Dillon Gabriel and the Mililani Trojans will host Hugh Brady and the Punahou Buffanblu this weekend. ScoringLive photo illustration

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When the Mililani football team had its highly-anticipated Open Division game against two-time reigning state champion Saint Louis canceled due to Hurricane Lane, it did not have to wait long for its next test.

The Trojans (3-1 overall, 1-0 league) hit the road last week for a mid-season non-league game on the mainland to take one of the nation's top programs in St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.).

The Braves are the No. 2 team in the USA Today Super 25 and No. 1 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 rankings.

St. John Bosco pulled away from Mililani despite trailing early, but Trojans coach Rod York said the positives far outnumber the negatives from the final score of 52-14.

Quarterback Dillon Gabriel kept his interception-free start to the season intact. The senior lefty threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns on 21-of-35 passing. He has 1,075 pass yards and 14 TDs on the season — both tops in the state.

Punahou's Hugh Brady — who will face off against Gabriel and the Trojans this weekend — ranks second amongst Open QBs in both categories with 804 pass yards and 9 TDs.

After he was intercepted twice in a 41-28 road loss at No. 2 Kahuku to open the season for the Buffanblu (2-1), Brady has thrown for 497 yards with seven TDs and no picks since in wins over No. 7 Kapolei (34-21) and most recently, No. 10 Farrington (40-14) last Saturday.

We caught up with York and Punahou coach Kale Ane a few days before they face off in central Oahu Saturday night.

ScoringLive: Describe your team's current situation in one word and explain.

Rod York, Mililani coach: "Refocused. Just because the loss hurts and the boys are re-energized because they got to face the nation's best and we believe we can hang with ‘em. Now we come back and we play Punahou."

Kale Ane, Punahou coach: "Striving. We're just striving to get better every play, every game, every practice. When we play, if we did a good job, we want to do a great job. If we did a great job, we want to do a perfect job. That is from the (Japanese) word ‘kaizen.' We want to get better one day at a time."

SL: Which game this season has proven to be most beneficial for your team?

York: "St. John Bosco. Just because they're so talented and athletic. You rarely see a team that has all three combinations — they've got speed, they've got athleticism and they're real physical. Usually teams have two out of the three or one out of the three and St. John Bosco has three out of the three so it's going to get our kids better and give them more confidence."

Ane: "Hard to believe, but probably the Kahuku game. We learned a lot about ourselves. We faced adversity and we faulted a little bit but then we caught ourselves and got back up. It's good in the respect that we learned a lot about ourselves and you can do that whether you win or lose."

SL: What identity would your team like to establish this season and how far along is it in that process?

York: "We just want to make sure that number one, our coaches well prepare our kids. We want to be fast, physical and aggressive and at the same time, smart. We want to play smart football. Thus far we're improving, we're not close yet, (but) we're getting there."

Ane: "I think we'd like people to say that we play hard, we play fast, we play with emotion and passion and we have a great time out there and we're working on that every day as well."

SL: Who or what is the heart of your team?

York: "Our heart is our leaders. We always stand behind leaders and our leaders have player-only meetings, so I would say them. Every game we have four captains, but we have about maybe 12 solid leaders who are in that group and that's probably the heart of the team because coaches we guide ‘em, but players gotta hold each other accountable. When you ask them to do it for themselves the kids don't really care sometimes, but you ask them to do it for their teammate and their brother, they go a lot harder and the effort is a lot better, so everything is from the leaders. There's no one person, but we're trying to be more player-led instead of coach-led. Player-led and coach-guided."

Ane: "I think the players are always the heart of the team and whether they're seniors or we have a freshman this year, I think just the chemistry and the connection between the players is really what drives any team."

SL: Who or what has been a pleasant surprise with their play thus far?

York: "Raysen Motoyama, because number one, he's small and undersized and people underestimate him. We just move him to running back and he's done well at running back. When he was on the JV he played there and without too much practice (at running back this season), he's able to make the transition and not only that, but he gives us flexibility because we can do more with him as far as the passing game. Also, he's tough. His stats don't really show up too much in the rushing column, but he blocks well. In fact, he's had a lot of blocks that have given Dillon more time and he's made a lot of key first downs in our games thus far."

Ane: "I hate to signal out individuals but I think just as a group we've played well offensively. We've done well, but there's so much more to improve on. I think that's kind of the mindset. We scored 40 points last week, but we made so many mistakes and there are a lot of things to improve on. Defensively, we did well but we gave up a huge run and a fourth-and-1, and on special teams we gave up a big return and we ran into the punter, so we have to appreciate every opportunity that we have and always have to get better. I think that's what the challenge is."

SL: What are your thoughts on this week's opponent?

York: "It's going to be a tough matchup. Punahou is loaded athletically. They have college-sized O-linemen, they've got quick receivers, they have a fast, aggressive defense and the QB (Hugh Brady) is playing, I would say, Larry Tuileta-ish. He gets the ball out, he knows where to go with the ball, he's got a quick release and he normally completes it."

Ane: "Very explosive offense, well-coached, solid defense. They played a great team, the No. 1 team in the country at their place, and I'm watching the film and they played well. You can see the ability of Mililani on film. They're explosive again on offense, they're tough and physical on defense. I mean, you look at the two brothers that play defensive end for UH (KK and Kaimana Padello) and I think they represent them well. They're undersized, but they're both great, making the most of their situations and they're both doing awesome."

SL: What will be a key matchup within the game Saturday?

York: "The key matchup will probably be our (defensive backs) against their receivers. Their receivers are big, athletic and they've got good hands, so you don't see them drop too many balls. They run really good routes, so we gotta try to get our DBs to disrupt that."

Ane: "I think it always comes down to, on offense, our line and can we protect Hugh and give him enough time to get the ball to the receivers and get the pass game going to open up the run and then on defense, it's always a cat-and-mouse game — exposing coverages, pressing then backing off, what are they gonna do?, what are we gonna do? — and it can be a headache, but it's great coaching because we have to make decisions out there and we have to make adjustments out there. They're super quick, so it should be a lot of fun."

Kickoff between the third-ranked Trojans and No. 4 Buffanblu is scheduled for approximately 6:30 p.m. Saturday at John Kauinana Stadium.