The good news for Saint Louis in the return of legendary coach Cal Lee is that the Crusaders racked up a ton of points and yards against the No. 2 team in the state.
In the end, however, it was still a 63-47 win for Mililani over No. 3 Saint Louis in a nonconference clash at John Kauinana Stadium on Saturday night.
The Trojans were spectacular often, getting 204 rushing yards and 369 passing yards from junior quarterback McKenzie Milton. He threw four touchdown passes and scrambled for three more, sometimes unwilling to wait a play out. With speed like his, there are few bad decisions.
"It’s like I said before, we’re not going to put handcuffs on him," Mililani coach Rod York said. "I’m happy with the win, but there’s a lot of things we can get better at. Giving up 47 points, you’re not going to do well in the playoffs. Give credit to Saint Louis. They did a hell of a job to find the openings."
Vavae Malepeai was strong at the start and finished with 112 yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns.
Mililani led 21-0, then saw Saint Louis get within 35-33 in the third quarter before pulling away.
Lee was optimistic and realistic after the loss, though his team played better after the first quarter.
"I don’t know if we got real better. We couldn’t stop anybody. They’re a good team offensively. It was a good challenge, but we never really slowed them down," he said.
"We still made a lot of mistakes and you get that in a first game. The biggest thing, the biggest improvement you see is after the first game. I hate to say that because we’re playing the No. 2 team in the nation (St. John Bosco, Calif.), which ain’t bad. But we should be better. This is how you find out what you can do and get better."
Milton was low key after the battle.
"They were in a 3-2 (defense) at the beginning, then they stacked the box," he said.
Even then, Mililani adjusted well as Milton trusted his deep threats.
Kalakaua Timoteo (nine receptions, 167 yards, one touchdown) and Kainoa Wilson (eight, 161, two TDs) were clutch against solo coverage when Saint Louis loaded up against Malepeai.
In all, Mililani rushed for 330 yards and amassed 669 total yards. The 63-point total is the most scored against Saint Louis in the Prep Bowl and state championship era. The previous high was 52 by Bishop Gorman against the Crusaders in 2012.
Saint Louis was impressive much of the night in its first game with the Lee brothers, head coach Cal and offensive coordinator Ron, back in charge.
Though they struggled offensively for the first three series, the Crusaders got better as the game progressed.
Quarterbacks coach Vince Passas saw his top two slingers split time, with Ryder Kuhns playing in the first and third quarters and Tua Tagovailoa in the second and fourth stanzas.
Kuhns passed for 160 yards and a touchdown. Tagovailoa was 19-for-28 for 188 yards and five touchdowns, and scrambled for 73 on 14 carries. Allen Cui (10 receptions, 112 yards, two touchdowns) and Keanu Souza (seven grabs, 107 yards, two touchdowns) paced the receiving corps.
Mililani drove 80 yards in eight plays on the game-opening possession. A trick play for 33 yards, a pass from Wilson to Timoteo, sparked the drive. Milton hit Wilson on a quick play-action pass for a 6-yard touchdown as Mililani took a 7-0 lead.
A short punt by Saint Louis set up a 40-yard drive by the Trojans moments later. Malepeai burst through for a 20-yard gain on first down and capped the drive with a 2-yard run to paydirt. Mililani led 14-0 with 7:52 to go in the opening quarter.
Mililani’s third touchdown drive in as many possessions was punctuated by three holding penalties and multiple Saint Louis offsides calls. It ended with a 2-yard run over the goal line by Malepeai with 1:33 remaining in the first.
The Crusaders drove to the 3-yard line, but fumbled on a big hit on the left side to running back Raymond Caayan. Rex Manu recovered for Mililani, ending the threat with 1:03 left in the quarter.
The Trojans’ early dominance and momentum never waned, but the Crusaders got a spark off the bench from the sophomore Tagovailoa.
The Crusaders finally cracked the end zone with Tagovailoa in the game. His 6-yard strike to Souza on an out route put the Crusaders on the scoreboard with 4:50 left before the half.
Milton struck after that. With Saint Louis starting to wrap up Malepeai, Milton answered with a 53-yard jaunt around left end for a touchdown. The Trojans led 28-7 with 3:12 until intermission.
At Mililani
| SAINT LOUIS (0-1) |
0 |
20 |
13 |
14 |
— |
47 |
| MILILANI (1-0) |
21 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
— |
63 |
Mil—Kainoa Wilson 6 pass from McKenzie Milton (Marc Matas kick)
Mil—Vavae Malepeai 2 run (Matas kick)
Mil—Malepeai 2 run (Matas kick)
StL—Keanu Souza 6 pass from Tua Tagovailoa (Noah Alejado kick)
Mil—Milton 53 run (Matas kick)
StL—Souza 12 pass from Tagovailoa (Alejado kick)
Mil—Bronson Ramos 26 pass from Milton (Matas kick)
StL—Allen Cui 7 pass from Tagovailoa (pass failed)
StL—Cui 17 pass from Tagovailoa (Alejado kick)
StL—Jonathon Manalo 15 run (run failed)
Mil—Milton 1 run (Matas kick)
Mil—Wilson 15 pass from Milton (Matas kick)
Mil—Kalakaua Timoteo 17 pass from Milton (Matas kick)
StL—Saitua Lefau 3 pass from Tagovailoa (Manalo run)
Mil—Milton 47 run (Matas kick)
StL—Colton Nascimento 7 pass from Tagovailoa (run failed)
RUSHING—Saint Louis: Tagovailoa 14-73, Raymond Caayan 10-41, Jonathon Manalo 3-19, Kuhns 4-(-4). Mililani: Milton 9-204, Malepeai 25-112, Cheyne Constantino 3-14.
PASSING—Saint Louis: Tagovailoa 19-28-0-188, Ryder Kuhns 12-22-2-160. Mililani: Milton 21-31-0-369, Wilson 1-1-0-33.
RECEIVING—Saint Louis: Cui 10-112, Souza 7-107, Drew Kobayashi 4-67, Cash Searle 2-38, Nascimento 2-16, Lefau 2-7, Rico Sallas 1-5, Leelan Oasay 1-2, Manalo 1-0, Caayan 1-(-6). Mililani: Timoteo 9-167, Souza 8-161, Bronson Ramos 4-59, Malepeai 1-15.
Junior Varsity—Saint Louis 18, Mililani 14.
