No. 2 Mililani rides Malepeai to 41-14 win over No. 3 Farrington


Mililani running back Vavae Malepeai secures the ball with both hands on a carry against Farrington. Joshua Lopez | Special to SL

MILILANI — For the second straight week, Mililani took down an unbeaten.

Vavae Malepeai rushed for a season-high 202 yards and four touchdowns as Mililani overwhelmed Farrington, 41-14, before a standing-room only crowd of more than 5,000 fans at John Kauinana Stadium Saturday night.

The Trojans, who are ranked second in the ScoringLive/OC16 Division I Power Rankings, amassed nearly 600 yards of total offense, including 278 through the air by quarterback McKenzie Milton, to improve to 7-0 overall and 6-0 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association D1 Blue.

"It was a good win. We came out and executed," Mililani coach Rod York said. "Our guys have been through battles already, so we came out and took it like it was any other game — of course, it was homecoming and that's probably in the back of their minds — but this is about doing what we do and executing and the kids did a great job and I'm proud of them."

Last week the Trojans trailed then-undefeated Campbell, 28-22, in the third quarter before scoring 35 unanswered points to run away with it.

Saturday, Malepeai — a junior running back — carried 22 times and averaged 9.1 yards per attempt. He scored on runs on 41, 9, 4 and 3 yards to bring his season total to 15 rushing touchdowns. After the game he gave credit to the offensive line.

"It's a blessing to have them as an O-line, I mean, I don't know what I would do without them so I'm just thankful for every opportunity that we get to play on the field together and just make the most of it and have fun on the field," Malepeai said. "God is good."

The Trojans racked up 306 rushing yards in all, including Milton's 10-carry, 100-yard effort. He also found the end zone on a 40-yard run in the second quarter.

"McKenzie Milton, being the field general that he is, makes him really hard to stop," Govs' coach Randall Okimoto said. "He has total command of the offense and, of course, has a great surrounding cast, but McKenzie is very accurate when he throws the ball as well. I mean, you talk about the total package: he's smart, he can throw the ball, he's fast, can run the ball and makes great reads, so it's tough."

Milton completed 22 of his 26 pass attempts and threw a 42-yard, first-quarter touchdown pass to Kalakaua Timoteo. He went largely untouched by the Farrington defense, which entered the game allowing an average of just 12 points per game.

"The O-line gave me ample amount of time in the pocket, to say the least — I think there was one play where I was back there for almost eight seconds — and they did a great job of holding the pass rush and those aren't easy guys to block," Milton said, especially noting five-star defensive tackle and Texas Tech-commit Breiden Fehoko and defensive end Seufagafaga Luafatasaga. "Our skill (position) guys just did a great job of making plays. I'm just proud of all of our guys."

Bryson Ventura led all receivers with seven receptions for 120 yards.

The Trojans used multiple blockers on Fehoko, but the assignment was mostly the responsibility of center Brett Damato, who is nearly six inches shorter and 70 pounds lighter than the 6-foot, 3-inch, 286-pound Fehoko.

"My personal gameplan was to not get swimmed, to stay in front of him, be a roadblock and just to not lean and just stay in his way so I could execute my job and have my boys in the backfield do theirs," Damato said.

Farrington's standout running back, Ranan Mamiya, rushed for 98 yards on 11 carries and hauled in an 80-yard touchdown pass from Montana Liana in the first quarter. That score — plus Kekoa Sasaoka's PAT — gave the Govs a brief 7-6 lead early on. However, that would not hold as Malepeai capped Mililani's next two drives with touchdown runs.

Challen Faamatau scored Farrington's only other touchdown on a 2-yard run early in the second quarter.

Liana, a three-year starter, threw for 180 yards on 8-of-12 passing, but was ejected following a late hit on a Mililani defensive back after an interception on the final play of the first half. Farrington was forced to insert Joziah Anakalea at quarterback for the second half. He was 4-of-8 passing for minus-2 yards.

Okimoto said he plans to review the video footage of the play and will then determine if he wants to appeal the ejection. As it stands, unless the ruling is overturned, Liana will have to sit out the Govs' regular-season finale against Campbell at Aloha Stadium next Saturday.

Farrington, which fell to 5-1, also lost by a wide margin the last time the teams played, in the 2013 OIA championship game, which Mililani won, 37-6.

The Trojans conclude the regular season against Moanalua Saturday at Kauinana Stadium.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].