Leilehua Tristan Kamaka battles Mililani's Ian Namu for a jump ball. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Mililani's McKenzie Milton tries to scramble away from a Leilehua defender. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Leilehua's Sione Haunga returned a fumble 64 yards for the Mules' lone touchdown scored against Mililani. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Mililani's Vavae Malepeai heads into the endzone for a score against Leilehua. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Sat, Oct 19, 2013 @ Mililani [ 6:00 pm ]

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Leilehua

9

Mililani

21

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Leilehua (6-4-0)	2	0	7	0	9
Mililani (11-2-0)	14	7	0	0	21

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Robert Faleafine 42 yd

Justin Jenks 84 yd

Vavae Malepeai 159 yd 2 TD

Randy Neverson 63 yd

McKenzie Milton 42 yd

Dustin Ancheta-Maeda 47 yd

MILILANI — It wasn't pretty, but it was good enough to survive and advance.

Led by a staunch effort from its defense and another stellar rushing performance by sophomore Vavae Malepeai, Mililani won its seventh straight game Saturday night with its 21-9 win over rival Leilehua in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Red Conference quarterfinal.

A crowd of about 2,000 at John Kauinana Stadium, saw the Trojans improve to 8-1 and advance into Thursday's semifinal round, where they will play two-time defending D1 state champion Kahuku.

Mililani, which was coming off a bye week as the Red West No. 1 seed, gained 227 of its 304 yards of total offense via its ground game, including 159 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries by Malepeai. The Trojans, who are ranked third in the ScoringLive/O16 Division I Power Rankings, averaged 5.3 yards per rush and picked up 13 of its 17 first downs by rush.

"The O-line is where it starts and definitely our defense and our special teams played a hell of a game," Mililani coach Rod York said. "Our offense played good enough and we made the plays when we needed to but our defense and our special teams brought it home."

The Trojan defense allowed just 152 yards by the Mules, who entered the game averaging 364 yards and 41 points per contest, and did not give up a score. KK Padello and Rex Manu each had two sacks. Mililani recorded six sacks of Leilehua quarterback Justin Jenks, who finished with eight rushes for minus-44 yards. The Mules rushed for just 60 yards and passed for 92 more on 10-of-20 passing. Jenks was intercepted twice — once each by Jaren Zadlo and Kaimana Wilson. The Trojans played without starting linebacker Dayton Furuta, who York said is expected back from a high-ankle sprain next week.

"We knew that Dayton was a big factor for our defense so we just had to keep playing our game that we've played all season," said Jacob Afele, who recovered a Malepeai fumble in the end zone for the game's first score. "With or without him, we just have to play as one and execute on all cylinders."

Afele's fumble recovery came on the 11th play of the game's opening drive and was the second Malepeai fumble of the drive that was recovered by a teammate. Kainoa Wilson covered up a loose ball five plays prior to the score. For the game, Mililani fumbled seven times, but lost just three of them.

The Trojans capped their next drive — which covered 50 yards in four plays — with a 35-yard highlight-reel run by Malepeai, who made at least five Mule defenders miss en route to the end zone. Mark Matas tacked on the extra point with five minutes and eight seconds left in the first quarter to give Mililani a 14-0 lead.

Leilehua looked to capitalize on a Mililani fumble deep in its own territory midway through the second quarter. Maake Muti recovered the loose ball for the Mules, who took over the Trojans' 11-yard line. Randy Neverson picked up 10 yards and a first down on the very next play to set-up first-and-goal. Three plays later, he appeared to find the end zone on a pitch right, but due to an inadvertent whistle, the down was replayed. Mililani's defense held on the next two plays — both Keoni Piceno runs — to force a turnover on downs.

The Trojan offense took over at their own 4-yard line, but on second down, quarterback McKenzie Milton was ruled to have stepped out of the back of the end zone for a safety. However, television replays showed that Milton was airborne and still in bounds when he heaved a desperation pass that was intercepted in the end zone by Leilehua's Will Pule for a would-be touchdown.

"If I could walk on water, I would make a comment on that, but I'm sure the referees are doing the best they can," said Mules' coach Nolan Tokuda. "You can't take anything away from Mililani — we wish them the best the rest of the way — and good teams make things happen and they made things happen, it bounced their way a couple of times and we're a good team, too, but we just needed to make plays. We had opportunities down near the goal line and it just didn't work out for us. Two times in the red zone and we didn't get anything."

I'm sure the referees are going to go back and make their adjustments. I appreciate all the referees coming out here, taking the time and just refereeing our games; If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have any games."

Leilehua got the ensuing free kick, but went three-and-out and punted away. Mililani took over at its own 12-yard line and needed just three plays to extend its lead. Malepeai picked up 26 yards on a run up the middle on first down and Milton — lined up at receiver — hauled in a circus catch for 42 yards from backup signal-caller Robert Faleafine to set-up a 5-yard Malepeai touchdown run. Matas made the PAT to give Mililani a 21-2 halftime lead.

A fumble by Milton early in the third quarter was picked up by Leilehua's Sione Haunga, who went 64 yards on the scoop-and-score. The John Enos' extra point pulled the Mules within 21-9, but they could get no closer.

The Trojans were 5 of 11 on third downs, but committed 15 penalties for 111 yards.

No. 10 Leilehua, whose season ends at 6-4, was 0 of 11 on third downs and 0 of 3 on fourth downs.

It was the second meeting between the teams this season. Mililani beat Leilehua, 44-14, in a Red West regular-season game on Sept. 27.

Farrington will play Campbell in the other semifinal. The order of the games will be decided Sunday, according to OIA football coordinator Harold Tanaka.