Mililani’s Gabriel on verge of state passing record

Dillon Gabriel means it when he says numbers are just numbers.

With kickoff between No. 5 Mililani and Waianae more than nine hours away, the Trojan senior quarterback let the question soak in. What would it mean to you and the program to pass Tua Tagovailoa and become the state’s all-time career passing record holder?

Tagovailoa set his record as a senior at Saint Louis two seasons ago. Just 320 yards behind the current starting QB at Alabama, Gabriel has a chance to surpass the top spot tonight. It won’t matter as much, he says, as a win.

“Not to be disrespectful at all. I think some people try to make you care about stats, but I truly don’t care, not in a disrespectful way at all,” Gabriel said Saturday morning. “I think when I came to Mililani it opened a new perspective in terms of, it’s not about yourself. If we ran the ball the whole game and won the state championship I really wouldn’t care. That’s all I care about, being a good teammate and coming out with the ‘W’. Coach Rod (York) really helped open that perspective for me and helped me a lot.”

The Army commit has led the Trojans to a Division I state championship in 2016 and 24 wins in 32 games when he’s led the team in passing yards.

Among the 16 quarterbacks on Oahu to throw for more than 6,000 yards in his career, only Timmy Chang has thrown more touchdown passes than Gabriel, who has 87 in 33 games.

With three regular-season games left and the playoffs ahead, Gabriel has an outside shot at 10,000 yards and 100 touchdowns in his career, which began as a freshman when he had to fill in for an injured McKenzie Milton, who is now at Central Florida.

He has 10 300-yard passing games in his career, including four this season, and his 431-yard passing performance against Kailua last year is tied for the second-highest total in school history.

PASSING RECORDS
Updated: Dec. 17, 2023