By Wes Nakama

MILILANI — Led by an opportunistic and clutch defensive performance, Mililani held off visiting Kahuku, 14-10, Saturday night in intense OIA football action at John Kauinana Stadium.

A vocal and appreciative crowd of about 4,000 watched the Trojans improve to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the OIA Open Division. Kahuku, the defending state champion, fell to 4-3, 1-1.

Mililani scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 58-yard halfback option pass from Lehiwa Kahana-Travis to Jonah Togafau-Tavui with 1:25 remaining in the third quarter. The Red Raiders had a golden chance to take the lead back when they gained first-and-goal from the 5 midway through the fourth quarter, but after getting to the 1 two plays later, they were tackled for losses on the next two plays and lost the ball on downs.

Kahuku did get the ball back twice, the second time after a punt with 29 seconds left, but with no timeouts the Red Raiders were only able to advance to their own 36 as the clock expired.

“Tough one,” Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho said. “Our defense kept us in the game, but that’s about it.”

The Trojans defense, meanwhile, gave Mililani a big early spark when linebacker Isaiah Iosefa made an acrobatic interception and returned it 35 yards just shy of the end zone. Two plays later Kahana-Travis punched it in from one-yard out and Po’okela Tom Makue’s extra point gave the Trojans a 7-0 lead two minutes after the opening kickoff.

“The coaches put me in a great position, I was just there and I just executed on my job,” said Iosefa, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior who finished with a game-high nine tackles. “My job was just to help out on the backside, that’s what I did and the ball just fell into my hands. I was just blessed. I was super excited. The aim of our defense is to keep giving the ball back to our offense, keep giving them chances. That’s what we did, and they scored.”

The Red Raiders cut it to 7-3 after Manoa Kahalepuna capped an eight-play, 44-yard drive with a 26-yard field goal at the one minute mark of the first quarter, and then went up, 10-7, after a 12-play, 64-yard march culminating in sophomore running back Blake Alo’s 10-yard run and Kahalepuna’s PAT just 45 seconds before halftime.

The defensive struggle continued deep into the third quarter, and after a 28-yard punt gave Mililani possession at its own 42, the Trojans reached into their bag of tricks. On first down, Kahana-Travis lined up in the left slot and took a handoff on a jet sweep toward the right hashmark, then lofted a downfield pass to Togavau-Tafui, who was all by himself streaking down past the secondary. 

With Kahuku’s defenders in hot pursuit of Kahana-Travis, Togavau-Tafui said the opportunity was there to sneak past Red Raiders defensive back Madden Soliai near the line of scrimmage.

“I was gonna just run a straight (route) … once I saw Madden take a step forward, I just went,” Togavau-Tafui said. “We were trying to get them to play down, and then take a shot.”

Carvalho tipped his hat to Mililani for catching his defense by surprise.

“That was a great call,” Carvalho said. “It hit for them.”

Makue tacked on the extra point to make it 14-10 with 1:25 remaining in the third quarter, but Kahuku was not done yet. The Red Raiders took the ensuing kickoff and marched 68 yards all the way to the 1, but on third-and-goal defensive lineman Chevy Robinson slammed into running back Malosi Fiatoa for a 3-yard loss, and then on fourth down Robinson broke through again and sacked quarterback Kalaheo Kanae-Oliveira for an 11-yard loss.

“Kahuku being who they are, with all their weapons on offense, we knew we just had to make a stop and not let the momentum go in their favor,” Iosefa said. “Credit to my other 10 boys on defense doing their job and being disciplined and just great coaching all around.”

Carvalho said with under six minutes showing on the clock, going for a field goal was not the preferred option.

“We were going for the touchdown all the way,” Carvalho said. “Tonight, yards were hard to come by on both sides … so when you’re down that deep (near the goal line), you never know when you’re gonna be down there (again). We had been running our ‘Elephant’ (full house backfield run package) successfully, but they just stoned us right there. We didn’t execute, and they did — that’s the bottom line.”

The Red Raiders did get one last opportunity when the Trojans were forced to punt on fourth-and-15 from the Kahuku 47 with 38 seconds remaining. In last season’s state championship game, the Red Raiders scored the go-ahead touchdown on an 86-yard punt return in the closing minutes. And this time, they had dangerous return man Mana Carvalho waiting to receive.

“My first thought was, ‘Let’s not recreate what happened last year in the state championship,’ ” said Togavau-Tafui, the punter. “I was thinking about kicking it out of bounds, but once I saw the pressure from the defense I just kicked it (quickly). I’m glad that our special teams got there (to down the ball) in time.”

The punt was downed at the 26, and a holding penalty pushed Kahuku back to its own 16. Two pass plays advanced the ball to the 36, but then the Red Raiders were stopped twice in the backfield and time expired.

Photos: Lori McKeown

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