M is for magical.

Magnificent.

Mililani.

Milton.

McKenzie Milton. Week after week, the young quarterback made his way back to campus. On Sundays. Some receivers showed up with him, and they’d run routes of all kinds as Milton worked on every type of throw. Coach Rod York expected much from his passers, and though Mililani’s offense was still about running the football, York knew the next step in his program’s evolution would be nothing extraordinarily original.

The Trojans had to master this forward pass thing. Milton knew it, too.

So there they were, a slinger and his wing men, Sunday after Sunday, operating out of three-wide and four-wide formations. They weren’t reinventing the wheel. Much of the offense derived from a blueprint delivered by former offensive coordinator Timmy Chang, who honed his craft under Ron Lee, who mastered the route tree of June Jones, who quarterbacked for the iconic Mouse Davis.

One win after another, and another, and soon enough, the Mililani Trojans were the newest, greatest show on turf.

Or was it Punahou?

The big challenge for Milton against Punahou’s standout defense, a pairing of unbeaten league champions, could easily have finished with a second consecutive win by the private-school behemoth.

Instead, Milton did the unthinkable. He threw for a record seven touchdowns, completing 29 of 47 passes for 421 yards as Mililani outlasted top-seeded Punahou 53-45 for its first football state championship.

Voters kept that historic performance in mind as they selected him as the Star-Advertiser’s All-State offensive player of the year.

The next closest finisher in the voting was Punahou’s prolific wide receiver, Kanawai Noa.

For the year, Milton played in all 12 Mililani games — a 13th game was a preseason forfeit win — and threw for 3,339 yards, 35 TDs with just eight picks. He completed 237 of 344 passes (69 percent), averaging a whopping 9.7 yards per attempt. His passer rating of 179.35 and yards per game of 278.3 only tell part of the tale, though.

His ability to break off a big run when receivers were covered was unmatched. Every now and then, it was a read-option keeper as defenses wisely tried to contain running back Vavae Malepeai. All of Milton’s daily work and Sunday reps made life for defensive units very, very tiring. It was almost unfair when Milton got on his horse and galloped through the hashmarks to the end zone. He rushed for 802 yards (8.9 per carry) and 12 TDs. That included seven TD runs of at least 20 yards in Mililani’s first six games.

"We worked hard a lot with my wides, the O-line held down the fort. We went at it for so long, there’s just a lot of chemistry we built up, not just on the offense, but on defense, too," Milton said. "It was a lot of fun."

M is also for Manu.

As much of a stress causer as Milton was for defensive coordinators, Mililani’s own defense had a wrecking ball of its own — Rex Manu, the All-State defensive player of the year. The next two highest totals were for Kahuku DT/RB Salanoa-Alo Wily and Farrington’s Breiden Fehoko.

Manu, a 6-foot-2, 290-pound defensive tackle was a hybrid lineman of sorts. He drew double teams often, and when he had one-on-one opportunities, he usually ended up in the backfield blowing up plays for QBs and RBs. He was more than a defender. He blasted hope out of Mililani’s rivals in the gauntlet of the OIA Blue Division.

He was a run stuffer and pass rusher, and when the play went downfield, he was on his horse, too, flying full speed in pursuit.

Manu, who has committed to play at Oregon, has a motor rarely seen in the trenches. York looked to Manu as one of his senior leaders, and Manu thrived in the role without losing his sense of humor. Throw in his academic prowess, and he remains one of the state’s most highly coveted college prospects.

"It’s about making unpopular popular," Manu said of a leadership mantra he learned from York. "Do the things that people don’t want to do, but it’s the right thing to do. You’ve got to go against the grain sometimes. I say what I need to say. Sometimes, they listen."

After a perfect season, York was voted coach of the year by the panel of media and coaches.

York thought of a number of coaches deserving of the honor.

"It represents the program, the kids. I thought of Keala Watson at Nanakuli. Amosa (Amosa) doesn’t get enough credit for what he’s doing (at Campbell). Of course, Kale Ane, what he’s doing (at Punahou), he built that program up. People can say what they want, but he’s giving opportunities to kids. People criticize him, but if he gave them the opportunity, they would jump at it in a heartbeat," York said.

"I’m definitely honored and thankful. It says a lot about our coaching staff, our team moms, our faculty and administrators and, definitely, our players. We rest our hearts on our players. They led us this far and we had a great season."

STAR-ADVERTISER 2014 FOOTBALL ALL-STATE TEAM

Chosen by a vote of coaches and media