Mililani coach Rod York said the Open Division “was our only option” after losing to Waianae in the OIA quarterfinals.
He’ll have to settle for a state title as a pretty good parting gift.
Junior Jalen Olomua rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns and Mililani won its second state football championship in school history with a 31-20 victory over ‘Iolani on Friday night before a crowd of 5,292 at Aloha Stadium in the Division I final of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA State Football Championships.
Unlike the previous 16 Division I state champions, the Trojans take home the title in the second-tier division after failing to qualify for the new six-team Open Division that was created this year.
York, who finished off his fifth straight season of nine-plus wins to improve to 66-19 in his seven years as the Trojans’ head coach, said championships don’t define his team.
“We understand that this is not the championship as far as the Open Division, but it’s like bowl games,” York said. “You have your national championship game, well, this is the Hawaii Bowl for us. We’re honored to play in it.”
Mililani didn’t hold back defensively, sacking ‘Iolani quarterback Tai-John Mizutani seven times. Defensive lineman Tasi Malepeai returned one of those sacks that resulted in a fumble 31 yards the other way for a defensive touchdown.
Dallas Muasau added 101 yards rushing on 22 carries and Kailiohu Kila scored on a 13-yard TD run to give Mililani its largest lead at 31-13 lead in the third quarter.
Mililani outgained ‘Iolani 429 to 186 in total yards.
“Offensively, it all starts from the trenches, you know,” said Olomua, who had 151 total yards, two sacks and a forced fumble. “The defense, all credit to the (defensive backs) because they held it down in the back and they let us have the time to get sacks.”
‘Iolani, which failed to win a game against an ILH opponent for the second straight season since moving up to Division I, lost for the first time against a non-ILH opponent.
The Raiders beat Moanalua and Campbell in the state tournament before hanging in with a tough Trojans squad.
“You’ve got to give this senior class credit,” ‘Iolani coach Wendell Look said. “They went winless in the ILH for two years. You ask any 15-, 16-, 17-, 18-year-olds to do that and the enthusiasm that they had knowing they were going to play Saint Louis, Punahou and Kamehameha, I think it speaks loudly about these guys and their character and what they’re made of.”
Mizutani, despite being under relentless pressure, was 22-for-48 for 262 yards and two touchdown passes.
Running back KJ Pascua caught both scores and finished with six receptions for 102 yards in his final game.
“They confused us,” said Pascua, who scored 18 touchdowns this season. “We had a great finish to the end of the season. Just making the championship, nobody thought we’d be here. It would have been a little nicer to cap it off.”
The Trojans bolted out to a 10-0 lead behind Olomua, who made his presence felt on both sides of the ball.
He had sacks on each of ‘Iolani’s first two drives and scored on a 19-yard touchdown run to put Mililani ahead by 10 less than nine minutes into the game.
The Trojans, who had five sacks in the first half, brought relentless pressure against Mizutani.
After the first two drives, ‘Iolani made some adjustments and Mizutani picked apart the Trojans. Despite getting sacked a third time, Mizutani converted a third-and-18 with a pass to Pascua and hit Justin Genovia on a 21-yard screen pass to set up a 14-yard touchdown toss to Pascua.
Pascua was held to 2 yards rushing on seven carries and ‘Iolani had negative-76 yards rushing yards for the game, which is the lowest total ever in a state tournament game.
“Their front gave us some problems and we couldn’t protect our quarterback,” Look said. “(Mililani was) aggressive and they came after it. We couldn’t get off the line.”
The Trojans went back up 10 when Joshua Banks sacked Mizutani and forced a fumble that was scooped up by Malepeai and returned 31 yards for a touchdown.
Olomua, Walter Fox and Dante James-Fainga had two sacks apiece for Mililani.
