The promise of a close matchup between two Top 10 teams did not pan out Friday night in Kalihi.
Instead, No. 4 Mililani put the pedal down early and No. 6 Farrington did not have an answer. Led by Dillon Gabriel’s three touchdown passes to Ryan Chang, the Trojans (5-0, 4-0 Oahu Interscholastic Association Red) romped to a 42-6 victory at Skippa Diaz Stadium.
Dating back to last season, it was Mililani’s ninth straight win, which lifted coach Rod York to a career mark of 71-19. That’s one game better than Saint Louis’ Cal Lee, Hawaii’s winningest coach, after 90 games.
“Even before the game, I was concerned,” said Govs coach Randall Okimoto, whose team dropped to 3-3 overall and 3-2 in the league. “Just looking at that offensive line and all the people (at Mililani) who are bred to play football. And don’t forget, then you have Gabriel and those receivers. And Coach York does a great job in control of that offensive system. They have precise route-running and accurate passing. We hadn’t faced that combination yet this season.”
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* Hawaii high school football scoreboard, Sept. 8
>> Pac-Five vs. Damien, 3 p.m., Aloha Stadium
>> Kahuku vs. Bingham, 4 p.m., at Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas
>> Campbell vs. Moanalua, 5:30 p.m., at Roosevelt
>> Punahou vs. KS, 6 p.m., Aloha Stadium
>> Kapolei at Kailua, 6:30 p.m.
>> Waianae at Radford, 6:30 p.m.
Gabriel and Chang hooked up early for three touchdowns — of 21, 15 and 57 yards — within the first 8:44. The Govs got one of those back in the first quarter on Stephen Eter’s 57-yard TD pass to Chad Silva.
“The dude’s fast,” said Gabriel, when asked how Chang got open most of the night. “We’ll take him one-on-one with anyone.”
Chang finished with eight catches for 158 yards.
“The bottom line is we executed the game plan,” York said. “It wasn’t just Chang. It was a lot of guys. When the opening was there, we took it.”
The Mililani defense — led by Mykah Tuiolemotu and Shane Kady, who had a sack apiece — did its part in not yielding sustained Farrington drives. Spencer Santos and Dylan Mathew Tirso Miguel recovered fumbles for the Trojans and Storm Sua picked off a Govs pass.
“The defense is everything,” York said. “Defensive coordinator Vince Nihipali and coach Maa Tanuvasa and the rest of them do a great job.”
The Trojans outgained the Governors 381 to 145.
“It’s not like we can simulate the Mililani offense in practice,” said Farrington’s Okimoto, who isn’t ruling out another matchup against the Trojans. “That’s not something we have. That’s why it’s good you have a regular season and then the playoffs. The (pass coverage) is definitely fixable. It’s one of those things — you’ve got to experience it before you can get better.”
The Govs held Mililani running back Kilifi Malepeai to 42 rushing yards, but Malepeai scored one of his team’s three rushing touchdowns along with Darius Muasau and Gabriel.
Gabriel’s 15-yard TD run around the left side after a fake handoff up the middle made it 42-6 with 2:10 left in the third quarter and started the mercy-rule running clock.
The Govs will try to rebound at home next Saturday against Castle.
“We knew coming in Mililani was a good team, so we’re not disappointed,” Farrington’s Silva said. “We worked hard in preparation for them, but we gotta come out harder next week.”
The Trojans visit Kapolei next Friday.
“We have a big game next week,” Gabriel said. “Every game is a big game.”
More photos of the game between Mililani and Farrington.
