Mililani’s Gabriel breaks Tua’s passing record in win

Well, that’s one less question for the Mililani Trojans to answer.

With 362 yards and five touchdowns through the air in a 35-0 win over Waianae on Saturday night, Dillon Gabriel passed two Saint Louis legends, Timmy Chang and Tua Tagovailoa, to become the all-time career leader in passing yardage in Hawaii. Gabriel now has 8,201 yards. Tagovailoa, now the starting quarterback at Alabama, compiled 8,158 yards in his prep career. Chang has 8,001 yards.

A sideline pass to Cy Kuboyama-Hayashi for 20 yards in the fourth quarter pushed Gabriel past Tagovailoa. Kuboyama-Hayashi finished with 10 receptions for 97 yards. He was one of 10 Trojans to make a reception.

Gabriel wasn’t satisfied with his performance, though Waianae’s persistent defense had plenty to do with that.

“We came out really slow and a lot of that was my fault,” Gabriel said.

Coach Rod York wasn’t surprised by Gabriel’s feat, and considers it a team accomplishment.

“There’s no individual success without team success. His teammates, they pulled it together and get it done,” York said. “It says a lot about Dillon, too. He works hard in the off-season. He does a lot when only God’s looking. We thank God for blessing us. Dillon’s a great kid and we’ve got a lot more football left. We’re not concerned with stats, but at the same time, he deserves it and the team deserves it, so it’s good.”

The fourth-ranked Trojans improved to 3-0 in OIA Open play (5-2 overall). Waianae remains winless (0-5, 0-3 OIA Open) despite staying close for a long stretch. There wasn’t much they could do as Gabriel caught fire before halftime.

The senior needed 320 yards to pass the previous leader, Tagovailoa, but prior to the game, he had no interest in records. His concern was Waianae’s front seven.

“They bring six on their blitzes,” he said earlier in the day after a steady week of film study.

Waianae’s ball-control approach, even in the midst of three-and-out punts, was enough to slow the speedy Trojans’ offense. Mililani got on the scoreboard with 7:46 to go in the second quarter and had a precarious 7-0 lead at halftime.

“Coach Rod, he gave me the, off the get-go to call the plays and I wasn’t calling too well, so he ended up calling it. That was the only adjustment,” Gabriel said. “Waianae was playing it well, mixing their blitzes up.”

The Trojans had come up empty inside the Waianae 10-yard line on two drives, and the potential for an upset of No. 4 Mililani clearly felt real. Gabriel began the game 7-for-20, then picked up some momentum going into the break, and continued it afterward. He completed 10 passes in a row during a stretch when he hit 18 out of 19 attempts. By the end of the third quarter, Mililani had a 28-0 lead as its defensive front contained Waianae’s I-formation attack, and the Trojan offensive line kept Waianae’s front seven at bay.

Waianae’s wall, led by defensive tackle Zefften Thompson-Avilla, limited Mililani to minus-6 yards on eight attempts. The pressure coming from Waianae’s front seven led to three sacks, but it was manageable as Gabriel aired out 55 attempts (with 34 completions).

“Our left tackle is Mikey Agasiva,” Gabriel said of the 6-1, 240-pound freshman. “Left guard, it was a mix of Layton Kam (5-8, 230) and Sergio Muasau (6-0, 300). Our center is Mason Miyashiro (5-7, 250), right guard is Jake Tuatagaloa (6-2, 320) and (Ikaika) Lafaele (6-4, 270) is the right tackle.”

Kam, Miyashiro and Lafaele are seniors. Roughly three dozen Trojans celebrated senior night festivities after the game.

Waianae’s resilience was matched by Mililani eventually. Using their I-formation, keeping giveaways to a minimum — the Seariders didn’t lose a fumble all night — the game plan kept the Mililani within reach. Time of possession in the first half: Waianae 15 minutes, 51 seconds to Mililani’s 8:09.

“Credit Waianae. They came out with the energy and we didn’t come out with any. Fundamentals, blocking we didn’t do, tackling we didn’t do,” York said. “(Waianae) had zero, so that’s the main thing. We had a couple of takeaways and, honestly, we played a lot of seniors. It was a good team win.”

PASSING RECORD LIST
Updated: Dec. 17, 2023