Mililani defense stifles Kapolei in road win


Brian Bautista | Special to SL

Kamaehu Roman collected three of his team's six sacks to lead No. 4 Mililani to a 20-0 shut out of host Kapolei at the Alvin Nagasako Athletic Complex Friday night. 

The Trojans (2-0) turned in a stellar defensive effort to limit the seventh-ranked Hurricanes (0-2) to 156 yards of total offense. 

Three different players registered an interception for the Mililani defense: Aiden Manutai, Kaymen Sue and Makanalea Meyer, who also scored a touchdown on offense with his only carry, a 3-yard run that opened the scoring with 2:54 left in the first quarter. 

The 7-0 lead for the Trojans held until the 7:48 mark of the third quarter, when Kini McMillan hit Kapono Hookano-Sallas for an 11-yard touchdown pass to cap a 13-play, 71-yard drive. The PAT was no good, however. 

Mililani added a score with Emana Tarape's 25-yard TD pass to Raymond Roller with 37 seconds left in the third. It was Roller's third touchdown reception of the season. 

McMillan finished 14-of-25 passing for 141 yards with an interception, while Tarape was 3 of 11 for 34 yards. 

Nehemiah Timoteo rushed eight times for a game-high 80 yards for the Trojans, who finished with 309 yards of total offense. 

Kapolei quarterback Tuli Tagovailoa-Amosa was 8-of-22 passing for 90 yards with an interception, while Mililani-transfer Esaiah Gideon was 2 of 12 for 56 yards with two picks. 

Iosefa Tapeni had two sacks and four total tackles to lead the Hurricanes defensively. Ryan Sebastian was in on six tackles and intercepted a pass, Jaedon Garcia made seven stops and recovered a fumble, while Jaylen Esau-Liu chipped in with four tackles and three pass break-ups. 

Roman posted a game-high eight tackles, including four tackles for losses. Mikey Agasiva added six tackles, two for losses, and one sack and Meyer made 1 1/2 of his five total stops in the backfield. Ikona Kanealii also had a sack for the Trojans' defense, which finished with 10 tackles for loss. 

Mililani committed 13 penalties for 143 yards, while Kapolei was flagged nine times for 63 yards. 

The Trojans were 5 of 11 on third-down conversions; the Hurricanes converted on 3 of 14 third downs and 2 of 5 fourth downs. 

Mililani has a bye next week and next plays on Nov. 5 at Leilehua. 

Kapolei will look to pick-up its first win when it visits No. 10 Farrington Friday.