WAILUKU, Maui — After the offense took control of the first half, the defense picked up the pace in the second and No. 4 Baldwin defeated No. 6 Farrington, 26-14, last night in the opening round of the First Hawaiian Bank Division I State Football Tournament at War Memorial Stadium.

The Maui Interscholastic League champion Bears (9-1) will take on No. 3 Leilehua (8-4) in the 7 p.m. semifinal Saturday at Aloha Stadium. Baldwin came within five seconds of advancing to the title game last year, losing, 22-20, to eventual state champion Kahuku in the semifinals.

Farrington's season ends at 6-4-2.

"These guys made a goal," Baldwin first-year coach A.J. Roloos said. "Their goal was to win the MIL. They accomplished that. The next is to get to the state championship and that's what they're working for."

Quarterback Jordan Helle passed for four touchdowns, three in the first half — all to slotback Skyler Cabacungan — that staked the Bears to a 20-7 lead at intermission.

The defense took over in the second half by basically keeping the Governors out of the end zone. Farrington's only score in the second half was when defensive back Jimmy Robinson returned an interception 15 yards for a touchdown that pulled the Govs to 20-14 with 7:41 left in the third quarter. But Helle came back with his fourth TD pass of the night, hitting Chase Nakamura on a fade to the right corner of the end zone. The 6-foot-4 receiver basically used his size, a la Randy Moss, to haul in the ball to make it 26-14 with 2:43 left in the third quarter.

Baldwin's defense stepped up, coming up with four interceptions, two by cornerback Kainalu Garso, who also deflected a number of passes. Mikie Webb and Gannon Pacubas came up with the other two; Pacubas' pick came in the closing seconds to end the Governors' season.

"We always have a second-half adjustment," said Baldwin defensive coordinator David Carino, a one-time linebacker for Saint Louis' powerhouse teams in the 1990s. "The coaches did a great job coming together to prepare for the second half. The electricity is just unreal with (the players)."

"When we come out in the second half, the score is always zero-zero," defensive end Mana Rosa said. "We run as hard as we can."

The Bears got sacks from Rosa, linebacker David Kaanana, and linemen Leti Langi and Justin Ai.

It was the Bears' offense that got things going early, thanks to all-purpose player Cabacungan. Besides hauling in the three TD passes, his 40-yard punt return to the Farrington 33 set up the Bears' second TD of the game.

"He just keeps upping himself with every game," Helle said of Cabacungan, who had five receptions for 75 yards.

Helle, who was 17 of 28 for 200 yards, hit on his first six passes, which included TD passes to Cabacungan of 41 and 19 yards. On the 41-yarder, Cabacungan curled the opposite way of hard-charging James Smith, who ended up over-shooting the play, giving the slotback a clear path to the end zone.

Early in the game, the Governors' corners played the Baldwin receivers soft and they paid for it.

"Our pass defense was our strength this year, so we expected them to step up and play," Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. "But give credit to (the Bears). They played well. No. 7 (Helle) has a strong arm, has good receivers and he had good protection."

To show how impressive the Baldwin attack was, the 26 points were the second-highest allowed by the Govs this season. Only Kahuku's 27-7 win topped that.

The Governors struggled with a run game. Apelu So'oalo had 57 yards on 22 carries, playing running back for the second consecutive week because of injuries to other backs. Quarterback Alefosiu Iu gave the Bears fits in the first half with his scrambling, as he had 58 yards on his first four runs, but ended up with just 13 after 10 carries because of the four sacks.

The Bears also were slowed down in the second half when running back Chansi Bolosan, who had 73 yards on 13 carries, went down with a bruised hip, Roloos said. Bolosan was hurt in the third quarter on the Bears' last scoring drive of the game.

Baldwin increased its lead to 29-14 with 11:11 in the fourth quarter on CeeJay Santos' 22-yard field goal, but elected to take the points off the board after a roughing the kicker penalty put the ball inside the 3. But things backfired on the Bears when three successive holding penalties — including one that nullified a 2-yard TD run by Kaanana — pushed the Bears back to the 24. Santos then missed a 41-yard attempt.

But interceptions by Garso and Webb stopped any more Governors' threats.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8042.

FARRINGTON (6-4-1) 0 7 7 0—14

BALDWIN (9-1) 14 6 6 0—26

Bald—Skyler Cabacungan 41 pass from Jordan Helle (Brock Shishido kick)

Bald—Cabacungan 19 pass from Helle (Shishido kick)

Farr—Apelu So'oalo 1 run (Matt Stowers kick)

Bald—Cabacungan 6 pass from Helle (kick blocked)

Farr—Jimmy Robinson 15 interception return (Stowers kick)

Bald—Chase Nakamura 16 pass from Helle (kick failed)

RUSHING—Farrington: Alefosiu Iu 10-13, Apelu So'oalo 22-57, Anthony Noga 1-3. Baldwin: Helle 2-(minus 1), Kainalu Garso 1-1, Chansi Bolosan 13-73, Cabacungan 2-4, Aaron Ross 6-(minus 11), David Kaanana 3-(minus 2), Team 1-(minus 2).

PASSING—Farrington: Iu 11-28-3—146, Noga 0-1-1—0. Baldwin: Helle 17-29-1—200, Cabacungan 0-1-1—0.

RECEIVING—Farrington: Drake Miller 2-33, Ani Isumu 4-47, Dayton Kealoha 3-42, Stowers 1-12, So'oalo 1-12. Baldwin: Cabacungan 5-75, Chase Nakamura 5-48, Kalei Kamahele 5-75, Kaanana 1-(minus 3), Steven Kamano 1-5.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.