Steve Erler | Special to SL

Purchase image 1 of 1

Saint Louis turned the high-scoring Mililani offense into a turnover machine last Friday night.

The Crusaders (9-1) used a ball-hawking defense to knock off defending state champion Mililani, 56-30, in the semifinal round of the First Hawaiian Bank/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Football Championships at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium.

Saint Louis, the top-ranked team in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Division I Power Rankings and champion of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, scored 35 points off of eight Mililani turnovers in the win.

"During the whole week we knew that Mililani had a tough offense," said linebacker Isaac Slade-Matautia, who scored on a 64-yard fumble return in the third quarter. "We just had to trust in each other, play as one team and we came out firing. I love our defense, they did their job."

Mililani (10-3) was coming off a 62-18 opening-round win over Hilo and had scored 45 points or more in all but one game heading into the matchup against Saint Louis. The Trojans were tied with Saint Louis at 14 after the first quarter, but were held scoreless in the second and third periods and trailed 56-14 heading into the fourth.

"We just came as one and told ourselves it was a zero-zero game after the first quarter and told everybody to stay on top," said defensive back Ronson Timbreza, who had two interceptions in the contest. "We had to play our game, not theirs."

Timbreza was responsible for the first of six first-half Mililani turnovers. The Trojans took early leads of 7-0 and 14-7, but gave up six unanswered touchdowns in the first half and trailed 49-14 at the break.

"Six turnovers, I think that says it all," said Mililani coach Rod York. "Credit coach Cal Lee and the Saint Louis team. They came out and created the turnovers, they deserved it."

The Crusaders took away the short and underneath routes and dared Mililani to throw it deep. Their game plan worked to success as they recorded four total picks, three on 2014 All-Hawaii Offensive Player of the Year McKenzie Milton.

"We made our linebackers come out and watch the flats and we stayed on top and watched (receiver) Kalakaua Timoteo because we know they like to go deep," said Timbreza. "This just allowed the cornerbacks to play the ball more."

Saint Louis set the tone early in the game. Milton, who was playing in his second game back since suffering a shoulder injury on Sept. 26, had his first pass attempt batted down at the line of scrimmage by defensive lineman Tanielu Evaimalo. The Trojans went deep on the next play and Timbreza came down with an interception. Milton tried a pass to the right flat on the first play of the next series, but it was batted down by Slade-Matautia.

"We knew it stressed them out," said Slade-Matautia. "That was one thing we needed, starting with Tanielu and his first bat down. We knew they have their quick passes right off the line. The best thing for us was not to get to the quarterback, but bat down his passes and that's what we did."

It is also worth noting that the Crusaders had their incredible defensive performance without one of their top players. Linebacker Jordan Iosefa, who has given a verbal commitment to play for the University of Southern California, was sitting out in the second game of a two-game suspension. He will be eligible in the state title game against Kahuku.

"We always play with a chip on our shoulders, but playing without Jordan just gave us a drive," said Slade-Matautia."Without one of our main player, everyone knew that they too could have an impact on our defense. Everyone just stepped up."

Sophomore linebacker Dylan Toilolo led the charge and made a game-high 11 tackles with two forced fumbles and a sack. Slade-Matautia added seven tackles, one for loss, and had a forced fumble. Jayce Smalley had two sacks, including the first that Milton took this season, and Jalen Saole had two interceptions and two pass breakups.