Mililani High football coach Rod York is fond of extolling the message of “300,” a movie in which 300 warriors faced an army estimated at 300,000 soldiers.

York has said Darius Muasau, a former Mililani all-purpose player and University of Hawaii freshman linebacker, could be one of the 300.

It has appeared that way this season, with Muasau establishing a valued role on defense and special teams for the Rainbow Warriors.

Muasau made his first UH start in last Saturday’s game against Fresno State. Muasau amassed a team-high nine tackles. He also led the charge on a key onside kick, recovering the football to set up the Warriors’ game-tying drive.

“After I got up, I was so excited to make a play for my team,” Muasau said. “It was a blind-side, onside kick. It was kind of planned out. Special teams came out with a nice executed kick.”

What was not envisioned was the impact Muasau would make 16 months after accepting a scholarship offer from the Warriors.

During this summer’s training camp, Muasau recalled, “it was a good experience getting to play with guys I grew up watching. Solly (Solomon Matautia), I actually watched him in high school. I knew Penei (Pavihi) when he was in Samoa. I knew Miah (Pritchard) when he was at Farrington. Just being able to play with these guys, having them as my teammates, it’s a humbling experience.”

During camp, the Warriors go through cross training. “We do a battery of special-team drills — pseudo special teams, half defense,” defensive coordinator Corey Batoon said. “That’s where those guys can show what they can do. He caught a lot of our attention during fall camp.”

Special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial noticed Muasau “was a guy who didn’t shy away from competition. And he was coachable. As a freshman, a lot of times you want to rely on what got you to college football instead of working on your game. He showed a lot of maturity, and was coachable. He worked his tail off.”

A year-old NCAA rule enables a football player to participate in as many as four games and still qualify for a redshirt season. “With the four-game rule, one of the things we wanted to do in the first game against Arizona is see him against good competition and if he’d be able to withstand the season. He did a great job.”

Muasau was admittedly “very nervous, especially when we started off our first game against Arizona. I just had nothing but the jitters, the butterflies in my stomach. I had to get used to playing with a bigger crowd. There were a lot of fans there, a lot of bigger noises, a lot of competition playing against better guys, bigger guys (than in high school).”

It soon became apparent that Muasau would be an important player on the so-called big four units — kickoffs, punts, kickoff returns and punt returns.

But with a defense thinned with injuries and circumstances, Muasau was asked to play middle linebacker. “He kind of got his opportunity,” Batoon said. “He’s one of the guys who took his opportunity and never looked back.”

Muasau is expected to have multiple roles for Saturday’s game against San Jose State.

“He’s a freshman, but he understands,” Batoon said. “He comes in with the right mind-set. He works every day to improve. … (Young players are) playing a lot of snaps for us right now. They’re learning on the run. They’re making mistakes. But for him, he doesn’t make many mistakes over again. He doesn’t make the same mistakes. If you correct something, he understands it, he fixes it. The work ethic speaks volumes for the type of kid he is and how he’s emerged.”