Despite suffering its first loss of the season over the weekend — in heartbreaking fashion, no less — Mililani has turned the page on Saturday’s four-point loss in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I title game and focused its sights on No. 1 Saint Louis. ScoringLive photo illustration

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Despite suffering its first loss of the season over the weekend — in heartbreaking fashion, no less — the Mililani football team has turned the page on Saturday's four-point loss in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I title game.

There's a simple reason for that. That is, it knows what lies ahead. That would be the reigning state champion, Saint Louis.

The Trojans (10-1), No. 3 in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Power Rankings, will look to get back on track against the top-ranked Crusaders (8-0) in the feature game of a semifinal doubleheader Friday in the first of two straight weekends of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division I-Open State Championships at HawaiianTel FCU Field at Aloha Stadium.

Second-ranked Kahuku (10-1) and No. 6 Waianae (7-4) will get the action underway at 4:30 p.m., with Mililani and Saint Louis facing off in the 7:30 p.m. nightcap.

The Red Raiders rallied to a 35-31 win over the Trojans to claim their third straight OIA crown Saturday. The loss brought Mililani's string of 14 consecutive wins (dating to last season) to an end.

"The kids are upbeat and morale has been good," Trojans coach Rod York said. "It took awhile to get over it, but the night we lost we came back to the locker room and I talked to the boys. They were disappointed, but not defeated. We analyzed it and we realize we let one go, but that's how it goes. Now the boys are refocused. They understand that Saint Louis is up next and it's a short week, so the boys are even more focused actually."

Mililani posted 376 yards against Kahuku, but could not capitalize on four takeaways and were unable to hold on to a 14-point second-quarter lead.

"We left a bunch of points on the field and that put our defense in a big bind," York said. "The guys were tired, but we played our worst game and Kahuku played their best game and we only lost by four points, so we'll take the positives out of last week and take that into this Saint Louis game. I tell the kids that, ‘when we beat Saint Louis, nobody will talk about last week's game,' and that's what we're focused on."

It was, by far, the most points and yards allowed by the Red Raiders defensively this season, including a 17-0 loss to Bingham (11-0), the No. 1 in the state of Utah.

"Once we analyzed it with the boys and explained the positives — for example, we put thirty-something points up on a hell of a defense that only allows seven points a game and the No. 5 team in the nation (Bingham, Utah), could only put up 17 points when Kahuku didn't even have Sol-Jay (Maiava) in that game and in our game Sol-Jay was the difference-maker — so we analyzed it that way and the kids understand that," York said.

York said that while the officiating "has been a whole lot better this year," he remained frustrated with an illegal-man-downfield penalty that wiped away a miraculous 50-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dillon Gabriel to wideout Cy Kuboyama-Hayashi with the game tied at 21 in the third quarter. Gabriel initially punted on the fourth-down play, but the ball deflected off the back of a Mililani lineman and back into the hands of Gabriel, who then fired a deep ball to Kuboyama-Hayashi down the left sideline.

"I saw that there was no one downfield and that's the reason why I was so strong about my attitude," said York, who drew a 15-yard penalty for the outburst.

"That's six points, possibly seven points in a championship game and it's a momentum-swinger that was taken away from us and I don't think it was human error. In fact, I know it was not human error," York said. "Even though it was a fluke play and a lucky one, we still made the play and that's the reason I was pissed off, because in my opinion the referee just lied."

York said he was told the penalty was against left tackle Rio Claytor for being beyond the line of scrimmage when Gabriel unleashed the pass.

"If you look at the film, Rio pass-blocked in that play — meaning he was three yards behind the line of scrimmage — so there was no one downfield," York said. "They just made up any old call and I felt like they didn't get the call right."

York said he felt the need to express his side of the story after receiving much backlash since Saturday.

"All I was doing was fighting for my kids because they've worked hard since February and to falsely accuse our kid of being downfield was wrong," he said. "At the same time, we didn't lose because of that call. We still had many opportunities to win the game, but we lost because there were too many errors on my part. I don't want to take anything away from Kahuku, their players and their coaches, because they earned the win and they deserve the win."

For what it's worth, Saint Louis coach Cal Lee — the winningest prep coach in state history — also saw what York saw.

"That was a bad call. You can throw the ball (in that situation). There was nothing wrong with throwing the ball because the ball didn't hit the ground (after the punt) and nobody was downfield. I looked at the tape," Lee said. "It's too bad."

Lee took it a step further, calling for the implementation of instant replay in state tournament games.

"It should be sooner than later," He said. "You can't have it in every game, but you can sure have it at Aloha Stadium because they have everything set up for it, so why not? Don't wait ten years from now and have instant replay. Nobody wants to win or lose that way — on a mistake — and it was a mistake, and it was a touchdown. I think every coach would agree with it."

Lee's Crusaders have had lots of time to sit and watch. Friday will mark their first game since a 38-2 win over Kamehameha in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu final on Oct. 21.

"I think you've got to use it to your benefit and give the kids some time off, allow them to get some rest, get the body recovering and make sure that they're hungry for the next game," Lee said of the nearly-three week layoff.

The "break" has given Saint Louis lots of time to examine the Mililani offense, which Lee holds in high regard.

"It starts with their quarterback (Gabriel," Lee said. "He's got the ball every single down and he's a dual threat, so there's a definite concern with him because not only can he throw the ball, but he can run it as well and he's a good scrambler, and then they have some receivers and a big, strong, physical offensive line, so it's going to be a tremendous challenge for us."

The Trojans average nearly 41 points and 442 yards of total offense per game. Meanwhile, the Crusaders defense is holding opponents to 13 points and 211 yards per contest.

"Defensively, they're real simple and they play man-free and they let their playmakers just roam the field and do what they do: make plays, so we're going to have to be creative on offense and find ways to move the ball and move the chains and score points," York said.

Mililani's defense, which is limiting opponents to 13 points and 178 yards each time out, surrendered 242 yards through the air and 366 overall against Kahuku.

"Their coaches are doing a great job," Lee said. "They've got some young kids but they're playing like veterans in the secondary. Their D-line is quick — very quick — and they run to the ball. They do a good job coaching and it's going to be a challenge, there's no question."

The Trojans will be put to the test by a Saint Louis offense averaging 45 points and 419 yards per game — including 319 passing.

"They're loaded all over," York said. "They got weapons. Their line is enormous; they're huge and athletic. They're not just big, slow guys; they're big, athletic guys and their quarterback is playing great. I mean, nobody mentions Tua (Tagovailoa) anymore, so that's how good that quarterback is playing, but I think all of that is just a credit to coach Cal Lee and especially coach Ron Lee. That's two of the best coaches ever in Hawaii. They prove it over and over again and that offense is rolling, so it's going to be a tough matchup for us, but we welcome the challenge, of course."

While the Crusaders will have rested 20 days since their last game, Mililani will be playing its second game in a span of six days. York is hoping that will play in his team's favor come Friday night.

"Honestly, we rather play," York said. "We feel like we have an advantage. They haven't played in three weeks and we've been rolling. The only thing we had to do was heal up because a lot of bodies were sore after a physical game against Kahuku, but the bodies are healed and we're ready to go."

It will be the first meeting in a state tournament between the teams since the 2015 Division I semifinals, when Saint Louis scored 49 first-half points en route to a 56-30 win over Mililani.