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Defense played up for Trojans in quarterfinal win




Much of the talk surrounding the Mililani football team this season has centered on its high-powered offense fueled by a huge, veteran offensive line, playmakers at receiver and, of course, a pair of backfield studs in quarterback McKenzie Milton and running back Vavae Malepeai.

However, it was the Trojans' defense that paved the way in their decisive 54-14 win over Kaiser Friday night.

Mililani surrendered a meager 172 yards of total offense by the Cougars, who entered the game averaging better than 29 points and 423 yards per contest. Kaiser's prolific running back, Jensen McDaniel — who leads the state in rushing yards — managed just 23 yards on 18 attempts. As a team, Kaiser averaged just 2.1 yards per rush.

"Watching the film, seeing how (McDaniel) ran, it was real amazing, (so) our defense knew that we had a challenge coming," said defensive end Kaimana Padello, who recorded two of his team's five sacks on the night. "We knew that we had to keep hitting him and he would slow down and that would force them to pass."

The Cougars didn't find much success through the air either. Quarterback Kalawaia Judd threw for just 85 yards on 10-of-23 passing and was intercepted twice, including an 84-yard pick-6 by sophomore safety Tielu Mamea.

"They were able to pressure us with four guys and if you can get pressure on with four, you can do anything on the back end," Kaiser coach Cameron Higgins said. "They took away both aspects of our game and we just had no answer for it."

Palaie Gaoteote also intercepted a pass, which led to Milton's 21-yard, first-quarter touchdown pass to Roman Tovi one play later.

"Our defense they set the tone for us," said slotback Kainoa Wilson, who caught seven passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns. "They get a turnover and we just come back with a score. Nobody gives our defense enough credit, but they're good — they're great — and they helped us a lot tonight."

Rex Manu, Elias Pritchard and Keli Clemente also recorded a sack for the Trojans, who held the Cougars to just 3 of 15 on third-down conversion attempts.

"The whole week we were just preparing," Padello said. "We knew that we had either Moanalua or Kaiser and both of them are good, so when Kaiser won we already knew — our mindset was already set for everything — so it all just added up to the win tonight."

With its leading receiver in Kalakaua Timoteo (shoulder) out Friday, Mililani also benefitted from the return of Wilson, who missed the previous six games with a collarbone injury.

"Him coming back gave us a couple of mismatches and whenever they gave us the mismatch we went right to it," York said. "He's a three-year starter, he's a senior, he's our captain and he did what we needed him to do."

The Trojans seem to be firing on all cylinders at just the right time, but had one glaring area of concern against the Cougars: penalties. They committed 19 of them and were penalized 203 yards.

"I think we're pretty close, but we committed plenty penalties that could be a real achilles' heel for us, I think, if we keep going down that path," Milton said. "We definitely have got to get a lot better at keeping our hands inside, not grabbing jerseys, not blocking in the back, but it was good after a bye week to come out and get a good win like that."

Mililani will play Campbell, which defeated Leilehua 20-14 Friday, in a semifinal game at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium Thursday. Farrington will play Kahuku in the other semifinal.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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