righting its ship in a big way in town after stumbling the past two weeks in Central and West O’ahu, visiting Campbell soared past Farrington, 37-0, Friday night in OIA football action at Skippa Diaz Stadium.
Senior quarterback Brayden Medeiros completed 19 of 25 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns as the Sabers snapped a two-game mini skid and improved to 6-2 overall and 2-2 in the OIA Open Division. The Governors ended their season at 1-8 and 0-5 with their sixth straight loss overall.
Campbell had started the season at 5-0 before losing at Mililani, 30-23, on Sept. 27 and at Kapolei, 31-13, on Oct. 3. But the Sabers wasted no time in getting untracked Friday night, forcing Farrington into a three-and-out after the opening kickoff and then needing just three plays to cover 43 yards, the last 27 on a touchdown pass from Medeiros to Zayne Pasion. Mitch Lifto tacked on the extra point for a quick 7-0 lead.
After forcing another three-and-out and another short punt, Campbell went 37 yards in seven plays, capped by another Medeiros-to-Pasion TD pass from six yards out. Lifto’s PAT extended the lead to 14-0 with 3:44 still remaining in the first quarter.
Lifto then converted a 29-yard field goal to make it 17-0 midway through the second quarter, and the Sabers ended the half with a seven-play, 90-yard drive culminating in Medeiros’ 14-yard scoring pass to Shaison Kupuka’a. The extra point attempt was blocked, but Campbell took a secure 23-0 lead into the break.
“After those two losses, we came in with the mindset to just win,” said Medeiros, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior. “We worked throughout the week and just bounced back from those two L’s. We feel like we worked hard this week and worked hard in the game, and it showed on the field.”
The Governors, meanwhile, were plagued by four encroachment penalties on defense as well as three costly penalties on offense. They also lost starting quarterback A.J. Stowers in late September when he transferred back to a Mainland school after the team’s trip to Las Vegas.
“We’re a young team, we lost 33 seniors (from last year’s group) and restocked with like 40 guys who haven’t played together long enough and haven’t meshed,” Farrington coach Mike Lafaele said. “We had a lot of transfers, too, who came in late towards the end of spring (practice). We tried to teach them how to play football in May, June, July with all these other young guys on the team. That was a huge struggle for us.”
The Sabers stretched the lead to 30-0 late in the third quarter after an eight-play, 68-yard drive capped by James Tuazon’s 15-yard touchdown scamper, and then Taulia Lave’s 21-yard pick-six interception return on the very next play from scrimmage triggered a running clock with 2:48 remaining in the third.
Medeiros’ spread the wealth, with four different receivers catching at least three passes (Passion, 3-57; Kupuka’a 5-91; Brystin Sansano 6-43 and Chase Yamashita 4-55) for 40-plus yards.
“We took a big bite at Kapolei, so just getting the kids back to where they need to be … this was soothing, it was a good win,” Campbell coach Darren Johnson said. “But we’ve still got things to work on.”
Photos: Gavin Yasunari
Mahalo to our sponsors — their support makes it possible for ESPN Honolulu to capture and share the pride, passion, and unforgettable moments of Hawai‘i’s high school sports.
