Mililani’s pass rush goes to town with Tristen Townes in win at Waianae

The setting was, just perhaps, perfect for the Waianae Seariders.

Home crowd at Raymond Torii Field. No. 2 Mililani coming off an emotional and huge win over Liberty (Nev.), the No. 2 team in its state.

The problem is, the Mililani Trojans like to eat. So many hungry players. Tristen Townes was in on four of the visitors’ five sacks as No. 2 Mililani (5-0, 4-0 Open Division) prevailed over Waianae 50-6 on Saturday night. Tristen Townes? Not many prep football fans outside of Millvill know much about the 5-foot-10, 190-pound senior.

“The defense, I just see a bunch of hammers going after the offense,” Mililani senior wide receiver Kanoa Gibson said. “Tristen is an animal. He’s a beast.”

>> CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME

Waianae (1-4, 1-3) came out with a game plan to work its run-pass option game, and it worked early on. But when the Seariders couldn’t get that running game flowing, Townes and his teammates brought the heat when Waianae’s Sheldon McLeod needed time to throw. No. 59 seemed to be in the pocket on every crucial third down.

“Honestly, my team, they fed me. My other teammates, they did all their jobs. We did all our jobs,” Townes said.

The Seariders usually went with a shotgun, two-running back set, but one of the many keys to making a transition from a run-heavy philosophy to a wide-open, spread concept is raising a unified group of pass protectors. It will take time.

“We left a lot of plays out there that we didn’t execute on both sides of the ball,” Waianae first-year coach Mike Fanoga said. “We’re so young. We’re just trying to teach them how to compete. Mililani is a good team with people in place. We’ve got to put our people in place.”

The adjustments include position changes that have been ongoing since preseason. One involves talented Adonnis Puou, who has moved from tight end to offensive tackle. He was 255 pounds on his 6-2 frame as a tight end. As a lineman now, he’s packing on 280, Fanoga said.

“Our D-line is young, too,” Fanoga said.

But how does the former college assistant coach process this, coaching in the gauntlet known as the Open Division — arguably one of the toughest prep football leagues in the nation?

“I feel hurt about losing,” he said. “It’s no fun losing in front of our crowd.”

His honesty is refreshing. For all the effort from the Seariders players and coaches, they are learning to be patient. That will go a long way as the Seariders adapt to a new era of wide-open football. Between McLeod and backup Shaydon Lopes, the offense moved with efficiency at times. The word after the game as the team congregated had everything to do with working harder, lifting higher, reaching a new level.

In decades past, it was enough to roll out the wing-T smashmouth attack and overpower the smaller programs and teams in the OIA West. In the Open, there are no lightweights, literally. Waianae’s next foe: No. 3 Punahou, next Saturday at Aloha Stadium.