WAILUKU — With an eight-game losing streak and a 16-game skid alive coming into this one, it is little wonder the St. Anthony and Maui High School football teams both came out defensive last night at War Memorial Stadium.

It was the Trojans who were most defensive, however, as they stymied the Sabers all night long in a 14-7 victory, their first since a win over Maui last season.

''That had to be one of the ugliest wins you've seen in a long time, but we will take it,'' Trojans coach Charlie Pico said. ''That one had a little bit of everything.''

The Trojans shut out the Sabers on offense — Maui's only points came on a 55-yard interception by Kyle Sentinella in the third quarter. In fact, the Trojans were dominant on defense after coming in ranked fifth in the league, allowing 321 yards per game. They limited Maui to two first downs for the game and 66 yards total offense.

''Our defense played terrific and pretty much kept us in the game,'' Pico said.

The rest was done in the first quarter when Rory Racadio, a 5-foot-3, 130-pound tailback, gained 45 of his 86 rushing yards.

''I think both teams played tough, it could have gone either way,'' Racadio said. ''We came out with the bigger heart.''

After watching 10 players transfer since last season, this win was huge.

The Trojans are now 1-4 overall, and 1-2 in the Maui Interscholastic League. Maui fell to 0-5 and 0-3.

''After all the guys left us, it brings back our heart, shows what we can do,'' Racadio said after carrying the ball 31 times out of the Trojans' 57 plays from scrimmage.

Never did the Trojans come up bigger than when they were clinging to the one-touchdown lead and the Sabers took over on the Trojans' 16-yard line with 5 minutes, 25 seconds to play after a punt snap sailed through the hands of Juan Estrada.

A holding penalty moved Maui back 12 yards and then Estrada sacked Maui quarterback Jordan Inamasu for a loss of nine. The Sabers ended up giving up the ball on downs with 3:34 to play and four Racadio runs for 17 yards in the final five snaps ran out the clock.

For Maui, which also played stellar defense — the two teams combined for two first downs in the second half — it was an excruciating 17th straight loss dating back to a 6-6 tie with Pac-3 in October 2006.

''We battled but we need to sustain some drives and we need to practice that,'' Sabers coach Roderick Fong said. ''We need to get our boys back out there on the offensive line and hopefully do better next game. We had some chances on offense, but when we did bad things happened.''

The Trojans took a 14-0 lead into the locker room, helped by the Maui punting team's struggles.

A 13-yard punt gave the Trojans the ball on the Maui 36-yard line after the first possession of the game, and the Trojans took eight plays — including six runs by Racadio for 27 yards — to score on a 1-yard dive by quarterback Kainoa Legsay.

A 9-yard punt by the Sabers late in the first quarter again gave the Trojans the ball on the 36 of Maui. This time it took four plays, the final one a 28-yard pass from Legsay to Jack Webber in the end zone, for a 14-0 lead with 1:07 left in the first quarter.

That throw was the only pass by the Trojans' quarterback in the first half.

The Trojans took advantage of a strong wind and an unbalanced line that featured a pair of big boys — 300-pound senior Kalani Fineisaloi and linebacker Angelo Perez, most often — in the backfield in front of Racadio in the first quarter.

The Trojans looked like they would extend their lead on a couple of occasions.

The first came when Kapono Thibodeaux recovered a Maui fumble on the Sabers' 42-yard line on Maui's first play after Webber's touchdown. The Trojans reached the 19, but were stopped on downs.

The Trojans got to the doorstep of the end zone later when Perez intercepted a screen pass and returned it 52 yards to the Maui High 3.

Inamasu ran down Perez for the tackle and then the Sabers' defense stopped the Trojans with an inspired goal-line stand. Legsay tried to sneak in on the first three plays and then Racadio was stopped by Saia Pua on fourth-and-goal from the 1.

Earlier, the Trojans had a 77-yard punt return touchdown by Makana Kalehuawehe called back by a clear block in the back.

The Trojans defense was stellar, forcing Maui to go three-and-out four times, intercepting a pass, and recovering a fumble on the Sabers' first six possessions of the half. Maui got its only first down of the first half on a 13-yard run by Lyman Franco with less than 2 minutes left in the second quarter, after the goal-line stand.

The Trojans had 109 yards of offense in the first half, 65 on the ground by Racadio on 16 carries.

Maui managed just 14 yards of offense in the first half — and the Sabers had 16 yards on their seventh and final possession. The Trojans held a 7-1 advantage in first downs in the first half.

Inamasu was victimized by a few drops and overthrows on the way to going 1-for-12 passing for 2 yards and the interception in the first half. He finished 5-for-19 for 41 yards.

The Trojans had 100 total yards of offense, 34 more than Maui. The final first-down count was 8-2 in favor of the Trojans.

Trojans 14 0 0 0—14

Maui 0 0 7 0—7

First Quarter

StA-Kainoa Legsay 1 run (Thomas Cortez kick), 7:33.

StA-Jack Webber 28 pass from Legsay (Cortez kick), 1:07.

Third Quarter

Maui-Kyle Senitnella 55 interception return (J-Cob Coloma-Moniz kick), 8:33.