Punahou's Cole Obana breaks up a pass attempt intended for Mililani's Kainoa Wilson. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Mililani's Dayton Furuta attempts to break free from the tackle of Punahou's Kalama Chung. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Little more than three months ago, Punahou and Mililani — the same two teams playing for the Division I state championship Saturday — squared off at John Kauinana Stadium on a Thursday night. That was nine games ago for both teams and a lot has changed for both squads since then.

Punahou won the game, 24-14, and did so without standout defensive ends Canton Kaumatule and Ruairi Brady. In their absence, Mililani was able to rush for 197 yards, including 143 by sophomore running back Vavae Malepeai on 24 carries. He had a 26-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that tied it at 7-apiece and a 12-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.

Noticeably absent for the Trojans was any semblence of a passing game. The quarterback duo of McKenzie Milton (5-of-15 passing for 56 yards) and Robert Faleafine (2 of 3 for 3 yards) did not throw an interception, but was also without a touchdown pass. Mililani coach Rod York described the performance as "horrible — that's it, just horrible," after the game, but was still searching for Jarin Morikawa's replacement at the time. Milton has since won the job and has improved with each game that has gone by. He has developed quite the reputation as a dual-threat quarterback by being able to buy time with his feet if plays break down.

Mililani failed to capitalize on a few golden opportunities, turning the ball over on downs twice in the red zone, including a goal line stand that resulted in Malepeai being stuffed at the 1-yard line.

The Trojan defense played a respectable game against the Buffanblu the first time around. Senior defensive end Kelii "KK" Padello broke out with a four-sack performance, mainly against all-ILH tackle Semisi Uluave. Padello has racked up a state-high 19 sacks on the year, while Uluave eventually moved to the interior line, switching spots with right guard Davis Saipaia-Miyashiro. Rex Manu, who attended Punahou as a freshman, also had a sack in the game. Manu and Padello each had three sacks last week in a semifinal victory over Campbell.

Meanwhile, the Buffanblu sorted things out at running back since the first time the teams played. Senior Kotoni "KJ" Sekona was the heir-apparent to Ryan Tuiasoa and had a team-high 15 carries for 97 yards, including a 7-yard third quarter touchdown run, against Mililani, but has since been jumped on the depth chart by sophomore Wayne Taulapapa, who 14 times for 84 yards in the early non-league game. For the season, Taulapapa has a team-high 912 rushing yards with 13 touchdowns and leads the team in scoring with 96 points.

Quarterback Larry Tuileta hardly put up gaudy statistics in the first go-around by his standards (he threw for 825 yards in Punahou's last two games) with 255 passing yards, but he had two touchdowns through the air and was not intercepted. That was despite being sacked six times for a combined loss of 35 yards.

The difference maker in this one could be Kaumatule, who is a a physical specimen at 6 feet, 7 inches and 275 pounds and is widely considered the top prospect in Hawaii despite being only a junior. He has been rated by at least one national publication as the top recruit in the class of 2015 in the nation. Kaumatule has only played in three games this season due to a rash of injuries, but had a sack and two tackles in Punahou's semifinal win over Farrington last week.

Aside from a 10-6 win at Southern California-power Helix, the 24 points against Mililani tied a season-low in points scored by Punahou (beat Kamehameha, 24-0, on Aug. 14).

A statistical look at both teams reveals many similarities. Punahou is averaging just more 40 points and 435 yards (174 rushing/261 passing) offensively per game while Mililani is averaging nearly 36 points and 374 yards (192 rushing/182 passing). The Buffanblu defense is allowing under 9 points and 204 yards (78 rushing/125 passing) while the Trojan defense is allowing less than 13 points and 211 yards (77 rushing/134 passing) per game.

Read the game story from the first Mililani-Punahou battle here.