KAPOLEI — No. 5 Mililani cashed in on early turnovers to defeat rusty No. 8 Kapolei, 23-7, last night at the Hurricanes' stadium.

The outcome left no unbeaten teams in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red West and created a four-way tie for the lead. The Trojans (4-1 overall, 2-1 OIA) share first place with 'Aiea, Leilehua and Wai'anae, all with 2-1 records in the West.

The Hurricanes (3-2, 1-1) were the last undefeated team in the West entering last night, but it was their first league game played on the field. They inherited a forfeit win against 'Aiea last week that was part of Na Ali'i's punishment for a game-ending scuffle nearly a month ago against Campbell, which also suffered a forfeit loss from the incident.

Because of the forfeit and natural bye the past two weeks, the Hurricanes hadn't played since a 42-27 win against McKinley on Aug. 25 in non-league action. Being idle from live action was evident in the Hurricanes' two first-half turnovers that accounted for 10 points.

"That was tough for us," Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said of the layoff. "But we still have to play. The rust showed early. Whenever you turn it over and hand it over on a silver platter, it makes it tough."

Mililani coach Darnell Arceneaux acknowledged the difficulty of returning from a layoff. "Any time you have that long of a (break) and you try to get back into that war mentality, it's always tough," he said.

A fumble on first down from the Hurricanes' 20 — right after the ensuing kickoff after the Trojans took a 7-0 lead on 2-yard TD run by quarterback Rustin Funakoshi — was recovered at the Trojans' 1, from where running back Taz Stevenson scored the first of his two TDs. Colin Lund's PAT made it 14-0 at 6:08 left in the first quarter.

The Hurricanes even changed quarterbacks in the first half. Hernandez replaced starter Mason Koa for Noah Pascua. Hernandez said Koa was making incorrect reads on the option. But it wasn't like he could keep Koa inactive. Koa returned for some series at quarterback, but also played receiver in the second half, hauling in three passes for 57 yards to lead all receivers.

The Hurricanes' defense kept the Trojans off the board from that point until another fumble with 16 seconds left in the half gave Mililani a scoring opportunity. Lund's booming 47-yard field goal as time expired made it 17-0 at the intermission.

The layoff apparently not only affected the Hurricanes; the stadium's game clock malfunctioned in the second half, so time was kept by the officials on the field, leaving the crowd to guess the time left in the game the rest of the night.

It looked the tide would change in the second half, when linebacker Cyril Ontai intercepted a Funakoshi pass after the Trojans took the second-half kickoff. From Mililani's 41, the Hurricanes blew downfield, scoring three plays later when Shenon Moore ran 5 yards to make it 17-7.

The Trojans sealed the game in the fourth quarter on Stevenson's second TD of the game, a 2-yard run to make it 23-7.

Hernandez was disappointed in his defense, the same one that held Damien's Kama Bailey to 93 yards earlier in the season. But 5-foot-5, 147-pound running back Michael Among-Serrao pounded the Hurricanes for 109 yards to lead all rushers.

"We have to find our identity," Hernandez said. "We're looking kind of ragged."

Meanwhile, Arceneaux was still impressed with Kapolei's Koa, despite the quarterback's issues with the option.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he lined up to play defense," Arceneaux said.

"The way we looked today, we might need him over there," Hernandez added.

Despite the loss, Hernandez said it's too early to get discouraged. The Hurricanes are a game behind the other teams with one loss because they happened to have their bye week early.

"A lot of things can happen," Hernandez said. "We're still in it. We just have to regroup."

MILILANI (4-1, 2-1) 14 3 0 6—23

KAPOLEI (3-2, 1-1) 0 0 7 0— 7

Mili — Rustin Funakoshi 2 run (Colin Lund kick)

Mili — Taz Stevenson 1 run (Lund kick)

Mili — FG Lund 47

Kap — Shenon Moore 5 run (Nacho Martinez kick)

Mili — Stevenson 2 run (kick failed)

RUSHING — Mililani: Funakoshi 11-48, Michael Among-Serrao 19-109, Stevenson 2-3, Zachary Villanueva 1-(minus 1), Kekai Trout 2-1, Team 2-(minus 4). Kapolei: Mason Koa 10-(minus 14), Keli'i Aki 1-3, Cyril Ontai 8-43, Jason Recamara 1-8, Moore 4-21, Chase Alcott 2-11, Noah Pascua 3-12.

PASSING — Mililani: Funakoshi 10-22-1—106. Kapolei: Koa 4-6-0—98, Pascua 5-2-1—82.

RECEIVING — Mililani: Stevenson 3-32, Trent Tamate 2-32, Shaw Alesna 1-5, Lund 3-28, Greg Nautu 1-9. Kapolei: Tyler Kukahiko 2-24, Moore 1-12, Koa 3-57, Kalani Omoto 1-32, Recamara 1-42, Aki 1-13.

JV score — Kapolei 25, Mililani 14.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.