Flag Football
Nelson, Trojans overwhelm Mules to lock up first-round bye


Kalani Takase | ScoringLive
April 8, 2025, 10:12pm

  

Tue, Apr 8, 2025 @ Leilehua [ 6:45 pm ]

Mililani

27

Leilehua

6

Final 1 2 3 4 T
Mililani 0 13 7 727
Leilehua 0 0 0 66
Cali Moniz-Kealoha 83 yd 1 TD
Zenn Nelson 123 yd 4 TD
Zenn Nelson 24 yd
Madi Powell 39 yd
Kamalani Marlier 34 yd 2 TD



WAHIAWA — Zenn Nelson provided the offense and Alizae Maialoha the defense to power Mililani to a 27-6 win over host Leilehua in a girls flag football game Tuesday night. 

Nelson threw four touchdown passes and Maialoha tallied as many sacks for the Trojans (5-0), who claimed sole possession of first place in the OIA's West 2 division and a first-round bye in the upcoming 12-team league tournament. 

Mililani tallied 179 of its 206 total yards through the air to hand the Mules (4-1) their first loss of the season. 

Nelson accumulated 179 all-purpose yards on her own. The sophomore quarterback/wide receiver completed 11 of her 20 pass attempts for 123 yards without an interception. She ran the ball seven times for 24 yards, caught a seven-yard reception and added a pair of punt returns for 25 yards for good measure. 

"This was really big for us," Nelson said of the regular-season finale. 

"Ever since we saw the schedule, we really knew that this was a big game and we just had to put our good mindset to it, so I was really looking forward to this game."

The Trojans entered the game averaging better than 41 points per game, but sputtered out of the gates. They turned it over on downs on their first two possessions but capped four of their final five drives with trips to the end zone. 

Nelson completed her first two passes but missed on seven of her next eight throws. She was just 4-of-11 passing for 33 yards at the half. After the intermission, she connected on 7-of-9 passing — including one dropped pass — for 90 yards. 

"I knew that at the start I wasn't doing great, but then I had my coaches and teammates helping me, cheering me up so I knew I had to fix all my mistakes so that's what I focused on," Nelson said. 

After a scoreless first quarter, Nelson got her team on the board with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Kamalani Marlier. On the scoring play, Nelson rolled away from pressure to her right before she threw back toward the middle of the field, where Marlier hauled in the scoring strike a yard deep in the end zone. 

Mililani forced a three-and-out by the Mules, who opted to punt away from their own 25-yard line. However, Nahealani Choy Foo broke free for a 19-yard return of the punt to give her team possession at the Leilehua 34-yard line. Six plays later, Nelson hooked up with Brooke Kurasaki for a 15-yard TD pass on the final play of the first half. 

"I knew I had to get the ball out fast but I just trusted my teammates — trusted Brooke especially — and I think that really helped me," Nelson said.

The duo not only share quarterbacking duties on the gridiron this spring, they also served as the starting backcourt for the Trojans' girls basketball team in the winter. 

"I knew I just had to get her the ball and she would catch it," Nelson added. 

Mililani's defense forced another Leilehua three-and-out to open the second half and Nelson needed just three plays to extend the lead following her long TD pass down the left sideline to Choy Foo. On third-and-2 from the Trojans' 38-yard line, Nelson unleashed a deep pass to a streaking Choy Foo, who beat her defender and hauled in the well-placed ball in stride on her way to the end zone. 

"I have a lot of trust in Nahea — she's a really good wide receiver — so I kind of just threw it up and she got it and I'm really glad she did," Nelson said. 

Nelson found Sophie Foster on the ensuing one-point conversion pass to make it a 20-0 cushion just past the midpoint of the third quarter. 

The Trojans added an insurance score early in the fourth stanza with Nelson's 2-yard TD pass to Marlier. 

All four of Nelson's touchdown passes came on third downs. Mililani converted on six of 10 third-down opportunities and tallied eight of their 10 total first downs by pass. 

Leilehua was held to 67 yards of total offense in the loss. Quarterbacks Cali Moniz-Kealoha and Madi Powell faced pressure from Mililani's pass rush all night. They were sacked six times in all, which resulted in minus-26 yards. 

Maialoha alone registered four of those sacks and five tackles for loss. 

"We've been working on defense this whole time, especially going deep because they like to go deep and our coaches told us that there's number one, two and three — just take out one and they're done; that was our job," Maialoha said. 

The Mules' only score came on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Moniz-Kealoha to Maci Rivera in the closing minutes. It was one of just three total first downs they had all night. 

Leilehua was 0 of 6 on third downs and failed to convert the lone fourth down they went for. 

"The defense did absolutely amazing, but I already knew they were capable of doing that because in practice (Maialoha) always be sacking me sometimes, so I know she's really good and I put my trust into her," Nelson said. 

Foster finished with seven receptions for 50 yards, both game-high marks. 

Both teams had already secured a spot in the OIA tournament, which gets underway next week. 

Mililani will have a bye into the quarterfinal round Tuesday, while Leilehua will play a first-round game Monday. The top seven teams from the OIA will qualify for the Hawaii Dental Service/HHSAA State Championships, which will take place from Apr. 30 to May 3. 


Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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