The Trojans defense swallows up Waianae QB Justin Tacgere. Leighland Tagawa | SL

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The Trojans defense swallows up Waianae QB Justin Tacgere. Leighland Tagawa | SL

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HALAWA — Much of the fanfare and excitement came from Mililani's offense, but the Trojan defense did the dirty work to stymie Waianae in a 42-6 win in the Oahu Interscholastic Association semifinals.

"The defense was incredible. If it wasn't for them we wouldn't be able to put up these points. Defense wins championships and offense wins games," said Mililani center Noah Williams.

Waianae averaged 139.0 yards of net rushing during the season and the Trojans held them to 132 net rushing yards, their third lowest rushing output of the season and 3.5 yards per carry for the game.

The Seariders had little room to run as each runner was met by a swarm of brown jerseys.

"The defense played great and it started up front. We haven't played the perfect game yet and we have to make some corrections after looking at tape and go from there," said Mililani coach Rod York.

Mililani has been stingy on defense all season, holding their opponents to 11.0 points per game and fifth game of the season where the opposing team didn't crack double digits.

"We were always communicating about the plays and where the open holes were and where to go," said Mililani linebacker Darius Muasau, who led the team with seven tackles.

Waianae is notorious for running the misdirection to confuse their opponents so it was important for the Trojans to stay disciplined and to stick to their assignments.

"Our linebackers had a tough job with the misdirection. We had our linebackers read the guard and fix our eyes throughout the game so we can focus where the ball goes," said Muasau.

"It was about getting our eyes correct pre-snap and stick to the keys and our players did well and did the job," added York.

The Trojans had five tackle for losses for minus-12 yards and hurried Waianae quarterback Justin Tacgere throughout the night. Shane Kady had the game's only sack for a six-yard loss.

Spencer Santos (six tackles) and Storm Sua each recorded interceptions. The Trojans scored off of Sua's pick 14 plays later on Dillon Gabriel's run for a 35-0 lead to start running clock to open the second half.

"It was huge and anytime you get a turnover or a defensive stop. That's a big plus for us and the momentum changed," said York.

Waianae could not get out of their own territory until midway through the third quarter and eventually scored on a 25-yard run to end the shutout.

The Trojans advance to take on Kahuku, the defending OIA champion, and it will be a whole new test on Nov. 4. Despite the 36-point victory, Mililani knows it has to play better on the championship stage.

"We have to put in some more work. Kahuku has a smash-mouth offense so we have to raise the intensity when we face them. It's going to be a tough game against them," said Muasau.

"It's going to be a tough matchup. This game was tough for us and we have to prepare and bite down," said York.