By Paul Honda
Editor
HondaReport.com
Saturday, Aug. 20, 2004

MILILANI—Kekoa Perbera scored three touchdowns and Chris Dickerson returned a fumble 48 yards for another score as Mililani zapped Kaimuki, 41-0, last night at the Trojans’ stadium.

Perbera scored on runs of 73 and 3 yards, and added a 45-yard punt return to the end zone for defending Oahu Interscholastic Association Red West champion Mililani. The 5-foot-11, 165-pound junior finished with 131 rushing yards on just five carries.

Mililani’s offense amassed 312 total yards, including 243 on the ground (11 yards per attempt).

Kaimuki suited up just 20 players, which didn’t give Daniel Mafua a lot of manpower in his debut as head coach. Though it was just a preseason game, butting heads with one of the league’s top teams made an impression.

“Welcome to the Red,” said Mafua, referring to Kaimuki’s leap from the White Conference to the higher Red. “Basically, I like that our guys fought through the end.”

Mililani, operating out of an I slot most of the night, didn’t stray much from basic plays. Kaimuki, running on fumes in the second half, managed just two yards from scrimmage after intermission. The Bulldogs finished with 154 total yards, including 109 on the ground by speedy quarterback Keha Akau.

Mafua gave Mililani—and Perbera—plenty of credit.

“I couldn’t see him, he was so fast,” he said. “He was tough.”

Mililani, considered by Red West coaches as the favorite to repeat as conference champ, will have to dig a bit to find areas for improvement. “We were sloppy. We had too many penalties,” veteran coach James Millwood said. “For us to be successful throughout the season, we can’t do that.”

The Bulldogs were successful early on, he noted, at stopping Mililani’s rushing attack. However, once the Trojans went to the toss sweep, the Bulldogs had problems containing backs Perbera, Jordan Apduhan and Jay Greene.

Mafua, who succeeded longtime coach Ronald Oyama at the helm, is optimistic despite a plethora of academic casualties. “We’ll see how we bounce back. We’ll see what kind of character we have,” he said.

Mililani scored on its third play from scrimmage. On a second-and-3 draw play, Perbera scooted down the right sideline, sliced through two defensive backs and scored on a 73-yard jaunt. After a missed point-after kick, Mililani led 6-0 with 8:15 left in the opening quarter.

Late in the quarter, Kaimuki threatened to score thanks to Akau, a 5-7, 140-pound senior. The scrambled down the right sideline and nearly broke away after gaining 45 yards. However, Troy Murakami delivered a big hit and Matt Welch recovered the fumble at the Mililani 20, returning the pigskin 15 yards.

Kaimuki’s defense buckled down, but Mililani pounded away. Greene scored on a 15-yard toss sweep, and the Trojans led 13-0 with 7:50 left in the second quarter.

Dickerson, junior defensive back, scooped up a fumble on Kaimuki’s first try at an option play and ran untouched to paydirt for a 48-yard score. The Trojans led 20-0 with 4:53 left in the half.

Mililani opened the second half with another scoring drive. Perbera capped a six-play, 70-yard march with a 3-yard dive across the goal line. Mililani led 27-0 with 9:28 to go in the third quarter.

After Kaimuki went three-and-out on its ensuing possession, Perbera returned the punt 45 yards up the left sideline for his third score. The Trojans led 34-0 with 7:36 remaining in the third quarter.

Greene added a 32-yard touchdown run—on another toss sweep—and Mililani led 41-0 with 4:53 to play in the contest.

LINK > Kaimuki-Mililani linescore and statistics

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