The 2015 high school football season kicked off this past weekend and was highlighted by a game that was “just” a scrimmage.
The two best teams in the state according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser preseason top 10 — No. 2 Saint Louis and defending state champion Mililani — met at John Kauinana Stadium, generating an atmosphere that felt like a playoff setting.
The Trojans won the game, solidified their status as the No. 1-ranked team in the state, and earned bragging rights.
But that’s about it.
The game doesn’t go down as a ‘W’ in the win column for Mililani and the statistics, piled up in bunches by the Trojans offense, won’t count either.
That might be a bigger deal come November, when three-year starters McKenzie Milton and Vavae Malepeai wrap up their impressive high school careers.
Milton, 22-1 as Mililani’s starting quarterback since winning the job three games into his sophomore season, enters his senior year with 4,959 passing yards and 51 touchdowns in 25 career games.
Only 10 quarterbacks from Oahu schools have thrown for more than 6,000 yards in a career, and Milton became just the fourth player to top 3,300 passing yards in a season as a junior.
Another year like that would surpass Timmy Chang’s career mark of 8,001 yards set from 1997 to 1999 at Saint Louis.
Chang, who threw 113 career TD passes, needed 41 games to reach that mark and completed 60.2 percent (464-for-771) of his throws with 23 picks.
Milton, who at most can play 14 games this season but will likely end up with 12 or fewer, has completed 65.3 percent (373-for-571) of his passes with 14 interceptions and has also run for 1,386 yards and 16 TDs.
It’s genuinely possible that Milton, if he stays healthy, could finish with more than 7,000 yards passing and 2,000 yards rushing for his career and potentially even threaten 10,000 total yards.
His experience has earned the trust of coach Rod York, who said after the scrimmage that Milton called all of his own plays in the second half.
During that time, he was 8-for-8 for 196 yards and three touchdowns.
“When he’s executing, we’re at our best,” York told the Star-Advertiser’s Paul Honda after the game.
The one person who could get in the way of Milton’s run at the record book is his star running back, Malepeai, who committed to Oregon this summer.
Malepeai has posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons as a sophomore and junior and begins his senior campaign with 2,619 yards and 43 touchdowns in 24 games.
It would take 1,810 yards to beat the career mark of 4,428 held by ‘Iolani’s Joe Igber (1996 to ‘98).
Only six running backs have tallied more than 3,500 yards in a career, and Malepeai has been especially good finding the end zone.
He’s had 20 or more touchdowns in each of his previous two seasons and needs just 14 to break Igber’s mark of 56 rushing touchdowns.
He’s been a workhorse for the Trojans, averaging more than 19 carries per game. For his career, his 5.8 yards per carry ranks well below the top six all-time rushers, including Saint Louis’s Pesefea Fiaseu, who averaged 8.9 yards in a career in totaling 3,543 yards.
Other notable marks include Punahou’s Mosi Tatupu (3,580 career yards, 7.1 ypc), Kahuku’s Mark Atuaia (4,156 yards, 7.9 ypc) and Aofaga Wily (4,205 yards, 6.4 ypc), and Igber (6.8 ypc).
Malepeai isn’t the only running back gunning for a third consecutive 1,000-yard season. Punahou’s Wayne Taulapapa enters the season with 2,137 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns and picked up 71 yards on eight carries with a score in Saturday’s 49-7 win over Leilehua.
Taulapapa, who rushed for 260 yards in last year’s state final against the Trojans, is averaging 7.5 yards per attempt in his career.
Other record chasers include ‘Iolani senior receiver Keoni-Kordell Makekau, who needs 729 yards to surpass 2,500 for his career. He’d be only the fifth player to reach that mark.
The High School Top 10
Voted on by coaches and media statewide. First-place votes in parentheses. Ten points for first-place votes, nine for second, etc.
FOOTBALL |
TEAM |
W |
L |
PTS. |
LW |
1. Mililani (13) |
0 |
0 |
139 |
1 |
2. Saint Louis (1) |
0 |
0 |
121 |
2 |
3. Punahou |
1 |
0 |
115 |
3 |
4. Kahuku |
1 |
0 |
98 |
4 |
5. Kamehameha |
1 |
0 |
86 |
5 |
6. Farrington |
0 |
0 |
66 |
6 |
7. Kapolei |
1 |
0 |
50 |
NR |
8. ‘Iolani |
1 |
0 |
43 |
10 |
9. Kapaa |
1 |
0 |
12 |
NR |
10. Campbell |
0 |
1 |
11 |
7 |
Also receiving votes: Hilo 10, Kaiser 6, Lahainaluna 5, Leilehua 3, Moanalua 3, Waianae 1, Baldwin 1.
Top Performers
LINEMAN OF THE WEEK
Bradlee Anae, Kahuku
The 6-foot-4, 220-pound defensive end came up with two sacks in No. 4 Kahuku’s 50-0 shutout of then-No. 7 Campbell on Friday. He also wreaked havoc most of the night all along the line of scrimmage with his speed.
For that, Anae was named the lineman of the week. It was just one of many fine defensive outings for the Red Raiders, who held star running back Terell Johnson to minus-14 yards rushing. As a team, Campbell was held to minus-45 yards rushing, 19 positive total yards from scrimmage.
BACK OF THE WEEK
Michael Feliciano, Moanalua
The senior running back torched Waiakea for 230 yards on just eight carries and three touchdowns on Saturday, tying Pono Tiave’s effort in 2007 for the third most in a single game in school history.
Only Dimitrius Hawkins (276 in 2002) and Tahje Canyon (279 in 2009) have had better days for Na Menehune.
Feliciano started his scoring from 25 yards out, then followed it with TD runs from 82 and 95 yards. Feliciano rushed for 252 yards with two touchdowns all of last year.
Passing
|
CAREER (Min. 6,000 yards) |
NAME, SCHOOL |
YEARS |
G |
COM. |
ATT. |
% |
INT |
TD |
YDS |
Timmy Chang, StL |
1997-99 |
41 |
464 |
771 |
60.2 |
23 |
113 |
8,001 |
Andrew Manley, Leil. |
2007-09 |
32 |
640 |
1,077 |
59.4 |
34 |
67 |
7,637 |
Brett Kan, Punahou |
2004-06 |
33 |
569 |
1,000 |
56.9 |
49 |
58 |
7,188 |
Larry Tuileta, Punahou |
2011-13 |
34 |
485 |
811 |
59.8 |
19 |
77 |
6,962 |
Reece Foy, ‘Iolani |
2010-12 |
36 |
556 |
902 |
61.6 |
32 |
70 |
6,620 |
SEASON (Min. 3,000 yards) |
NAME, SCHOOL |
YEAR |
G |
COM. |
ATT. |
% |
INT |
TD |
YDS |
Timmy Chang, Saint Louis |
1999 |
16 |
254 |
418 |
60.8 |
10 |
64 |
3,985 |
PJ Minaya, Pac-Five |
2009 |
12 |
279 |
485 |
57.5 |
18 |
45 |
3,765 |
Andrew Manley, Leilehua |
2008 |
14 |
315 |
510 |
61.8 |
17 |
31 |
3,649 |
Jarin Morikawa, Mililani |
2012 |
13 |
305 |
532 |
57.3 |
13 |
37 |
3,583 |
McKenzie Milton, Mililani |
2014 |
12 |
237 |
343 |
69.1 |
8 |
35 |
3,339 |
Rushing
|
CAREER (Min. 3,500 yards) |
NAME, SCHOOL |
YEAR |
G |
ATT. |
TD |
YDS |
Joe Igber, ‘Iolani |
1996-98 |
30 |
651 |
56 |
4,428 |
Aofaga Wily, Kahuku |
2010-12 |
32 |
662 |
50 |
4,205 |
Mark Atuaia, Kahuku |
1988-90 |
29 |
527 |
51 |
4,156 |
Kama Bailey, Damien |
2005-07 |
31 |
540 |
39 |
3,930 |
Mosi Tatupu, Punahou |
1971-73 |
26 |
505 |
36 |
3,580 |
Pesefea Fiaseu, StL |
1998-00 |
38 |
397 |
51 |
3,543 |
SEASON (Min. 2,000 yards) |
NAME, SCHOOL |
YEAR |
G |
ATT. |
TD |
YDS |
Mark Atuaia, Kahuku |
1990 |
10 |
202 |
30 |
2,377 |
Randall Okimoto, Farr. |
1990 |
14 |
342 |
33 |
2,149 |
Joe Igber, ‘Iolani |
1998 |
10 |
230 |
27 |
2,112 |
Kama Bailey, Damien |
2007 |
10 |
206 |
22 |
2,045 |
Receiving
|
CAREER (Min. 2,000 yards) |
NAME, SCHOOL |
YEARS |
G |
REC. |
TD |
YDS |
Kanawai Noa, Punahou |
2012-14 |
28 |
172 |
36 |
3,510 |
Gerald Welch, Saint Louis |
1997-99 |
37 |
190 |
46 |
3,490 |
Miah Ostrowski, Punahou |
2004-06 |
33 |
226 |
30 |
3,220 |
London Amorin, Pac-Five |
2008-09 |
24 |
174 |
30 |
2,647 |
Robby Toma, Punahou |
2007-08 |
22 |
126 |
29 |
2,204 |
SEASON (Min. 1,100 yards) |
NAME, SCHOOL |
YEAR |
G |
REC. |
TD |
YDS |
Gerald Welch, Saint Louis |
1999 |
13 |
96 |
23 |
1,689 |
London Amorin, Pac-Five |
2009 |
12 |
96 |
20 |
1,648 |
Robby Toma, Punahou |
2008 |
13 |
91 |
17 |
1,382 |
Miah Ostrowski, Punahou |
2006 |
10 |
81 |
11 |
1,317 |
Kanawai Noa, Punahou |
2012 |
9 |
63 |
16 |
1,305 |