Mililani’s normally supersonic offense gave way to propellers Friday night, but the Trojans had enough lift for a 24-2 victory over Campbell.
The second-ranked Trojans held slim leads of 7-0, 7-2 and 10-2 before breaking loose in the fourth quarter of the Open Division semifinals of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Football State Championships at Aloha Stadium.
Fifth-ranked Campbell came out with a masterful defensive plan, using three up front with an eight-man umbrella. It worked for most of the night against Trojans quarterback Dillon Gabriel, the No. 1 passer in Hawaii state history. But, cracks began to develop and Mililani (10-2) slipped through for a spot in the Nov. 24 final against No. 1 Saint Louis.
“Campbell definitely played us well,” Trojans coach Rod York said. “They came out to play. We came out lackadaisical. We didn’t execute very well, but a lot of that was due to Campbell’s intensity.”
On offense, the Sabers (8-5) never got anything going against a stingy Mililani defense that did not give up any points. Campbell’s two points came on a safety, when Mililani’s offense was called for holding in its own end zone.
“Defense wins championships and the defense brought it out today,” York added. “We’re in the dance, the big dance, and that’s what we wanted to get to and now we’re going to finish.”
Freshly up from the JV squad, Mililani sophomore Vaisen Viloria showed right away that he belonged in his first varsity game by snaring three interceptions. His middle pick late in the third quarter was huge, coming with Campbell trailing just 10-2 and driving deep into Mililani territory. It led to the Trojans’ next TD — Gabriel’s 2-yard run — to make it 17-2 early in the fourth. Viloria’s third interception was a 7-yard pick-6 to put the finishing touches on the win.
“I kind of had a good read on the quarterbacks’ (the Sabers’ Krenston Kaipo and Blaine Hipa) eyes,” Viloria said.
Other than Sky Lactaoen’s 107 rushing yards, Campbell’s offensive production was anemic.
“We came into the game with a great plan all the way around, but some of it didn’t pan out for us,” Sabers coach Darren Johnson said. “The youth, the immaturity showed up, but we’ll be all right. We made some throwing errors. We think in the future, we’re going to be better. We gotta get a guy (QB) ready to pull the trigger and do it year-round.”
Campbell went with three quarterbacks at various points this season — Kaipo, Hipa and Kaniala Kalaola.
“We’re happy to be in the final four, but we want to be in the final two,” Johnson continued. “We want to be the final one, that’s our goal. We’ll never come into a season to not win it.”
York credited defensive coordinator Vince Nihipali.
“On defense, he’s the leader,” York said. “He makes us go.”
In the early going, Mililani went ahead 7-0 on the first of Gabriel’s two rushing TDs after Darius Muasau’s interception.
Campbell did not let the Trojans — who came into the game averaging a shade under 38 points per game — go hog wild on offense after that. After JL Lavea’s sack of Gabriel early in the third quarter, teammate Caleb Jarra was called for a personal foul and got ejected. That gave Mililani a first down and led to Liam McGehee’s 39-yard field goal to make it 10-2.
GAME SUMMARY
Mililani 24, Campbell 2
At Aloha Stadium
>> Campbell (8-5) 2 0 0 0 — 2
>> Mililani (10-2) 7 0 3 14 — 24
Mililani — Dillon Gabriel 3 run (Kekoa Kuloloia kick)
Campbell — Safety, holding penalty in end zone
Mililani — FG Liam McGehee 39
Mililani — Gabriel 2 run (McGehee kick)
Mililani — Vaisen Viloria 7 interception return (McGehee kick)
RUSHING — Campbell: Sky Lactaoen 23-107, Blaine Hipa 1-1, Krenston Kaipo 2-(minus 18). Mililani: Kilifi Malepeai 19-57, Raysen Motoyama 8-19, Gabriel 8-11, team 1-(minus 2).
PASSING — Campbell: Hipa 4-19-3-39, Kaipo 5-22-2-34. Mililani: Gabriel 11-28-2-119.
RECEIVING — Campbell: Titus Mokiao-Atimalala 5-48, Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala 3-17, Jalen Henderson 1-8. Mililani: Ryan Chang 4-72, Cy Kuboyama-Hayashi 3-22, Malepeai 2-15, Motoyama 1-8, Reichel Vegas 1-2.
