Mililani running back Vavae Malepeai carries the ball against Campbell. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Campbell's Solomon Matautia intercepts a pass against Mililani. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Campbell running back Austin May heads to the endzone on a two-point conversion. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Mililani wide receiver Bronson Ader makes a leaping recpetion over a Campbell defender. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Sat, Sep 21, 2013 @ Mililani [ 6:00 pm ]

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Campbell

21

Mililani

42

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Campbell (9-4-0)	14	7	0	0	21
Mililani (11-2-0)	0	7	13	22	42

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

McKenzie Milton 208 yd 2 TD

Isaac Hurd 130 yd 1 TD

Vavae Malepeai 136 yd 1 TD

Austin May 51 yd

Bronsen Ader 81 yd 1 TD

Jayce Bantolina 76 yd 1 TD

MILILANI — A tale of two halves played out Saturday night in Central Oahu.

Mililani sputtered early with a turnover-riddled first half, but reversed the tide in the second half en route to a 42-21 win over Campbell at John Kauinana Stadium.

A crowd of about 2,000 fans saw the Trojans rally from a 21-7 halftime deficit with 35 unanswered second-half points to improve to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red West. Conference. The Sabers, whose three first-half touchdowns all came off Mililani turnovers, fell to 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the Red West.

"We were down, but the difference with this team is they know how to come back and once we settled down and eliminated the turnovers, shoot, we were right in the game," said Trojans' coach Rod York, whose team is No. 4 in the ScoringLive/OC16 Division I Power Rankings. "Hats off to Campbell though — the turnovers were because Campbell played good defense."

York's defense limited the prolific Sabers' offense to 228 yards, including just 103 in the first half, but pitched a shut out after halftime. Safety Jaren Zadlo intercepted Campbell quarterback Isaac Hurd twice and returned one for a 62-yard touchdown for one of three fourth-quarter touchdowns for the Trojans.

"We came out slow, but we made adjustments in the second half and got great coaching — all the glory to God — and we just stuck together as a family and we put up a fight against them and came out on top," said Zadlo, a 6-foot, 180-pound junior.

Zadlo and the defensive secondary greatly benefitted from the pressure the front seven generated on Hurd, who was sacked six times and took a number of big shots on pass plays. Linebacker Dayton Furuta and defensive end Kelii Padello each recorded two sacks while defensive tackles Tamatoa Silva and Rex Manu added one sack apiece.

"Our line was getting in there and making him force some passes and I guess in the right position, I guess, but I couldn't do it without them," Zadlo said.

Hurd, who entered the game averaging 208 passing yards per game, was held to 130 yards on 10-of-20 passing. Campbell converted just three of its 11 third-down tries and finished with just 12 first downs — including just one by pass after halftime.

"We didn't execute what we came out to do — which I thought we did in the first half, especially our defense played really good — but they're probably the best defense we've faced all year with their four guys up front and we had some trouble with that," said Sabers' coach Amosa Amosa, whose team is No. 6 in the SL/OC16 Power Rankings.

The Trojan offense used a balanced attack (238 rushing yards, 210 passing yards) to overcome the early giveaways. Running back Vavae Malepeai, who did not play in Mililani's last game at Waipahu two weeks ago due to a rib contusion, carried the ball a workmanlike 29 times for a game-high 136 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Mililani appeared on the cusp of tying the game at 14 in closing seconds of the first half, but Campbell safety Solomon Matautia jumped a McKenzie Milton-pass in his own end zone, weaved his way through traffic while maneuvering his blockers and eventually took it back for a 100-yard pick-six with just five seconds left in the quarter. The sudden defensive score was followed by Tyler Subia's extra point to send the Sabers into the intermission with a 21-7 lead.

"We just talked at halftime and just said that we're a family and nobody can break our bond and we're going to come back strong and that's what we did," Zadlo said.

It was all Mililani from there.

The Trojans received the kickoff to open the second half and matched 62 yards in eight plays, capped by Milton's 7-yard scoring strike to Preston Sinn. Mark Matas tacked on the PAT to cut the Campbell lead to 21-14 early in the third quarter.

"That was an important drive," York said of possession. "We had to take that first drive and take it in for a score."

Midway through the third quarter, Hurd was intercepted in Trojans' territory by Zadlo, who returned it to the Mililani 43-yard line. Three plays later — on a third down-and-12 — Milton torched the Sabers' defense on a 46-yard quarterback keeper down the right sideline for a touchdown. The PAT was no good and Campbell clung to a 21-20 lead after three quarters.

One play into the fourth quarter, Milton dropped off a short pass to slotback Bronson Ader, who did the rest, bouncing off defenders en route to the go-ahead, 15-yard touchdown. Dayton Furuta hauled in the two-point conversion pass from Milton to give the Trojans a 28-21 lead. Ader, who transferred from Campbell following last football season, finished with seven receptions for 81 yards — both game-highs.

Zadlo cut short the Sabers' ensuing possession with his second pick. Padello came off the right edge on the play to pressure Hurd, who overthrew his target receiver and found Zadlo instead, who took it 62 yards the other way with 8:13 left in the game.

Campbell turned it over for a second straight drive when Hurd lost the ball and Zadlo covered it up at the Mililani 42-yard line. Malepeai closed out the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run seven plays later.

"We've been here before and the kids understand and they know how to win, they know how to comeback," York said. "I said at halftime that the turnovers are killing us and if we take care of the turnovers and play better defense in the second half, we'll be all right. The kids came out and they played their hearts out."

The Sabers were the opportunistic team in the first half. Linebacker Abiel Taito intercepted Milton to set-up Hurd's 1-yard sneak into the end zone at the 7:24 mark in the first quarter. The PAT was no good and Campbell held a 6-0 lead until Hurd connected with Jayce Bantolina on a 57-yard touchdown pass that came one play after linebacker Waylen Lindsey recovered a Malepeai fumble. Austin May hauled in the two-point conversion pass from Kainoa Perry with 5:53 left in the first quarter to give Campbell a 14-0 advantage.

Two plays into the second quarter, Furuta got the Trojans on the board with his 2-yard touchdown run on third-and-goal to cap a 10-play, 92-yard drive. Mililani pulled to within 14-7 following the Matas extra point. Later in the quarter, the Trojan offense was in the midst of a 13-play drive that started at their own 21-yard line when Matautia scored on his end zone-to-end zone interception return.

Mililani, which has reeled off four in-division wins since a 24-14 loss to Punahou back on Aug. 15, picked up its first home victory in 2013. The Trojans remain in sole possession of first place in the Red West and host rival Leilehua Friday while the Sabers host Waipahu that same night.