Milialni's Bronson Ramos makes a pass reception against Leilehua. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Mililani's McKenzie Milton scrambles against Leilehua. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Leilehua's Kahi Kilaulani carries the ball against Mililani. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Mililani's Robert Faleafine drags a Leilehua defender on a carry. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Mililani's Vaevae Malepeai carries the ball against Leilehua. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Fri, Sep 27, 2013 @ Mililani [ 7:00 pm ]

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Leilehua

14

Mililani

44

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Leilehua (6-4-0)	0	7	0	7	14
Mililani (11-2-0)	7	23	14	0	44

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

McKenzie Milton 126 yd 1 TD

Kalanimoku Pauole 127 yd 1 TD

Vavae Malepeai 126 yd 3 TD

Ikaika Piceno 6 yd

Bronson Ramos 98 yd

Austinn Nagao 95 yd 1 TD

MILILANI - There is no doubt that the Men of Troy are the best team in the West after tonight.

The Trojans dominated the trenches en route to a 44-14, homecoming victory over Leilehua at John Kauinana Stadium.  Mililani accumulated 217 yards and five touchdowns on the ground while also neutralizing the Mules ground game.  Leilehua had nothing going on the ground and their quarterbacks were sacked three times.

“I’m just proud of the kids,” said Mililani coach Rod York.  “They played well and finally put four quarters together.  I think we played well in special teams; defense definitely stepped up, and offense did what they needed to do.”

Mililani, ranked fourth in this week’s ScoringLive/OC16 Division I Power rankings, improved to 6-1 overall and 5-0 in Red West play.  The loss drops the ninth-ranked Leilehua to 4-3 and 2-3.  The win locks Mililani up as the top overall Red West seed in the playoffs no matter what happens next week.  Because Kapolei lost to Waianae Friday night, no other team can finish with five wins making the Trojans the Red West regular season champs.

Leading the ground game for Mililani was sophomore running back Vavae Malepeai who carried the ball 22 times for 126 yards and three touchdowns.  Sophomore quarterback McKenzie Milton also pitched in with three carries for 67 yards and a touchdown.

“Our run game is our bread and butter,” said Milton who also completed nine passes for 126 yards and a score.  “We got to stick to the run because the run opens up the passing game.”

Terrorizing the Mules’ backfield was Trojan defensive end Keli’i Padello who had two sacks and a forced fumble.  Leading the secondary for Mililani was safety Ian Namu who snagged two interceptions.

“Our defensive coordinator coach Roland Mason had an awesome plan,” explained York.  “The kids believed in the plan and they executed well.  They got us turnovers to help us win the turnover battle; that’s the name of the game.”

The Trojans got off to a hot start with Malepeai going 45 yards on the first play from scrimmage setting up Milton’s 25-yard touchdown run on the following play.  Marc Matas’ PAT was good and the home team was up 7-0, just 30 seconds into the game.

Mililani’s defense matched the offense’s intensity by quickly forcing the Mules into a three-and-out situation. Linebacker Kaimana Wilson had a pair of tackles in the backfield and cornerback Mata Leota knocked a pass down on a 3rd and long situation forcing the Mules to punt.

“We face one of the best defenses in the state every day in practice,” said Milton of the Trojan defense.   “They’re awesome.  Great DBs, great linebacker; they’re all legit.”

The Trojans got their second touchdown of the game early on in the second quarter.  Mililani wide receiver Bronson Ramos caught a 57-yard pass to help set up Dayton Furuta’s 1-yard touchdown run.  Matas’ kick was good making the score 14-0.

Things seem to swing in Leilehua’s favor midway into the second quarter.  The Mules stringed together some stops in the red zone forcing Matas to kick a 29-yard field goal.  On the ensuing kickoff, the dangerous Tristan Kamaka returned the kickoff from the one yard line all the way to the Mililani 40-yard line.  Two plays later Leilehua quarterback Mack Eberhardt found Toma Savea streaking down the right sideline for a 36-yard touchdown.  John Enos’ PAT was good and the score was 17-7 with five minutes remaining in the second quarter.

However, everything else the rest of the way was all in favor of the Trojans as they scored 13 straight points to close the first half.  Mililani led 30-7, at the break.

The momentum was still in Mililani’s favor in the second half as Eberhardt was intercepted by Namu to start things off in the third quarter.  Namu’s interception gave the Trojan offense the ball at the Leilehua 18-yard line and Malepeai cashed in six plays later.  Malepeai scored again on a 5-yard touchdown run to initiate running clock in the five minute 43 second mark of the third quarter.

Leilehua stopped the running clock on a late 27-yard touchdown pass from Kalanimoku Pauole to Austinn Nagao, but the deficit was too great to overcome with the final score being 44-14.

“Hats off to Mililani,” said Leilehua coach Nolan Tokuda.  “They’re a class act, well coached; definitely a solid team, wishing them the best.  They’ll probably be one of the teams representing the OIA in states.”

Leilehua travels to Waipahu next week in a battle for the Red West’s fifth seed.  Mililani will host Aiea to close out the regular season.