MILILANI, Hawaii — Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele brought the figurative fireworks. Supporters from Ewa Beach brought the literal ones.
Sagapolutele tossed six touchdown passes and Campbell broke through against Mililani after more than a decade of frustration with a 41-20 victory that gave the Sabers control in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Open Division regular season race.
[Note: See below for more photos of Campbell-Mililani.]
The state’s consensus No. 1 team is 6-0 (3-0 OIA Open) for the first time in program history dating back to 1963, per Hawaii Prep World records.
Of more relevance, it snapped a 16-game losing streak to a nemesis, one that has been one of the Sabers’ chief obstacles to the program’s first Division I or Open Division league title, including in last year's OIA playoffs. Campbell’s last win in the long-running series came in 2011.
As Sabers players celebrated on the John Kauinana Stadium field, Saber fans ignited some of the community’s trademark aerials from just off the Mililani campus.
“I think we’ve been holding those fireworks for a while,” Sagapolutele told Spectrum News with a smile. “So it’s finally good to finally be able to pop it for once.”
The Cal commit Sagapolutele was 23-for-31 for 350 yards and just his second interception of the season. His six TDs tied a career high set three previous times.
He stands at 9,251 career passing yards, per Hawaii Prep World, third in Hawaii high school history. He needs 60 yards to pass Kealakehe’s Keoki Alani for a second; Mililani alum Dillon Gabriel holds the record of 9,848.
At his current pace, Sagapolutele would break the record in the regular-season finale at Kahuku on Oct. 19.
Could this finally be Campbell's year?
Sagapolutele and Sabers coach Darren Johnson were mindful not to get too carried away in the post-game revelry. Campbell could have to go through Mililani twice more and defending state champ Kahuku as many as three times to attain the program’s ultimate goal of a first HHSAA Open title.
“They (Mililani) will always be the obstacle. They’re a real good football team,” Johnson said. “Them and Kahuku are the defending champions, and you gotta beat them two or three times this year. Always going to be a chore.”
Receiver Zayden Alviar-Costa (six catches, 2 TDs, 116 yards) was named the Spectrum OC16 Impact Player while Rusten Abang-Perez (six catches, 2 TDs, 111 yards) had a nearly identical stat line.
“He was special again tonight. He’s got a good team around him,” Johnson said of Sagapolutele. “He’s got great teammates. He’s special, and he makes them special.”
Up next, the Sabers stay on the road Friday to face defending state Division I champion Waipahu (2-5, 0-3), which moved up to the Open this year.
Sagapolutele’s stock is on the rise heading into the final handful of games of his prep career, which he said he is trying to cherish as they come.
Against previously unbeaten Mililani, the lefty was seemingly at his best while on the move, putting passes long or short alike on point. More than once, he jumped into a throw — usually on target.
“To be in that groove, you know, the defense was making it easy for us, getting the ball back,” Sagapolutele said. “The offense was just able to put it into the end zone. It was just a great feeling that we put it all together, and we had a great game.”
Defending OIA Open champ Mililani (6-1, 2-1) leaned into its defense to beat Liberty (Nev.) and Los Alamitos (Calif.) on the continent, and stymie the likes of Saint Louis at John Kauinana Stadium. But in front of an overflow crowd Saturday, it had no answer for Sagapolutele and his dialed-in receivers.
The teams faced off near midfield just before kickoff as officials and coaches worked to keep them separated. Whether too amped up or haunted by old demons, Campbell committed four procedural infractions on its opening drive, calling to mind a team weakness of yore, and had to punt. But the Sabers played exceptionally clean from there and did not punt again until garbage time.
Sagapolutele found Tyson Ball for 14 yards to get the scoring started, then Brystin Sansano from 4 yards to rebuild a touchdown lead. He bookended halftime with TD strikes to Abang-Perez (30 and 31 yards) to break the game open.
After Mililani got to within 27-20 on a Nahoa Kahana-Travis plunge with 1:53 left in the third, the senior signal-caller put the game away with TD balls of 42 and 9 yards to Alviar-Costa. The former play came on fourth and 1.
The latter gave Sagapolutele 100 varsity passing touchdowns, per ScoringLive statistics. Hawaii Prep World has him with 99 career.
Alviar-Costa said the chemistry between QB and receivers is at its peak.
“Sundays we always throw ball,” he told Spectrum OC16’s Jimmy Bender. “Me, Jaron, Rusten, all the boys, all the receivers. We always get that connection.”
Mililani co-head coach Vavae Tata declined comment to Spectrum News while the Trojans’ lengthy post-game senior ceremonies were underway.
The Trojans remained without their injured starting quarterback, Washington commit Kini McMillan, who was dressed to play and served as a game captain. Rod York and Tata started Kekoa Koong, who gave way to junior varsity quarterback Dallas Carter after a series.
That didn’t lessen the impact of the result too much for the Sabers. McMillan could return for the playoffs.
“Just put a stamp to know that we’re one of the great teams this year,” Sagapolutele said. “They have a great QB, Kini, but unfortunately he wasn’t able to play. But you know, just us being able to stop them on defense and the offense being able to keep the ball moving was a great thing for us.”
The sophomore Carter had some nice moments, too; he was 11-for-19 for a touchdown and no interceptions.
Campbell linebacker Zechariah Alualu-Tuiolemotu notched two sacks and three tackles for loss. Linebacker Antonio Castro had two tackles for loss, and Aisiah Paogofie led the Sabers with 10 total tackles.
Mililani defensive back Kayden Anzaldo had the pick of Sagapolutele in the second quarter.
The Trojans face Farrington at Skippa Diaz Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Friday and close the regular season at Kapolei on Oct. 19.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.