BELLFLOWER, Calif. — For one quarter, the Mililani football team was on equal footing with reigning national champion Mater Dei.

Then for a span of seven minutes in real time, the Trojans were on cloud nine.

But the Monarchs were too big and too physical for Mililani to overcome as Mater Dei pulled away to take the win.

After taking an early 7-0 lead, the Trojans gave up 42 straight points and allowed 338 rushing yards as they fell to the Monarchs, 42-14, Friday night at St. John Bosco's Panish Family Stadium.

"I thought we did good," said Mililani coach Rod York. "Proud of my guys, could have done better, but it was expected. We got what we wanted from this. We faced adversity, the kids fought back and we were able to see what we really needed to improve on."

Mater Dei, who is ranked No. 2 in the nation by MaxPreps, also tallied six sacks and two interceptions in the win over Mililani, who dropped to 4-2 overall.

"The pressure was coming too fast," said York. "I think the difference maker was up front. These guys are really good."

Still, the Trojans pitched a shutout in the first quarter and even forced a fumble in the red zone to preserve the scoreless tie early in the second quarter.

"They bleed how we bleed, that was our mindset coming up here," said Mililani senior Gavin Hunter. "Boys from the rock, we feel like we have nothing to lose and everything to gain."

Quarterback Kini McMillan completed 18 of 30 passes for 181 yards in the loss. He engineered the Trojans' first scoring drive with a pair of 27-yard completions to Derek Tsuchiyama and Raymond Roller to put Mililani inside the Mater Dei 5-yard line.

Consecutive encroachment penalties against the Monarchs inched the ball closer to the goal line, which made it easier for Kingsten Samuelu to run in the first touchdown of the game. Makel Paiva tacked on the PAT to make the score 7-0 at the 9:53 mark of the second quarter.

Roller said the feeling at that moment was electric.

"It was crazy with the the whole sideline and the amount of people in the crowd," said Roller. "It was crazy to come up against the No. 2 team in the nation and to be beating them at the start."

Mater Dei quickly responded with Nathaniel Frazier's 53-yard TD run. Frazier broke through several tackles before breaking to the sideline for the scoring run on his first carry of the game. Andre Medina's PAT tied it with 8:10 remaining in the first half.

On Mililani's ensuing drive, the Trojans drove to near midfield before penalties and a sack gave them a fourth-and-23 situation. A fake punt with backup quarterback Emana Tarape was nearly successful, but the completion to Onosai Salanoa was one yard short of the marker and the Trojans turned it over on downs.

The Monarchs, who earned their fifth straight win to the start the year, capitalized on the short field and later took the lead on a 48-yard run by Jordon Davison.

Davidson led all rushers with 213 rushing yards on just 10 carries. He also scored on a 95-yard run and a 2-yard run in the third quarter to extend Mater Dei's lead.

"We just have to tackle. We didn't do the best at tackling tonight," said Hunter. "Running backs were breaking tackles and getting into the open field."

Quarterback Elijah Brown threw for 190 yards and two scores in the win. His 8-yard TD pass to Jack Ressler before halftime made it a 21-7 game at the break and his 51-yard scoring pass to Frazier was responsible for the Monarchs' final TD of the game.

The Trojans scored on the last play of regulation when Roller caught a 27-yard TD pass from Tarape.

Mililani will have a week off to recuperate before resuming OIA Open Division play against Leilehua on Sept. 30.