Jim Lebeau | Special to SL

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Mililani quarterback McKenzie Milton threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Hilo, his first game played since a shoulder injury suffered on Sept. 26. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Fri, Nov 6, 2015 @ Aloha Stadium [ 7:30 pm ]

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Hilo

18

Mililani

62

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Hilo (7-5-0)	0	0	6	12	18
Mililani (10-3-0)	21	20	7	14	62

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

McKenzie Milton 262 yd 3 TD

Kaale Tiogangco 182 yd 2 TD

Vavae Malepeai 127 yd 2 TD

Kaale Tiogangco 111 yd 1 TD

Makana Tauai 109 yd 2 TD

Isaac Lerma 26 yd 1 TD

HALAWA — Mililani welcomed back its leader Friday night and the result was business as usual.

The Trojans scored early and often in a 62-18 win over Hilo in a first-round game of the First Hawaiian Bank/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I State Championships before a crowd of 3,146 fans at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium.

It was the first game in more than a month for Mililani quarterback McKenzie Milton, who had been recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered on Sept. 26.

"I'm just grateful," said Milton, a senior. "I've got to thank God first of all to be back on the field with my guys, for giving me a quick recovery. It's a blessing to put on a Mililani Trojans uniform. I love it."

Milton, the 2014 All-Hawaii Offensive Player of the Year, threw for 262 yards and three touchdowns on 14-of-19 passing. He threw scoring passes to three different players.

"He looked good," Mililani coach Rod York said of the senior quarterback. "He missed a couple throws, but I don't think it was his arm, I think it was the wet ball, but he felt good and he's ready to go, so he's ready for next week."

The Trojans improved to 10-2 with the win and advanced to next week's semifinal round, where they will play second-seeded Saint Louis Friday night.

Mililani amassed 576 yards of total offense and posted the second most points by a single team in a state tournament game (behind Saint Louis' 63 in a semifinal win over Waianae in 2000). It was also the third most combined points in a state tournament game.

"I feel like we executed pretty good; Not everything was perfect, we had little mistakes here and there," said wide receiver Bryson Ventura, who caught two touchdown passes. "This week we focused on the things that were fixable — like our attitude was fixable, everything was fixable — so it was just the little things that coach York always talks about that we fixed."

The Trojans overcame a pair of turnovers in the first half, including a Vavae Malepeai fumble on their first possession of the night. However, the defense got stops both times and got a pair of takeaways that led to offensive touchdowns — both on Malepeai runs.

"That was my fault: everybody was blocking, I had the right of way and I should have been gone," said Malepeai, a senior running back. "Like I said, you've got to play perfect because you're in the states now and that definitely was a wake-up call."

Mililani got its first score on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Milton to Kalakaua Timoteo, who fought his way across the goal line to cap a seven-play, 98-yard drive.

Hilo turned it over on its next two possessions, both at the hands of Mililani defensive back AJ Burris. Burris forced a fumble that was recovered by teammate Dustin Gapusan and eventually led to a 19-yard Malepeai TD run, and picked off a pass that was recycled into a 2-yard plunge by Malepeai into the end zone to gave Mililani a 21-0 lead after one quarter.

"That was huge, especially in the beginning," York said. "We talk about winning the first quarter and we came out rough, but definitely our defense kept us in and the offense ended up putting up two quick scores when Kenzie came in."

Milton threw a 10-yard scoring strike to Makana Tauai in the second quarter and added a 69-yard TD pass to Ventura in the third.

"Anytime you're suited up you want to play right, but coach York told me that I was going in the second series, so my blood was flowing and it was just great to be back here," Milton said.

Freshman Cy Kuboyama-Hayashi started at quarterback for the Trojans in his very first varsity game and threw a pair of touchdown passes late in the second quarter and finished 7-of-8 passing for 76 yards.

Malepeai carried 12 times for 127 yards, Tauai had six grabs for 109 yards and Timoteo added eight receptions for 87 yards.

The Vikings did all of their scoring in the second half. Quarterback Kaale Tiogangco threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Keaho Kaawa-Wilson, a 26-yarder to Isaac Lerma and added a late 75-yard TD run. Tiogangco finished with 182 yards on 14-of-30 passing and ran for another 111 yards on 11 carries.

Hilo, which was making its fifth state-tournament appearance after a third straight Big Island Interscholastic Federation crown, fell to 7-5.

The BIIF has yet to win a Division I game in the 17-year history of the state tournament.

Mililani will be making its fourth consecutive state semifinal appearance.