In a three-for-one special, Mililani earned a week off, a state tournament berth and Central Oahu bragging rights with a win on Friday.
The Trojans secured second place in the OIA Red — which comes with a bye in the first round of the OIA Division I playoffs — with a 52-35 victory over Leilehua at Hugh Yoshida Stadium in the renewal of the rivalry after a two-year hiatus.
With a spot in the OIA quarterfinals, No. 7 Mililani (5-2, 5-2 OIA Red) is assured of a place in at least the Division I state tournament. The Trojans can earn a spot in the Open Division with a top-four finish in the playoffs.
“We’re in the grind, so it’s a big win for us,” Mililani coach Rod York said. “(We’re) putting the pieces together.”
Mililani’s win to close the regular season pushed Farrington into third place and Leilehua (3-5, 3-4) into fifth pending the result of tonight’s game between Kailua (3-3) and Castle (2-4).
Mililani sophomore quarterback Dillon Gabriel passed for 161 yards and a touchdown and ran for 81 yards and three scores.
Jalen Olomua powered for 95 yards and three touchdowns and Darius Muasau, who entered the game with 137 yards on 22 carries this season, helped ignite the Mililani offense with 121 yards on 16 attempts.
“Dillon is part of the run game. He’s done a great job with reads,” York said.
Leilehua running back/quarterback/receiver Kaleo Aloha Piceno scored on a 50-yard run and caught two touchdown passes in the final period as Leilehua cut a 24-point halftime deficit to 10. But Mililani answered both Mules scores with two Olomua touchdown runs to hold on.
Kona Andres shared quarterback duties with Piceno and threw for 301 yards and three touchdowns in the shootout.
Mililani’s Andrew Valladares set up the game’s first scoring drive with a 59-yard punt return to the Leilehua 24 and the Trojans took the lead on Gabriel’s sneak from the 1.
Leilehua answered when Piceno took a handoff, was stopped up the middle, then broke loose around the left side for a 50-yard touchdown run.
Mililani responded with power runs up the middle by Muasau and Olomua for 32 yards on four carries and reclaimed the lead on Gabriel’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Cy Kuboyama-Hayashi.
Mililani took control with 17 unanswered points in the second quarter, with short touchdown runs by Olomua and Gabriel sandwiching a 37-yard field goal by Damien Santiago. When Gabriel scored to give the Trojans a 31-7 lead with 2:08 left in the quarter, Mililani had 135 yards on 28 plays in the period to Leilehua’s 1 yard on six plays.
“They took advantage of our mistakes in the first half,” Leilehua coach Nolan Tokuda said. “Our kids are learning how to fight no matter how tough it is.… Small breakdowns here and there, but we’re fighting through.”