OIA Football
No. 2 Mililani tops No. 6 Waianae, 45-20


   



Fri, Oct 23, 2015 @ Aloha Stadium [ 8:00 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
Waianae (9-4-0) 0 7 7 620
Mililani (10-3-0) 21 15 6 345
Dillon Gabriel 297 yd 4 TD
Jaren Ulu 127 yd 1 TD
Vavae Malepeai 142 yd 1 TD
Jurick Valdez 99 yd 1 TD
Kalakaua Timoteo 199 yd 2 TD
Isaiah Freeney 62 yd 1 TD

HALAWA—Behind Dillon Gabriel's five total touchdowns, No. 2 Mililani (9-1 overall) cruised past No. 6 Waianae (7-3 overall), 45-20, in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I semifinals on Friday night at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium.

The Trojans are making their fourth-straight OIA title appearance and will look to defend their crown against Kahuku on Oct. 30. The Red Raiders and Trojans will meet for the fifth time in the OIA championship and both teams locked up spots in the First Hawaiian Bank/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Football State Championships.

"We have to play a perfect game to beat them, they're stacked," said Gabriel, on the Red Raiders.

"We have to work on the little things and Coach York stresses to play for your brother next to you," said Timoteo.

Waianae will play Farrington on Oct. 31 for the last OIA state tournament berth at Miliani's John Kauinana Stadium.

"They set the tone and they scored first and early and we couldn't come back. They did a good job, our kids played hard, but we came up short," said Waianae coach Walter Young.

The freshman quarterback, who is making his second varsity start, accounted for five of Mililani's first half touchdowns. He had four passing and one rushing touchdown to finish with 297 yards on 14-of-23 passing and 24 rushing yards.

"With Vae (Malepeai), Kala (Timoteo) and the line, they make it easy. It's not much on my part, I have get them the ball and they make the plays," said Gabriel. "The more reps I get, I get more confidence and being more comfortable with the team."

Mililani struck first after Gabriel threw a 40-yard touchdown to Kalakaua Timoteo, who had a game-high 199 receiving yards. After Waianae went three-and-out, the Trojans drove 63 yards capped by Gabriel's 6-yard rush to make it 14-0 with 6:54 remaining.

"He's a gamer and he puts in the work during the week," said Timoteo, on Gabriel. "We watched film a lot and they came out in man and we figure we throw the ball."

Gabriel threw an incompletion on the second play of their opening series, but threw eight-straight completions the first quarter.

"The other guys around them did their jobs and all he had to do was to give them the ball," said Mililani coach Rod York.

Gabriel threw a 31-yard touchdown to Malepeai, who broke multiple tackles on his way to the end zone. After a Searider punt, four plays later Gabriel found Timoteo again for a 42-yard touchdown as Mililani took a 28-0 lead.

Aided by a Mililani penalty, Jurick Valdez burst through the middle for a 41-yard touchdown to put the Seariders on the scoreboard. Valdez finished the game with 99 rushing yards.

Gabriel threw an 80-yard touchdown to Bryson Ventura, but was it called back due to a holding penalty. He threw his fourth touchdown to Bryson Ventura for 31 yards and Malepeai's run gave the Trojans a 36-7 lead going into halftime. Gabriel went 13-of-18 passing for 282 yards in the first half.

On their opening series in the second half, the Seariders started on their own 26 and Javen Towne ran it in for a 55-yard touchdown.

"Things opened up here and there and we made adjustments. They executed well and we didn't execute as well and have to go back to the drawing board and see what we come up with," said Young.

Kaimana Padello stuffed Towne for a 2-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 from the Waianae 31. Five plays later Malepeai added a rushing touchdown, but the pass was no good to make it 42-14. Malepeai finished the game with 142 rushing yards on 23 carries.

"That was a momentum change for us and overall we played well, but gave up big plays here and there," said York.

Mililani placekicker Isaiah Kuloloia hit a 24-yard field goal and made four extra points.

Jaren Ulu threw a 62-yard touchdown to Isaiah Freeney for the last score of the game.

The Mililani defense had five sacks led by Elias Pritchard, who had two sacks and six tackles. Maa Tanuvasa and Padello each added six tackles. 

"Our defense came up big and they are smash mouth and answered the call to stop those fourth downs," said Timoteo.



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].




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