With a high-flying defense and a brutally efficient offense, No. 5 Punahou stormed into John Kauinana Stadium to beat No. 3 Mililani 43-21 on Saturday night.
Pressure from Punahou’s front seven and a lockdown secondary kept the normally dynamic Mililani offense from its usual explosiveness. As a result, Trojans quarterback Dillon Gabriel threw four interceptions and was sacked eight times.
”We practiced for Dillon because we know he’s talented both running and passing,” said Buffanblu defensive back Trent Shiraki, who had two interceptions. “Everyone did their job. No one was selfish. We were team players and did what we were supposed to do and this is the outcome and it feels really good. Mililani’s a great team, so it feels really good to come out with the ‘W’.”
Punahou quarterback Hugh Brady and a host of receivers kept the points coming often. Brady finished with four touchdown passes, all in the first half, for a 35-14 lead at the break. The Trojans led 14-7 at one point before the Buffanblu’s onslaught of those 28 consecutive points.
Koa Eldredge’s touchdown catch of 75 yards and Vincent Terrell’s 58-yard TD run turned the Buffanblu’s 7-point deficit into a 7-point lead, 21-14.
The visitors closed out the first half with two more big plays — Brady’s scoring strikes to Eldredge for 52 yards and to Les Falatea for 88 yards.
The Trojans (3-2, 1-0 OIA Open) cut it to 35-21 in the third quarter on the hard running of Kilifi Malepeai (154 rushing yards) and Gabriel’s 34-yard TD pass to Ryan Chang, but Punahou (3-1, 3-1 ILH Open) closed it out with a safety and Sitiveni Kaufusi’s 3-yard TD run.
”We were just hoping to contain him,” Buffanblu coach Kale Ane said about Gabriel. “He’s a great quarterback and they have a tremendous running back (Malepeai). It was a total group effort. We played well. We were up for the game. We put more pressure than we normally do. The kids made plays when they had to make plays. We worked hard all week on the coverage. The windows were tiny (for Gabriel) and he still put some in there. I’m real happy. The coverage was good.”
As for the offense, Ane said, “It’s hard to complain about putting up 40-plus points. But there’s a lot more we can do. We lit up in the first half, but in the second half, Mililani came to play defensively and we struggled. It was good to get one at the end. There’s a lot we can do to get better.”
GAME SUMMARY
No. 5 Punahou 43, No. 3 Mililani 21
At Mililani
>> Punahou (3-1, 3-1) 7 28 2 6 — 43
>> Mililani (3-2, 1-0) 7 7 7 0 — 21
Punahou — Les Falatea 11 pass from Hugh Brady (Tim Horn kick)
Mililani — Kilifi Malepeai 21 run (Liam McGehee kick)
Mililani — Maka Hill 3 pass from Dillon Gabriel (McGehee kick)
Punahou — Koa Eldredge 75 pass from Brady (Horn kick)
Punahou — Vincent Terrell 58 run (Horn kick)
Punahou — Eldredge 52 pass from Brady (Horn kick)
Punahou — Les Falatea 88 pass from Brady (Horn kick)
Mililani — Ryan Chang 34 pass from Gabriel (McGehee kick)
Punahou — Safety: Kahanu Kia tackles Mililani punter Elijah Foki in the end zone.
Punahou — Sitiveni Kaufusi 3 run (kick failed)
RUSHING — Punahou: Terrell 8-83, Kaufusi 8-10, Brady 2-(minus-2). Mililani: Malepeai 18-154, Raysen Motoyama 5-28, Darius Muasau 1-3, Reichel Vegas 1-(minus-1), Mystic Sampaga 1-(minus-6), Gabriel 18-(minus-20), TEAM 1-(minus-27).
PASSING — Punahou: Brady 18-33-0-378. Mililani: Gabriel 24-51-4-304.
RECEIVING — Punahou: Falatea 9-196, Eldredge 2-127, Moku Dancil-Evans 2-36, Kanoa Kalahiki 2-10, Terrell 2-8, Kaufusi 1-1. Mililani: Chang 9-129, Hill 7-115,Sampaga 2-22, Vegas 2-14, Kai Banks 2-9, Raysen Motoyama 1-11, Malepeai 1-4.
