Mililani sophomore quarterback Dillon Gabriel completed 11 of 13 passes for 131 yards and three touchdowns in the first half alone to lead the Trojans past Kaiser. Steve Erler | SL

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Sat, Aug 13, 2016 @ Mililani [ 6:30 pm ]

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Kaiser

7

Mililani

42

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Kaiser (2-7-0)	0	0	0	7	7
Mililani (9-3-0)	21	14	7	0	42

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Dillon Gabriel 131 yd 3 TD

Kainoa Torres 35 yd 1 TD

Kailiohu Kila 28 yd 1 TD

Kainoa Torres 20 yd

Andrew Valladares 53 yd 1 TD

Keoni Pangan 16 yd 1 TD

MILILANI – For undermanned and visiting Kaiser, it was a good thing the John Kauinana Stadium scoreboard was inoperable.

Sophomore quarterback Dillon Gabriel passed for three touchdowns and 131 yards to lead the host and No. 7 Trojans over the Cougars, 42-7, Saturday night in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I crossover regular-season game

The Trojans (1-0 overall, 1-0 OIA D1 Red), who had their nonleague season opener against Saint Louis a week ago get canceled after one quarter because of a power outage, put away the Cougars (1-1 0-1 OIA D1 Blue), who suited 24 players, quickly with the 35-point differential mercy rule taking effect at the start of the second half.

Gabriel, pressed into action as a freshman last year because of injuries, completed 11 of 13 passes in the first half to help the Trojans take a 35-0 lead into the half. He tossed TD passes of 32 yards to Andrew Valladares, 11 yards to Dustin Gapusan and 3 yards to Roman Tovi. Gabriel also scored on a 5-yard run.

"It helped a lot," Gabriel said of his game experience during the past postseason. "Definitely in the playoffs, you play some very good teams. It helped with the experience. I feel more experienced because I got to get the speed down, the reads. I feel good about it."

"He's seasoned," Mililani coach Rod York said of Garbriel. "Now he plays like a senior. He has to go out there and prove it. Like anything, we have to protect the quarterback. He's making the right reads. He's comfortable. It's just a matter of going  out there and executing."

Gabriel's early success also York to give experience to Cy Kuboyama-Hayashi at QB in the second half; he started the game at receiver. With multiple QB injuries last season, including to McKenzie Milton, the Trojans learned the value of giving backups ample experience. Kuboyama-Hayashi was nearly as effective as Gabriel, completing 8 of 11 passes for 35 yards.

"Cy's the ultimate team guy," York said of Kuboyama-Hayashi. "We ask him to play receiver, he plays receiver. If we ask him to play quarterback, he plays quarterback. If we ask him to punt, he'll punt."

Meanwhile, Kuboyama-Hayashi's versatility could be seen on the Cougars' sideline. With 24 players suited – and one of their best, safety Andrew Kaufusi out with an injury sustained in last week's nonleague game – it was AYSO: everybody plays. And everybody did, Kaiser coach Arnold Martinez said.

"Obviously, there's a match-up issue," Martinez said. "We suited up, what? 24? Pretty difficult, but I love our guys. They're not going to quit. They're going to play three ways. Everyone plays. I love the effort."

The Cougars battled despite the score. They did not leave Kauinana Stadium empty, scoring in the fourth quarter on an 11-yard TD pass from Kainoa Torres to Keoni Pangan.

That came after the Trojans scored when Keawe Fox picked off a deflected Torres pass in the end zone for a TD.

"What we get out of this is there's not winning and losing," Martinez said. "There's winning and learning. The ‘L' is learning. They're learning so much right now. They're learning to be great teammates, they're learning football scheme and we're cramming it in in two months on the job, so hats off to these kids. They're sticking with it and they're learning it, they're accepting it and trying their best. They have a great attitude about it so I love them for that."

The Trojans host Castle next Saturday in a Red Division contest, while the Cougars host winless Campbell on Friday.