No. 3 Mililani already locked up the OIA Red’s top seed last week, but the Trojans kept their undefeated season alive with a sound 52-0 trouncing of Kailua in its final tune-up before the playoffs.
The Trojans (8-0, 7-0 OIA Red), buoyed by an amped-up homecoming and senior night crowd, never let the Surfriders (4-4, 3-4) catch their breath on both sides of the ball.
“I think just going out there and executing every game. No matter what the circumstance is, just go out there and play hard, because you never know when it’s the last time,” Mililani quarterback Dillon Gabriel said. “For the seniors, they balled out and it was a good opportunity for them.”
Mililani raced to a 17-0 lead after the first quarter with Gabriel leading the charge. The Trojans threw the ball exclusively on their first two drives, and the result was two long passing scores to Ryan Chang and Reichel Vegas via Gabriel. He had just two incompletions in the two drives, and both were drops.
The junior southpaw picked up where he left off in the second quarter, hitting Raysen Motoyama for a 24-yard score with 10:06 remaining in the half. Gabriel and Chang’s second end-zone connection put the Trojans up 38-0 and enabled the running clock rule for the second half.
Gabriel was 17-for-28 in the first half with 380 yards and four touchdowns, spreading the wealth and hitting eight different receivers in the process. Touchdown No. 5 for Gabriel came in the fourth quarter when he hit Venaiah Meleisea for a 42-yard score. In total, he finished with 431 passing yards, putting him in a tie for second in school history behind McKenzie Milton.
“Just the team playing together, that was the whole focus,” Gabriel said. “Stats doesn’t really matter unless you get the ‘W’ and that’s the only stat that truly matters.”
The Trojans defense was equally solid, holding Kailua scoreless as the Surfriders played without starting quarterback Aaron Mejia.
“It was good momentum for us. Hat’s off to Kailua, they didn’t have their quarterback and obviously that changed the game plan for them,” Mililani coach Rod York said. “We got homecoming and we tried to send the seniors out in the regular season on a positive note so we can take the momentum into the playoffs, so we’re happy with our execution.”
Come playoff time, the Trojans want a fate different from last year’s, even though it ended with a Division I championship in the HHSAA’s second tier. This year’s team, which has beaten every opponent by double digits thus far, wants to play and beat the best.
“(The top seed) was a goal, but it’s not our last goal,” York said. “One down, we got four more to go.”
