Milton takes control for Mililani

Consider Mililani’s quarterback competition closed.

McKenzie Milton went 5-for-7 for 132 yards, and No. 7 Mililani upset No. 5 Waianae 44-24 at Waianae on Friday night.

"Not bad for his second varsity start," Mililani coach Rod York said. "It all starts up front and we are still trying to find the character of our team, but I’d say not too bad."

Milton struggled to move the Trojans in the first half, but clicked in the second half with some help from the guys on special teams. Bronsen Ader returned Waianae’s first punt of the second half to the 1-yard line, and Vavae Malepeai needed four tries but eventually put the ball over the line for a 20-17 lead for Mililani. The Trojans would never trail again.

Mililani got the ball at the 50 for its second drive and Milton threw a pair of screen passes to Bronson Ramos and Kainoa Wilson to get the ball to the 2. Malepeai only needed one chance to convert that time, and Mililani’s lead grew to 27-13.

Malepeai earned the hardest 117 yards of his young career, getting hit hard on every one of his 22 carries. He left the game in the fourth quarter with an injury, but walked off under his own power.

"Once we got things corrected up front he was OK," York said. "The kids made plays, they never lost faith."

His counterpart for Waianae, Jemery Willes, did not play because of what coach Danny Matsumoto said was an ankle injury. His replacement, fullback Mahvan Tau, more than made up for his absence with 141 yards on 13 carries. Waianae quarterback Kekoa Kaluhiokalani struggled against Mililani’s pass defense, going 5-for-21 for only 72 yards.

Defenses ruled in the first quarter, and Waianae broke through when punter Stanton Spencer pinned the Trojans at their 1-yard line. Mililani went three and out and the Seariders got the ball at Mililani’s 31.

Waianae gave the ball three times to Tau and once to Trensten Spragling. Tau closed the drive with a touchdown from 13 yards out, but the extra point try failed.

Waianae forced Mililani to punt again, and the Seariders went up 14-0 when Tau took a standard fullback plunge and turned it into a 74-yard touchdown. Kaluhiokalani hit Vaaitino Atuatasi on a crossing pattern for the 2-point conversion.

Mililani didn’t stay down, though, with Malepeai taking the kickoff all the way back to make it 14-7.

"Special teams were huge," York said. "You see it every week, the kids came up big when they needed to."

Mililani tied it by showing off their two-way player, with Milton hitting tight end Dayton Furuta for passes of 11 and 5 yards, the second for a touchdown. Furuta is also Mililani’s middle linebacker.

Spencer hit a 39-yard field goal with 51 seconds left to give Waianae a 17-14 halftime lead.