Rod York is facing his biggest challenge in three years as head football coach at Mililani.

Granted, there hasn’t been much to worry about for York, who is 22-10 with an OIA Red championship under his belt since taking the job in 2010.

But the third-ranked Trojans enter their second state tournament in three years fresh off the worst loss Mililani has had in more than a decade.

Top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Kahuku dominated the Trojans in the OIA Red title game, forcing eight turnovers en route to a 50-13 victory.

With so much buildup toward that game, York is now faced with the challenge of turning things around in just seven days.

"Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday has been some of our best practices this year, to be honest with you," York said Thursday. "This team is motivated. When we left the locker room after the Kahuku game we were already looking forward to this Baldwin game."

Mililani (9-2) heads to Maui to face the ninth-ranked Bears (7-2) today at 5 p.m. Baldwin, the MIL champions, will host an opening-round state tournament game for the seventh consecutive year.

As long as the opponent isn’t Leilehua, which eliminated Baldwin three straight times from 2008-10, Baldwin has fared well, beating Farrington twice and Miilani once in 2006 during that span.

Since losing to Saint Louis and Lahainaluna by a combined score of 78-0 early in the season, Baldwin has rattled off six consecutive wins, including a 20-17 overtime victory over the Lunas in mid-October.

"We’re good, everybody’s healthy," Baldwin coach A.J. Roloos said at the HHSAA press conference on Sunday.

On paper: This matchup features two quarterbacks who go about winning in much different ways.

Mililani quarterback Jarin Morikawa has rewritten the school record books this season, throwing for 3,111 yards and 32 touchdowns.

He set a school record with 408 passing yards in a win over Waipahu last month and has also had games of 387 and 367 yards. He owns eight of the 10 best Mililani passing performances since 1999, sharing the list with current University of Montana QB Trent McKinney.

"Our defense has to step up to face a good passing team," Roloos said. "We have to slow them down."

Part of the way the Bears can counter Morikawa’s arm is possessing the ball for long drives. To do that, the Bears will use the dual-threat capabilities of their all-league quarterback, senior Keelan Ewaliko.

Ewaliko, who has committed to Hawaii, rushed for more than 600 yards in MIL play this year, including a 33-yard touchdown in Baldwin’s last game — a 21-0 win over King Kekaulike that was called at halftime due to the tsunami warning.

"We’ve played a lot of good teams in our league and Baldwin is a good team with a good quarterback," York said. "But we’re not going to change what we do or how we prepare. We feel what we do is good enough."

Baldwin will use standouts Miki Fangatua (6 feet, 253 pounds) and Semisi Malafu (6-2, 210) on the defensive line to try to pressure Morikawa, who threw three interceptions and fumbled once under a heavy pass rush by Kahuku last week.

Mililani is 9-0 when it scores more than 30 points this year and 0-2 when held below 30.

"It’s up to my defensive coordinator, Rodney Figueroa, it’s up to him what the game plan is," Roloos said. "We’ve got to pressure. I watched the Kahuku game and they brought blitzes from all over. You’ve got to pressure a good quarterback or he’s going to pick you apart."

The Trojans have only allowed more than 21 points twice this year and had held six of eight opponents to 14 points or fewer before allowing 71 over their past two games.

York will rely on his front four and junior middle linebacker Dayton Furuta (6-0, 215) to make Ewaliko as uncomfortable as possible.

"We do know who their playmakers are and we’ll do certain things to take their playmakers away," York said. "We’ll see if other guys can beat us."

The skinny: Morikawa is going to get his yards, especially when Mililani throws it as much as it does.

Baldwin will go as far as Ewaliko takes it.

If they can get past Mililani, Ewaliko and the Bears will get a chance to atone for their last trip to Oahu. Baldwin started the season at Aloha Stadium against Saint Louis, which destroyed the Bears 46-0.

Ewaliko was hit on seven of Baldwin’s first nine games and eventually left the game with a broken rib, forcing him to sit out the next two games.

His absence was clearly felt as Baldwin scored just 25 points in a win over Maui and was destroyed 32-0 by Lahainaluna.

In order to keep him healthy, Baldwin has tried to keep him in the pocket more and get more out of the passing game than relying on Ewaliko’s ability to make plays with his legs.

"We try to mix it up half and half," Roloos said. "We try to keep (Ewaliko) in the pocket because they’ll mostly put a spy on him. We wanted to keep him contained, not run him as much as last year."

Since his return, Baldwin has won six straight games and will try to make the state semis for the fifth time in the past eight years.

Junior linebacker Jordan Hoiem (6-4, 212) is about "90 percent," according to Roloos. Hoiem, who has offers from UH, Utah, UNLV and Utah State, has dealt with turf toe and a fractured foot this year and has only played in three games.

X-factor: Senior Abraham Reinhardt (5-11, 180) has been a terror in the return game for the Bears.

He returned a punt and kickoff for touchdowns in the same quarter in a win over Kamehameha-Maui last month.

If the Trojans slow down Ewaliko early, a big play from Reinhardt in the return game could be the momentum swing Baldwin needs to get itself going.

Roloos hinted Reinhardt could also make an appearance at running back or receiver.

"We’ll see," Roloos said. "It’s the state tournament. It’s a surprise."