MILILANI, Hawaii — Last fall’s HHSAA Open Division championship between Oahu Interscholastic Association powerhouses Mililani and Kahuku largely swung on special teams. In the first rematch, the defense decided it.
Mililani linebacker Isaiah Iosefa’s early interception set the tone and a fourth-quarter goal-line stand effectively decided a 14-10 Trojans victory at packed John Kauinana Stadium on Saturday night.
[Note: See below for more photos of Kahuku-Mililani.]
That it was a defensive battle was not a huge surprise, given both teams were without their starting quarterbacks; Mililani’s prolific two-way threat Kini McMillan and Kahuku first-year starter Troy Mariteragi are recovering from injuries.
Two-way performer Jonah Togafau-Tavui had the go-ahead score on a trick play – a wide-open catch-and-run from Lehiwa Kahana-Travis for 58 yards late in the third quarter.
Mililani won its first six games for the first time since 2019. This one had some extra meaning, though as it came against the three-time defending state champions who won the 2023 Open state final, 21-19 at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.
“How about that game, huh? That’s why we play these big games, right?” Mililani co-head coach Vavae Tata said. “Great litmus test for our kids.”
Coaches from several FBS football programs – Hawaii, San Jose State, Arizona State and Cal – could be seen scouting the game along the sidelines.
It was an especially big game for the animated Tata, who coached Kahuku in 2015 and 2016, including an unbeaten season and an HHSAA championship his first year. He was 24-2 overall but was dismissed prior to the 2017 season.
Longtime Mililani coach Rod York brought Tata in during the offseason for Tata's first Hawaii high school coaching position since.
“Yeah, it was bittersweet,” Tata said of facing his old team. “You know, I actually got a lei from one of my guys that I coached back in 2015. The Falevai family … thank you.”
The next one is even bigger for Mililani (6-0, 2-0 OIA Open) as it takes on concensus state No. 1 Campbell (5-0, 2-0) in a battle of unbeaten teams at John Kauinana Stadium on Saturday.
"It’s quite an opportunity," Tata said.
Saturday's key sequence came after Kahuku star receiver Kaimana Carvalho came down with an outstanding one-handed catch with a Mililani defensive back draped on him at the Trojans 5.
The Red Raiders got it to the 1 on second down, but lost 3 yards on third. Kahuku elected to go for it on fourth down from the Mililani 4 and Mililani lineman Chevy Robinson sacked Kalaheo Kana‘e-Oliveira when he tried to reverse direction in the backfield.
Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho was asked if he thought about taking a field goal in that situation – down four with under six minutes left – and to go for the win on the Red Raiders’ next drive. Kahuku ended up having two more possessions.
“We was going for the touchdown all the way,” Carvalho said. “Tonight, yards was hard to come by on both sides. They scored early because of our mistake (and) they scored on a trick play.
“When you’re down that deep, I mean, you never know when you were going to be down there. And we’d been running our elephant (package) successfully. They just stoned us.”
On a day that Trojans alumnus Dillon Gabriel became one of just four FBS players to surpass 16,000 career passing yards, Mililani managed just 119 yards of offense to Kahuku’s 170, with nearly half of the Trojans’ total coming on their second-half misdirection play.
Iosefa, a transfer from Waipahu and an Arizona State commit, tallied 13 tackles (four solo), including a sack among his 1.5 tackles for loss.
His 35-yard interception return of an errant pass by Kalaheo Kana‘e-Oliveira set up Mililani at the 1 and Lehiwa Kahana-Travis punched it in on the Trojans’ second attempt.
“It was just my coaches putting me in the right spot,” Iosefa said. “You know, Kahuku has a really good offense and I was just in the right spot at the right time. It just fell into my hands.”
Kahuku’s best drive happened at the end of the first half, when it ground down the clock with its elephant package and Blake Alo went around the edge for a 2-yard score and a 10-7 lead at intermission.
Kahuku got the ball for the final time with 37.7 seconds left and no timeouts for a last-gasp drive. But the Red Raiders’ third-string quarterback accidentally took a knee instead of spiking the ball on third down, keeping the clock running, and Kahuku’s rushed fourth-down effort was snuffed out.
It was the second time this season that an opponent committed an endgame gaffe that sealed a home win for Mililani. Saint Louis spiked the ball on fourth down in Mililani’s 16-14 win on Aug. 17.
“Yeah I don’t know, the stadium, we’re just lucky,” Iosefa said. “I think it’s just thanks to the fans, our audience, just making a lot of noise and making them into a conundrum, basically.”
Kahuku (4-3, 1-1), which debuted some slick new black helmets, hosts Waipahu (2-4, 0-2) on the North Shore on Saturday.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.