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 threw the first and only touchdown of his NFL career thus far, it was also the first career touchdown for the player on the receiving end in fellow Cleveland Browns rookie Dylan Sampson. 

While some thought the ball would be cut in half, Gabriel wanted to let Sampson have the entire ball. Material possessions are not a priority for Gabriel, who famously drove a minivan in his final year of college in order to be able to drive more teammates around. 

"He's always been that way, and we love that about him," Gabriel's father, Garrett, recently told Aloha State Daily. "He told (Sampson), 'Hey, you deserve it.'"

Come Sunday, Gabriel will get an opportunity to add to his career milestones. On Wednesday, the Browns announced that Gabriel, their rookie quarterback, will make the start in their Week 5 game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. 

Gabriel, a Mililani alumnus, is set to make Hawai‘i history in doing so, becoming the first person who graduated from a public high school in Hawai‘i to start an NFL game at quarterback. 

Kamehameha alumnus Joe Francis was the first player from a Hawai‘i high school to start a game a quarterback, doing so for the Green Bay Packers in 1958. Meanwhile, Saint Louis alumnus Marcus Mariota has started 76 games in an NFL career that began in 2015. Fellow former Crusader Tua Tagovailoa has started 66 games and counting behind center from 2020 to 2025. 

"Being from Mililani, my son just totally loves the community. He takes it with pride. He understands he's not only doing this for himself, but there's a lot of people that want him to do well, and he knows who he's representing. We're very touched," Garrett Gabriel said. "We followed Marcus (Mariota), Tua (Tagovailoa), and we understand the legacy of Hawai‘i quarterbacks and what they've done. He just wants to go out there and make the state proud, and the community of Mililani proud."

Dillon Gabriel, a Mililani native, attended Punahou in seventh and eighth grade before ultimately deciding to attend his hometown high school. During college offseasons, Gabriel donated brand new Nike uniforms and equipment to various Mililani teams through NIL. 

"Having experienced that private school thing for about two years and when he back moved over, the family got a lot closer. We did a lot more things together," Garrett Gabriel recalled. "A lot of things would be in passing, dropping off my other son, coming back, going there. When he went to Mililani, it was like the family got settled in, and it became a place where you can grow, a place where you can be yourself and be with people in the community. And so that's why I think he cherishes Mililani so much and is willing to do anything for the community, because it made him who he is today, really."

As a freshman in 2015, Gabriel took over for an injured McKenzie Milton and went on to set the Hawai‘i high school passing yardage record with 9,948 yards, according to Hawaii Prep World. He was surpassed by Campbell's Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who finished with 10,653 following his senior season in 2024. 

 is now the starting quarterback at Cal as a true freshman. 

"Just beyond words. Just so proud of him and his family and I hope continued success for him," Mililani head football coach Rod York said. "I'm not gonna be the guy that's like, 'Oh, I knew he was going (to the NFL),' but I knew he was going to do great things. Everything's due to his parents, to his hard work. He's taking all of us, man, the whole 808 is behind him."

Gabriel began his collegiate career at UCF in 2019 before transferring to Oklahoma in 2022. He spent his final year of collegiate football at Oregon in 2024, where he broke the FBS career passing touchdowns record and became a Heisman Trophy finalist. 

In April, Gabriel was selected by the Browns in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft with the 94th overall selection. He has played sparingly for the 1-3 Browns thus far prior to his first start. 

Sunday's game between the Browns and Vikings, which takes place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, will kick off at 3:30 a.m. HST. It will also be televised on NFL Network. 

On Friday, Dillon Gabriel divulged during a press conference that his family wouldn't be able to make the trip because his father doesn't have a passport, which made the rounds on social media. 

"I did have a passport, but we didn't renew it because we were thinking we weren't going to go anywhere outside the states," Garrett Gabriel clarified with a chuckle. "And of course, by the time we decided to renew they said it takes five days, and so we're like, you know what? We'll just watch it from home. And (Dillon) was fine with that."

With Sunday's early kickoff, particularly by Hawai‘i standards, the Gabriel family is already making plans. 

"We'll probably sleep a little earlier than normal," Garrett Gabriel said. "I think we'll be ready to go at 3:30. Doesn't matter what time. Everybody wants to be there for his first start and just enjoy the moment. We'll have some leftovers, some breakfast, but we'll definitely be up for it."

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Dillon Gabriel 100325

<title>Mililani’s Dillon Gabriel set to become first from a Hawai’i public high school to start…</title>

Gabriel will be the first graduate of a public high school from the Islands to start an NFL game at quarterback.

Mililani’s Dillon Gabriel set to become first from a Hawai’i public high school to start a game in the NFL at quarterback

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Michael Brestovansky

Aloha Spirit

A new shaggy species of coral discovered off of Molokai has a name from a galaxy far, far away, courtesy of the University of Hawai‘i researcher who found it.

A study published this month gives official Latin species and genus names to several deep-sea species found in the Pacific, including one found in waters near Hawai‘i: the 

UH professor emeritus Les Watling, who first discovered the species in 2006, told Aloha State Daily that he had wanted to name the coral after the furry Star Wars character since he first saw it. Nineteen years and five Star Wars movies later, he has.

“It’s got that Wookiee look,” Watling said. “This one just had all the attributes of Chewbacca.”

The coral’s distinct, shaggy, flexible branches that give it is name are unique to the Iridogorgia genus, which otherwise feature rigid branches. Watling speculated that the flexibility comes from a lack of calcium carbonate, the compound that forms the “bones” of coral reef structures.

Had he not been able to name the coral after Chewbacca, Watling said he would have chosen a Latin word reflecting the coral’s flexibility. Fortunately, he said, collaborating scientists in China had no problem with the name.

“They told me Chewbacca isn’t very well-known in China,” Watling said, adding that one of his Chinese colleagues had himself named a coral species about a Chinese cultural figure that wasn’t well-known in America.

The Molokai specimen is one of only two collected in the world. Watling said his sample of the Chewbacca coral — along with several other specimens during a dive — was found in 2006, while Chinese researchers found a second specimen near the Mariana Trench in 2016.

Before the collaboration with Chinese scientists, Watling said his Chewbacca specimen — about 20 centimeters of the more than four-foot-tall coral — had been sitting in storage for years. Watling said he “always meant to get around” a proper analysis, but other subjects had taken priority.

Watling said the species seems to prefer “the upper part of the deep sea,” with the Molokai specimen found about 600 meters deep.

Other than the two specimens already collected, Watling said he had caught a glimpse of a third — in a picture published in a Japanese book on deep-sea species.

[{"type":"text","text":"“There’s probably not a lot more of them,” Watling said."}]

Watling said the discovery of two specimens of the same coral species located so far away from each other — the Mariana Trench is, very roughly, 4,000 miles away from Molokai — illustrates the sheer size of the Indo-Pacific biogeographic region.

The coral’s preferred habitat places it out of harm’s way of incidental fishing damage, Watling said, meaning that the greatest threat facing the species is rising sea temperatures.

But, like Chewbacca, the coral could prove resilient. Watling said that, located as deep as it is, the shaggy new species could see fewer ill effects from a 2-degree rise in water temperature than others found closer to the surface.

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<title>Hawai‘i scientist discovers "Chewbacca" coral</title>

Shaggy new coral species found off Molokai given name of Star Wars character.

Hawai‘i scientist discovers "Chewbacca" coral

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Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

Sara Ward is a props designer and the box office manager for Kumu Kahua Theatre. Now, she can add playwright to her resume, following performances of “Smother,” which had its world premiere at Kumu Kahua Theatre on Thursday, Aug. 28.

“Smother” tells the story of a mother who goes to extreme lengths to control her daughter’s love life. The show, which 

It is directed by Harry Wong III and showcases Shannon Winpenny as Marcia, the mother, along with Kirstyn Trombetta as her daughter, Julia. Other featured actors include Kenia Chacon, Andrew Chow, Daron Gaskin, Alysia-Leila Kepa‘a, Kirk Alexander Lapilio, Kris10 Misaki and Jackie Young.

“We've had good crowds and a lot of good reaction — a lot of laughter — which makes me very happy,” Ward told Aloha State Daily.

On Sept. 12, the theater will launch its first Kumu Kahua Theatre Ladies Night, which allows attendees to buy one ticket and get a second one for free to that night’s performance by using the code “LADIES” at the box office or online. The code can be used by ladies or men, she added. The nearby Black Shamrock Tavern will also offer a themed drink that evening called the Ginpenny Cocktail, which includes gin and limeaid, for $6.

Ward wrote most of the script in the evenings, when she had a few hours of free time while audience members enjoyed theater performances.

From there, she asked friends to read the lines of the different characters, so she could assess if it was conversational.

The idea for the play was originally developed with the help of several of Kumu Kahua Theatre’s 

. Originally, Ward had been planning to write a story inspired by a group chat with family during the pandemic. One of her playwriting teachers, 

, read a few scenes from that play and suggested she focus on the interactions with her daughter.

“And so I decided to take one of the scenes from that play with me and my daughter, and I made that into a whole two-hour play,” she said.

So far, mothers and fathers have told her that they identify with the characters, she said. Performances start at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. 

Kumu Kahua Theatre

<title>Kumu Kahua Theatre debuts “Smother”</title>

A drama that explores the complicated relationship between a mother and daughter has taken the stage at Kumu Kahua Theatre. The story was written by playwright Sara Ward, who works in the theater’s box office and wrote most of the story on site, while audiences enjoyed performances that were in session — and she had a few precious hours of free time.

Kumu Kahua Theatre debuts “Smother”

RMHC President and CEO Ed Nishioka

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Ed Nishioka

Have you ever thought about hiring a nonprofit for professional services? Maybe it's time to, especially if you're a nonprofit reliant on donations. Here's one way we're turning business expenses into "a built-in impact multiplier."

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