Daily Journal Athlete of the Week: South City’s Mila Iopu

But the Warriors summoned their great equalizer, two-way lineman Mila Iopu, a 6-foot, 250-pound senior that arrived on campus at South City this year as an international transfer.

“Too bad he’s a senior because if he was a junior, this guy would be dominating,” Pua said.

In earning Daily Journal Athlete of the Week honors, Iopu showed he is full of surprises. Leading the way in South City’s 36-0 rout of El Camino to reclaim the Bell Trophy, he was integral to sophomore running back Elijah Fields’ big day. Fields totaled 19 carries for 100 yards, with Iopu at right guard and Francisco Lara at center pulling blocks for the sophomore speedster.

Iopu also anchors the defensive line at nose guard, and it’s no coincidence the Warriors, since the senior was activated in Week 4 of the season, recorded five shutouts through their last seven games.

What no one expected, however, was in addition to Iopu being a dominant force on the line, he’d also show off some chops at a skill position. Having grown up an avid rugby player in his native Samoa, Iopu earned two snaps as South City’s quarterback late in Saturday’s game, culminated in a majestic — or from El Camino’s perspective, a terrifying — 1-yard touchdown run.

“It was a surprise to me that I got a touchdown because I thought that would never come to me,” Iopu said.

Iopu was a pleasant surprise when he arrived on campus several weeks into the fall semester. It was a lonely first day for the senior, however, who knew just one other student on campus, his younger sister, Faauuga. The siblings emigrated together from Tafuna, American Samoa, where their parents had left in 2020 during the COVID pandemic when Iopu’s father took over as pastor at First Samoan Methodist Church in South San Francisco.

It took nearly three years for Iopu and his sister to earn dual citizenship in the U.S. and finally relocate. It was a rough stretch, with daily Zoom calls as Iopu’s only lifeline to his parents.

It was a formative time for his sense of rivalry. Prior to relocating to Tafuna, Iopu spent two years at Wesley College high school in Fale’ula, Samoa. It was there where he got his first taste of rivalry games, not as a football player but as a rugger.

Wesley takes its rivalry with nearby Faga-itua High School quite seriously, and in Iopu’s first taste of the annual matchup during his freshman year, Wesley came away with the win. Upon arriving in South San Francisco in August, he had never heard of the Bell Game before, but quickly realized the emotions involved in the timeless rivalry between the neighboring schools.

“It was all the same,” Iopu said. “I thought about the rivalry. I’ve been playing with this football team ... and it became like a family to us. So, my perspective, I was willing to get the Bell back.”

Iopu never played football prior to this year. When he arrived in South San Francisco, though, his father, having known Pua as a parishioner at First Samoan Methodist, encouraged him to report to the football field following his first day of school. It was a godsend in that Iopu not only had a natural talent for the game, but it helped him to quickly establish a network of friends.

“It was kind of lonely,” Iopu said of his first day on campus, “but I got used to it and made some friends.”

Pua said he was immediately impressed with Iopu’s speed for a big man. The senior soon donned the No. 66 and committed to learning the intricacies of American football, studying up on not just the South City playbook but, more plainly, the rules of the game.

“Rugby and football are mostly the same, like tackling and getting the ball,” Iopu said. “But football is kind of hard. … I have to get used to it.”

As a former rugby forward, though, carrying the ball came naturally to Iopu. So, when he got the call to take over at quarterback late in Saturday’s contest, his eyes lit up.

It took him two carries to hit paydirt. Iopu’s first carry was a QB keeper around the end resulting in an impressive 19-yard gain, only he got tripped up and taken down at the 1-yard line. It was a momentary disappointment, but Pua said there was no way he wasn’t going to give Iopu another chance to score.

“The second time no one wanted to tackle him,” Pua said, “and he just walked into the end zone.”

Iopu saved his touchdown dance for the postgame celebration, as he and his South City Warriors family performed a haka dance before departing El Camino with the Bell Trophy in tow for the first time since 2017.

“It meant a lot, I think,” Pua said. “It just culminated our season. We did get to the playoffs but winning the trophy and bringing it back home … and that’s what it feels like, the Bell should have never left South City. So, it just meant a lot to them that they brought it back home.”