Mililani’s Milton has UCF on an unbeaten roll

Say what you want about strength of schedule. But at 7-0, Central Florida is among just five remaining undefeated college Football Bowl Series teams.

And if you’re a regular reader of this section of the paper, you’re probably aware that McKenzie Milton is the Knights’ starting quarterback. UCF is ranked 15th, and the sophomore from Mililani is a big reason why.

Milton is atop the FBS stats in passing completion percentage (.729) and passing efficiency rating. He’s thrown 19 touchdown passes and three interceptions and was named a Maxwell Award semifinalist Monday.

The Knights finish the regular season with SMU, UConn, Temple and South Florida. If they win out, there likely will be a rematch with No. 22 Memphis in the American Conference championship game.

At this point, UCF looks like the most likely Group of Five team to make it to a New Year’s Day bowl game.

Milton’s name is mentioned in the same paragraph as “Heisman Trophy” almost only because of his connection to another MM from Hawaii, Marcus Mariota, who won the stiff-arm statue in 2014. Scott Frost, UCF’s coach who recruited Milton away from the University of Hawaii, was Mariota’s quarterbacks coach at Oregon.

Who knows? If Milton keeps it up maybe he’ll make the short list and get a trip to New York next month. If that does happen, credit Milton’s high school head coach, Rod York, as the first one to seriously voice the possibility, back in September.

>> Solomon Elimimian broke the CFL record for tackles in a season three years ago. Today, as his BC Lions finish their season against the Toronto Argonauts, UH’s all-time leading tackler has a chance to break his own mark.

Elimimian needs 11 stops to surpass the 143 he registered in 2014, when his efforts earned him the CFL’s most outstanding player award.

Meanwhile, Hamilton finished its season Friday with a 33-0 win over Montreal. Saint Louis School alumnus Jeremiah Masoli led the June Jones-coached Tiger-Cats with 318 yards passing and 88 rushing, including a 59-yard score. Alex Green — who holds UH’s single-game rushing record — carried 11 times for 76 yards, including a TD.

Hamilton, which was 1-7 before Jones arrived, won five of its last 10 with the former Warriors coach.

>> Apparently, former Hawaii News Now sports director and KITV news anchor Mike Cherry withheld some vital information while securing his new job at WMUR TV in New Hampshire.

“I’m a Yankees fan, so I can’t wait for my first Sox-Yanks series in person,” said Cherry, a week into his new adventure.

Manchester, N.H., is definitely Red Sox country. Even if Cherry has been exposed, though, the Maui High alum said he’s settling in well. We’ll check in with him again in February.

>> Glad to see UH and UNLV have come up with a suitable prize for the winner of today’s game that doesn’t reference gambling. The “Island Showdown” trophy featuring a pineapple is a lot better than the “Pair-O-Dice” award of last year that included, yeah, you guessed it, a pair of dice. Obviously, that’s not a very good look for anything having to do with college sports.

It reminded me of that crazy game in 2011 when UH was favored by about 18 at UNLV, but lost 40-20. Then there was the even crazier day, two months later, when UH’s administration announced in the morning it would support the Honolulu Police Department’s investigation of point-shaving allegations. In the afternoon, HPD said there was no investigation.

>> Speaking of game trophies, one featuring a conch shell would be perfect for Hawaii and San Diego State. Called quiquiztli by the ancient Aztecs, blowing the conch was as important to their culture as it was to Hawaiians.

>> John Schnatter complained this week about NFL protests negatively affecting his company’s bottom line, since Papa John’s is the official pizza of the league.

I miss the days when the most controversial thing about pizza was debating with Bobby Curran about how Chicago-style deep dish is far superior to that New York stuff that just dries out under heat lamps. I have to admit Bobby has a point when he says deep dish isn’t really a pie — however you want to categorize it, it’s a slice of heaven.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.