By Wes Nakama
Brayden Medeiros scored on a 14-yard quarterback keeper with 58 seconds remaining Friday night and Campbell’s defense held firm to preserve a thrilling 14-10 victory over Mililani at Farrington’s Skippa Diaz Stadium.
The win improved the Sabers to 7-3 and earned them the OIA’s third and final Open Division State Tournament berth. The Trojans end their season at 7-4.
Mililani had taken a 10-7 lead with 8:37 remaining after Kekoa Koong’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Luke VanAntwerp and Po’okela Tom-Makue’s extra point. Campbell was forced to punt on its next two possessions, but got the ball back one last time with 2:29 left.
Medeiros’ game-winning TD was set up by his 38-yard pass to Zayne Pasion the play before.
“Just trust Zayne, man, and trust our offense,” Medeiros said, in regard to his thoughts during that long toss toward the left sideline. “We had to trust each other, because it was the last drive.”
The Trojans started their final possession on their own 18, but were able to advance to the Sabers’ 36 before a sack pushed them back to the 48 with just four ticks on the clock. Dallas Carter then completed a pass to Bless Hanalei Cabrera-Hopkins under the coverage, and Cabrera-Hopkins weaved his way upfield but was tackled at the 20 with 0:00 showing on the clock.
“”We weren’t fazed,” said Sabers defensive lineman Chaesten Eliu. “We just stuck to the plan, and killed it.”
After a scoreless opening quarter, Campbell struck first and took a 7-0 lead after a methodical 15-play, 69-yard drive capped by Medeiros’ 10-yard pass to Brystin Sansano. Mitch Lifto tacked on the extra point with 2:47 remaining in the second quarter. Mililani closed it to 7-3 with Tom-Makue’s 31-yard field goal as time expired in the half.
The Sabers were shut out in the second half until under a minute remained, but Medeiros found the end zone after rolling out to his right and waving a near-side receiver toward the goal line, which drew a defender with him and opened up a path to paydirt.
“We’ve got guys who can make plays,” Campbell coach Darren Johnson said. “They did a great job tonight. Our down linemen did an exceptional job. I’m just happy we’re in states again. The nice thing about states is, everybody can beat everybody. So everybody has a chance.”
Photos: Grant Shishido
