Academies at battle for Milton

The reigning Star-Advertiser All-State offensive player of the year is a wanted man.

McKenzie Milton, first sought after by the University of Hawaii, now has scholarship offers from all three football-playing service academies: Navy, Army, and now, Air Force. He tweeted the news on Wednesday.

McKenzie Milton ‏@McChickenzie Jun 10
Blessed to be given the great opportunities to further my education at all three service academy schools

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Mililani ran and threw roughshod on foes in 2014, emerging as the Division I state champion. Running back Vavae Malepeai, who was elevated to four-star status by Scout.com recently, has 18 offers and is currently “50-50” on accepting an offer from Oregon, as Nick Abramo wrote. Wide receiver Kalakaua Timoteo, another All-State first-team selection, has offers from UH and Washington State.

Two other highly productive Trojans, however, remain under the radar. Offensive lineman Andru Tovi has offers from San Diego State and Utah State. Speedy defensive end Kaimana Padello has no offers as of yet, which surprises Mililani coach Rod York. Padello is listed at 6 feet, 200 pounds, but York considers him the best DE in the state.

For Milton, whose running ability — he was a RB in his youth football days — has never been questioned, it seems like a natural fit in any spread option or flexbone scheme. But his rapidly improving passing skills and field vision were on display during the title campaign.