No. 4 Leilehua thwarts No. 7 Mililani

Another year, another tight battle between Leilehua and Mililani.

On Saturday, Leilehua’s defense provided the pivotal plays in the matchup of Central Oahu neighbors and the Mules pulled out a 17-13 win at Hugh Yoshida Stadium.

Leilehua forced five turnovers, including two interceptions in the fourth quarter, and the defense accounted for the decisive score in the fourth-ranked Mules’ OIA Red West opener.

"Offensively, (Mililani’s) so potent, we’re so fortunate our defense stepped up for us, as we knew they would," Leilehua coach Nolan Tokuda said. "We can always hang our hat on the defense and they played for us tonight."

The matchup had been decided by a touchdown or less in seven of the previous nine meetings, and Leilehua (1-0, 3-0) claimed its second straight win in the series while handing No. 7 Mililani (1-1, 3-1) its first loss of the season.

Leilehua rotated three quarterbacks –Justin Jenks, Levi Castanares and Keoni Piceno — and took a 10-0 lead in the first half on a 2-yard run by Ikaika Piceno and a 43-yard field goal by Brennon Jacinto.

The defense held Mililani quarterback Jarin Morikawa to 58 passing yards going into halftime and kept pressure on him most of the game, dropping him for five sacks, three by linebacker Keannu Kamakaiwi.

"They brought some heat on us and we couldn’t pick up those blitzes when we needed to," Mililani coach Rod York said.

But Morikawa did get the Trojans rolling late in the half and led Mililani on a 12-play drive covering 70 yards and threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Ekolu Ramos with 22 seconds left.

The Trojans saw an opportunity to take the lead early in the third quarter slip away when a fumble near the goal line went out of the end zone for a touchback, giving Leilehua possession.

The Mules extended the lead to 17-7 when Kamakaiwi forced a fumble and lineman Robert McCarthy scooped up the loose ball at the 27 and ran it into the end zone at the 5:51 mark of the third quarter.

"I just went in and I was lucky the ball fumbled the right way. I did nothing but walk it in. It was just the right place at the right time," McCarthy said. "Everything went perfect and I was lucky enough to be the one to capitalize on it."

Due to penalties, Leilehua struggled to sustain drives, and Mililani closed to 17-13 when Ramos made a diving catch in the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown reception with 9:55 left in the fourth quarter.

The teams traded punts for most of the quarter, and Leilehua safety Branson Funakoshi, a transfer from Mililani, intercepted a pass from Morikawa with 3:11 left.

The Mules couldn’t produce a first down and Mililani got the ball back with 2:03 left. A pass interference call on Leilehua cornerback Shaldan Kalaau pushed Mililani to the Mules’ 15 with 1:09 left. But Kalaau made amends two plays later with an interception that sealed the win for the Mules.

"Give it to Leilehua; their kids played hard, their defense held us down for the most part, and we just made some penalties, but we’ll be back," York said. "Our kids battled, we just didn’t win."