The Mililani offensive line provides quarterback McKenzie Milton with some throwing room against Farrington. Greg Yamamoto | SL

View image 1 of 1

---

The Mililani offensive line provides quarterback McKenzie Milton with some throwing room against Farrington. Greg Yamamoto | SL

View image 1 of 1

---

Everything starts in the trenches in the game of football. Whoever dominates the line of scrimmage usually dictates who wins the ball game. They might not be as recognized as the super sophomores of Mililani, but they are still part of the same championship team.

"That's been our secret all year long, they do a great job for us," said Mililani coach Rod York on the teams' offensive line.

The unheralded stars of the Mililani offense are left tackle Derick Fetui-Suapaia, left guard Tayler Fernandez-Dizon, center Brett Damato, right guard Andru Tovi and right tackle Jordan Agasova. These five guys are a big reason why the offense averages 35.2 points and 376.5 yards of total offense per game.

"We're more like brothers right now," said Damato. "We're like family, we play for one another; we're so close that we know what's going to happen. We just know each other's feel (for the game) and that makes it better to play (together.)"

While York is the head coach over the entire Mililani squad, co-offensive line coaches Trask Iosefa and Sean "Snoop" Uemura play a big part to the units' dominance in games. Iosefa played offensive line at Punahou before going on to play center for the San Diego state Aztecs and Uemura is a Mililani graduate.

"Great job," said Iosefa on the offensive line performance after Mililani's Oahu Interscholastic Association Red championship win over Farrington Friday night. "The kids prepared well throughout the season. Seeing all the blitzes that we've seen throughout the season from our own defense and the other defenses we've played in the Red West really helped us tonight."

The starting backfield duo of quarterback McKenzie Milton and running back Vavae Malepeai was kept clean all night and was never tackled in the backfield for negative yardage. Together they combined for 192 yards and two touchdowns on just 18 carries. Milton also was able to complete nine of 11 passes for 77 yards and a touchdown.

"This group plays like brothers," said Uemura on the offensive line. "Coach Trask (Iosefa) does a great job in game preparation and they all responded. We preach to do everything together and they did a great job of that tonight."

"These guys are very mentally cerebral," added Uemura. "They've very good at picking up the blitzes, knowing who has what responsibility and working with the running back in the back for pass protection."

Together as a unit, the Mililani offensive line kept a tough Farrington front four from disrupting the offense. The Farrington defense was coming off a shut out win over Campbell in the semifinal game last Thursday.

"I think slowing the game down for us upfront pre-snap was a big help for us, " explained Iosefa. "Being able to recognize where the defense and their blitz were coming from really helped us."

Farrington coach Randall Okimoto even had praised for the Trojans' offensive line, calling it "the best offensive line that we faced that executed the best."

With the OIA Red championship in hand, Mililani's second in four years, the Trojans will enjoy a week off in the opening round of the First Hawaiian Bank Division I state football tournament. They will play their next game on Nov. 15 at Hawaiian Airlines Field.