KAHUKU — Kahuku came up with a goal-line stand with 13 seconds remaining last night to hold off Mililani, 35-27, for a pulsating quarterfinal victory in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association football playoffs.

A vocal, energized crowd of about 3,500 at Carleton E. Weimer Field watched the Red Raiders improve to 9-0 overall. They will face Castle in Friday's 4 p.m. semifinal at Aloha Stadium.

Mililani, which had first-and-goal from the 1-yard line with under a minute remaining but was stopped short on four run attempts, ends its season at 7-3.

"It's too bad somebody had to lose," said Kahuku coach Reggie Torres.

The Red Raiders were in a precarious situation after falling behind 20-7 in the first half, before scoring 28 straight points to go up, 35-20, after Evan Moe's 16-yard touchdown pass to Sage Kaka with 8:52 left in the game.

But the Trojans closed to 35-27 with 6:01 remaining on Trent McKinney's 24-yard TD strike to Colby Lum and Reid Watanabe's extra point.

Mililani then got the ball back after a punt with 2:59 left and marched 81 yards in eight plays, with McKinney's 15-yard lob pass to Hassan Richardson putting them at the 1.

But McKinney was stuffed at the line of scrimmage on consecutive quarterback sneaks, so the Trojans called their last timeout with 37 seconds remaining and the ball sitting maybe three inches from the goal line.

"I thought he got in, but that's not my call to make," said Mililani coach Darnell Arceneaux. "But our short-yardage (play) has been good all year, and I believed we could get an inch."

On third down, McKinney handed off to running back Taz Stevenson, who was hit and stopped at the 2 by defensive end Kona Schwenke. And on fourth down, Stevenson lost control of a wet ball on the handoff and Johnny Tupola recovered on the 3 with 13 seconds left.

Moe then took a knee to let time expire.

"We just told each other, 'This is Kahuku defense,' " said Schwenke.

MILILANI (7-3, 5-3) 7 0 13 7—27

KAHUKU (9-0, 7-0) 0 14 14 7—35

Mililani — Taz Stevenson 1 run (Reid Watanabe kick)

Kahuku — Ben Mamea 8 run (Cameron Mercado kick)

Mililani — Trent McKinney 6 run (Watanabe kick)

Mililani — McKinney 1 run (kick blocked)

Kahuku — Punga Vea 40 pass from Evan Moe (Mercado kick)

Kahuku — Tyrone Brown 4 run (Mercado kick)

Kahuku — Tyrone Brown 4 run (Mercado kick)

Kahuku — Fonoivasa Mata'afa 19 run (Mercado kick)

Kahuku — Sage Kaka 16 pass from Moe (Mercado kick)

Mililani — Colby Lum 24 pass from McKinney (Watanabe kick)

RUSHING — Mililani: Stevenson 5-(minus-1), McKinney 21-73, Zachary Payomo 4-11, Edward McKinnon 1-2, Watanabe 1-1. Kahuku: Johnny Tupola 7-34, Mata'afa 3-25, Moe 4-29, Brown 14-122, Mamea 5-30.

PASSING — Mililani: McKinney 23-35-0—345. Kahuku: Moe 9-14-2—149.

RECEIVING — Mililani: Stevenson 3-68, Hassan Richardson 8-96, Spencer Sword 1-3, Nainoa Pihana 1-1, Colby Lum 5-80, Kama Paulo 2-28, Bryson Calma 3-69. Kahuku: Vea 3-62, Shairone Thompson 1-13, Kaipo Pearl 1-6, Sage Kaka 3-50, Jackson Kaka 1-18.

JV score — Kahuku 19, Kapolei 7