KAILUA, KONA — Farrington withstood injury, a rash of penalties and a sprited effort by Honoka'a last night to win, 48-16, in the first round of the First Hawaiian Bank/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association Football Championships.

An enthusiastic capacity crowd of about 2,200 at Kealakehe Stadium watched Governors tailback Harry Tuimaseve rush for 239 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries as Farrington improved to 10-2 heading into Friday's semifinal showdown against O'ahu Interscholastic Association champ Kahuku (11-0) at Aloha Stadium.

Honoka'a's season ends at 8-4 after winning its first Big Island Interscholastic Federation title since 1974.

Tuimaseve rushed for 100 yards in the first two quarters but suffered an ankle injury with 1:35 remaining before halftime. He went to the sideline and was sitting on the bench with his shoe off and an ice pack taped around his left foot.

But he returned on the first series of the second half and added 139 yards on 15 carries.

"This is the state tournament, so I had to suck it up and pull one out for the team," said Tuimaseve, a 5-foot-10, 177-pound senior.

The Govs jumped out to a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter, but the Dragons closed it to 21-9 after a 33-yard field goal by Sage Johnson with 1:35 left and Johnson's 45-yard TD pass to Eddie Morales 33 seconds before intermission.

Scotland Smith returned the second-half kickoff 39 yards to the Farrington 44 and the Governors opened the lead to 28-9 after Jared Hakuole's 22-yard touchdown pass to Alvin Fa'amausili, and Ekolu Kaina's extra point.

But Honoka'a answered with Johnson's 28-yard TD strike to Maui Acantilado, who made a diving catch in the end zone. Johnson's PAT closed it to 28-16 with 6:46 left in the third quarter.

"I was impressed with their catches," Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. "We had good coverage, we were right there, and they won the battles anyway."

The Dragons had the ball still trailing 28-16 midway through the fourth quarter, but Govs linebacker Seth Ilae recovered a fumble near midfield and Tuimaseve scored on an 11-yard touchdown run. Hakuole then completed a two-point conversion pass to Siaosi Feleunga to make it 36-16 with 4:36 left.

Farrington's Smith scored on 36- and 1-yard runs to cap the scoring.

Okimoto said his team's 12 penalties for 134 yards "helped keep (the Dragons) in the game," and one personal foul resulted in the ejection of starting left tackle Joseph Siliga.

FARRINGTON (10-2) 14 7 7 20—48

HONOKA'A (8-4) 0 9 7 0—16

Farr — Alvin Fa'amausili 20 pass from Jared Hakuole (Ekolu Kaina kick)

Farr — Vaughn Tomas fumble recovery in end zone (Kaina kick)

Farr — Harry Tuimaseve 5 run (Kaina kick)

Hon — FG Sage Johnson 33

Hon — Eddie Morales 45 pass from Johnson (kick blocked)

Farr — Fa'amausili 22 pass from Hakuole (Kaina kick)

Hon — Maui Acantilado 28 pass from Johnson (Johnson kick)

Farr — Tuimaseve 11 run (Siaosi Feleunga pass from Hakuole)

Farr — Scotland Smith 36 run (pass failed)

Farr — Smith 7 run (run failed)

RUSHING — Farrington: Feleunga 10-66, Tuimaseve 27-239, Hakuole 3-6, Smith 9-69, Tyler Taumua 2-22. Honoka'a: Acantilado 5-22, Hausia Sekona 1-3, Koa Ambrosio 2-(minus-1), Johnson 5-20, Morales 1-(minus-10).

PASSING — Farington: Hakuole 7-11-0—88. Honoka'a: Johnson 14-40-1—245.

RECEIVING — Farrington: Sammy Park 1-13, Fa'amausili 4-57, Ranold Williams 1-6, Siaosi 1-12. Honoka'a: Morales 5-106, Kamu Lorenzo 5-64, TJ Tanoue 2-37, Acantilado 1-28, Ambrosio 1-10.