What Happened to McKinley Football?

[Egonator]

Well also keep in mind that McKinley has a lot of immigrant kids who have no clue or don't care about American Football. Thats another big factor as to why Mckinley cannot compete.

[HS Football Fanatic]

Well also keep in mind that McKinley has a lot of immigrant kids who have no clue or don't care about American Football. Thats another big factor as to why Mckinley cannot compete.

@Egonator: OK, but hasn't that always been the case? You figure, McKinley has always drawn kids from Mayor Wright, Lanakila Homes, and Kukui Gardens, because kids in those projects are supposed to attend McKinley. All three projects have had large immigrant populations for decades. McKinley is also assigned students in the Upper Chinatown area (the working-class high-rises bounded by S Beretania, Maunakea, N Vineyard, and Pali). There are lots of immigrants there, particularly Chinese immigrants. But again, kids in that area have been assigned to McKinley for decades. So why has McKinley fallen so far in football just over the past three years or so? I doubt that it's the immigrants; McKinley has had a lot of immigrant students for decades.

[Egonator]

Somewhat true but now football is not important to these immigrant kids. J Pop and K Pop has taken over the school and now everyone wants to dance rather than try out for football. Sad but true...As for the other kids, a lot of them can't make the grades so they can't play. McKinley has been in a slump since the triple over time loss to Castle in the OIA Semifinals...they were respectable for three years 2011-2013....mainly cause they were in D2 but really they have been in a slump for a long time. Joe Cho was okay but in the end, his focus was on the Kamehameha girls basketball which is probably why last year was horrendous. I hate to say this but McKinley should stay in D2 for a long time.

Maybe its the new coach and his coaching style? that could also be a factor.

[WITblitztrend]

Somewhat true but now football is not important to these immigrant kids. J Pop and K Pop has taken over the school and now everyone wants to dance rather than try out for football. Sad but true...As for the other kids, a lot of them can't make the grades so they can't play. McKinley has been in a slump since the triple over time loss to Castle in the OIA Semifinals...they were respectable for three years 2011-2013....mainly cause they were in D2 but really they have been in a slump for a long time. Joe Cho was okay but in the end, his focus was on the Kamehameha girls basketball which is probably why last year was horrendous. I hate to say this but McKinley should stay in D2 for a long time.

Maybe its the new coach and his coaching style? that could also be a factor.

Just to correct you, the 2012 and 2013 Mckinley teams were highly competitive in the DI Red East, garnering the 4th and 3rd seeds in each of those seasons. Trust me, they had talent and played some good football during those two years.

[HS Football Fanatic]

Somewhat true but now football is not important to these immigrant kids. J Pop and K Pop has taken over the school and now everyone wants to dance rather than try out for football. Sad but true...As for the other kids, a lot of them can't make the grades so they can't play. McKinley has been in a slump since the triple over time loss to Castle in the OIA Semifinals...they were respectable for three years 2011-2013....mainly cause they were in D2 but really they have been in a slump for a long time. Joe Cho was okay but in the end, his focus was on the Kamehameha girls basketball which is probably why last year was horrendous. I hate to say this but McKinley should stay in D2 for a long time.

Maybe its the new coach and his coaching style? that could also be a factor.

Just to correct you, the 2012 and 2013 Mckinley teams were highly competitive in the DI Red East, garnering the 4th and 3rd seeds in each of those seasons. Trust me, they had talent and played some good football during those two years.

@WITblitztrend: I think McKinley's saving grace--(Well, at least for football)--for decades has been that they are assigned kids from MWH. I mean, MWH has been a treasure-trove of football talent since at least the late-'70s. McKinley would have done a lot better in football in the past, if St Louis hadn't been siphoning-off the best football talent at MWH. Right now, I don't know whether the MWH kids at McKinley simply don't want to go out for football, or whether they're on the team, but are on the bench because of the 2.00 rule. Whichever is the case, I absolutely agree that McKinley belongs in D2. That much is painfully obvious.

[gopunahou]

It's too bad that nobody thought McKinley would struggle as much as they are and that there isn't anything the OIA can do to have them avoid playing D1 teams.

[HS Football Fanatic]

It's too bad that nobody thought McKinley would struggle as much as they are and that there isn't anything the OIA can do to have them avoid playing D1 teams.

@gopunahou: It's the bloody system. My understanding is that McKinley wanted to drop down to D2, but in order for that to happen, a school in D2 has to agree to go up to D1. I.e., McKinley couldn't drop down to D2 unless it could find a school to swap places with, but there were no takers. So, McKinley has to suffer the indignity of getting blasted in D1. Look at last night's score against Kahuku: 78-0. McKinley alumni should go to the OIA and raise hell. At the same time, Kahuku could have shown more class. Never kick a man when he's down. There was no need for Kahuku to run-up the score like that. Stuff like that can create bad blood between the two schools and their respective alumni.

[rrforlifebaby]

It's too bad that nobody thought McKinley would struggle as much as they are and that there isn't anything the OIA can do to have them avoid playing D1 teams.

@gopunahou: It's the bloody system. My understanding is that McKinley wanted to drop down to D2, but in order for that to happen, a school in D2 has to agree to go up to D1. I.e., McKinley couldn't drop down to D2 unless it could find a school to swap places with, but there were no takers. So, McKinley has to suffer the indignity of getting blasted in D1. Look at last night's score against Kahuku: 78-0. McKinley alumni should go to the OIA and raise hell. At the same time, Kahuku could have shown more class. Never kick a man when he's down. There was no need for Kahuku to run-up the score like that. Stuff like that can create bad blood between the two schools and their respective alumni.

I wasn't at the game, but i heard from multiple sources Big Red was throwing in 2nd and 3rd stringers towards the end of the 2nd qtr. When Crusaders were killing Everybody back in the day, an opposing coach said it best. ..re if its 1st string or the waters boys, we (the losing team) still gota stop them from scoring. Hats off to the Tigers for staying committed to the game and banging.

If u gona point fingers at Big Red, then u gota put york and the trojans on blast too. Milton bomb to timoteo in the 4th with a running clock? Really?

[HS Football Fanatic]

It's too bad that nobody thought McKinley would struggle as much as they are and that there isn't anything the OIA can do to have them avoid playing D1 teams.

@gopunahou: It's the bloody system. My understanding is that McKinley wanted to drop down to D2, but in order for that to happen, a school in D2 has to agree to go up to D1. I.e., McKinley couldn't drop down to D2 unless it could find a school to swap places with, but there were no takers. So, McKinley has to suffer the indignity of getting blasted in D1. Look at last night's score against Kahuku: 78-0. McKinley alumni should go to the OIA and raise hell. At the same time, Kahuku could have shown more class. Never kick a man when he's down. There was no need for Kahuku to run-up the score like that. Stuff like that can create bad blood between the two schools and their respective alumni.

I wasn't at the game, but i heard from multiple sources Big Red was throwing in 2nd and 3rd stringers towards the end of the 2nd qtr. When Crusaders were killing Everybody back in the day, an opposing coach said it best. ..re if its 1st string or the waters boys, we (the losing team) still gota stop them from scoring. Hats off to the Tigers for staying committed to the game and banging.

If u gona point fingers at Big Red, then u gota put york and the trojans on blast too. Milton bomb to timoteo in the 4th with a running clock? Really?

@rrforlifebaby: Absolutely. If York called that, shame on him, too. What I forgot to mention in my last post is that the coaches--particularly the HC--remember stuff like that. So, it creates bad blood between coaching staffs as well, not just the schools and their respective alumni.

[BigWave96744]

Since the first Math Bowl in 1978 to the next 15 years they took home 5 State Titles (81, 82, 88, 92, 93). Then from 1994 to Current they only won one, back in 2009.

I guess even their geeks are getting poached by the ILH

http://math.byuh.edu/mathbowl/winningschools

[huki-lau-lau]

u dont take a knife into a gun fight n mickinly knows that
so like york say it wasnt fun, so kahuku too it wasnt fun an there was no way around not scoring we ran the ball the whole game n usually scored on 2nd down, we had more touchdowns then first downs, i think the jv team would beat them too so i doupt micnly is mad about the lopsided scores. this was no indication or showed nothing of kahukus potential it really was a waste of time imho

[HS Football Fanatic]

Since the first Math Bowl in 1978 to the next 15 years they took home 5 State Titles (81, 82, 88, 92, 93). Then from 1994 to Current they only won one, back in 2009.

I guess even their geeks are getting poached by the ILH

http://math.byuh.edu/mathbowl/winningschools

@BigWave96744: Well, you know who keeps winning those Math Bowls, right? Iolani. But, a lot of the math whizzes at McKinley are from China. They might to do well in math at Iolani, but their weakness in the English language would hold them back in almost all other subjects.

[politclyincrekt]

It's too bad that nobody thought McKinley would struggle as much as they are and that there isn't anything the OIA can do to have them avoid playing D1 teams.

@gopunahou: It's the bloody system. My understanding is that McKinley wanted to drop down to D2, but in order for that to happen, a school in D2 has to agree to go up to D1. I.e., McKinley couldn't drop down to D2 unless it could find a school to swap places with, but there were no takers. So, McKinley has to suffer the indignity of getting blasted in D1. Look at last night's score against Kahuku: 78-0. McKinley alumni should go to the OIA and raise hell. At the same time, Kahuku could have shown more class. Never kick a man when he's down. There was no need for Kahuku to run-up the score like that. Stuff like that can create bad blood between the two schools and their respective alumni.

As a McKinley alum, I figure I'll weigh in on this. I don't blame Kahuku for what happened. I have always said that it isn't your job to stop yourself from scoring. If the Tigers didn't want to get blown up, then they needed to stop Kahuku from scoring. Instead the McKinley defense allowed near 20-yards per rush.

The issue at hand, IMO, is why the coaching staff spent valuable money getting buses to take the kids all the way up to Kahuku just to get blown out of the water. While I am happy that the kids are getting the opportunity to play, as a coach, I couldn't put my players through this kind of beating for the second time this season. After losing to Mililani 73-14 (a game any coach would see McKinley didn't belong in), how could the coach honestly expect a different outcome against Kahuku? The beating the kids took at the hands of Kahuku is more demoralizing than any forfeit would've done (and the result on the record would be the same). What was the Tiger's coach honestly expecting? What are the kids going to learn from this experience? Instead of taking a week off and hoping to get competitive for the rest of the season, the coaching staff is going to risk injury to their players and feed them through the grinder for no benefit whatsoever (unless showing your players how inferior they are is a benefit). I am more outraged at McKinley's coaching staff than at anyone for allowing this situation to occur.

Hats off to the Red Raiders on their dominating performance. If only the McKinley staff had some common sense. I am not a football coach, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that subjecting your teams to vastly superior opponents does not rebuild a program.

[Eastside Hooligan]

[quoteAt the same time, Kahuku could have shown more class. Never kick a man when he's down. There was no need for Kahuku to run-up the score like that. Stuff like that can create bad blood between the two schools and their respective alumni.][/quote]

I did not go to the game knowing that it would be a blowout. I did hear from family and friends that went to the game that there was a few touchdowns that came from punt returns and interceptions. The 2nd and 3rd string did go in the 2nd qtr. and even those guys had interceptions. I also heard that there a few touchdowns that got called back so the score could have been worse.

What could have Kahuku done to show class?

I give credit to McKinley for showing up and for holding there head up high. I heard the band and fans were still cheering to the end.

[HS Football Fanatic]

It's too bad that nobody thought McKinley would struggle as much as they are and that there isn't anything the OIA can do to have them avoid playing D1 teams.

@gopunahou: It's the bloody system. My understanding is that McKinley wanted to drop down to D2, but in order for that to happen, a school in D2 has to agree to go up to D1. I.e., McKinley couldn't drop down to D2 unless it could find a school to swap places with, but there were no takers. So, McKinley has to suffer the indignity of getting blasted in D1. Look at last night's score against Kahuku: 78-0. McKinley alumni should go to the OIA and raise hell. At the same time, Kahuku could have shown more class. Never kick a man when he's down. There was no need for Kahuku to run-up the score like that. Stuff like that can create bad blood between the two schools and their respective alumni.

As a McKinley alum, I figure I'll weigh in on this. I don't blame Kahuku for what happened. I have always said that it isn't your job to stop yourself from scoring. If the Tigers didn't want to get blown up, then they needed to stop Kahuku from scoring. Instead the McKinley defense allowed near 20-yards per rush.

The issue at hand, IMO, is why the coaching staff spent valuable money getting buses to take the kids all the way up to Kahuku just to get blown out of the water. While I am happy that the kids are getting the opportunity to play, as a coach, I couldn't put my players through this kind of beating for the second time this season. After losing to Mililani 73-14 (a game any coach would see McKinley didn't belong in), how could the coach honestly expect a different outcome against Kahuku? The beating the kids took at the hands of Kahuku is more demoralizing than any forfeit would've done (and the result on the record would be the same). What was the Tiger's coach honestly expecting? What are the kids going to learn from this experience? Instead of taking a week off and hoping to get competitive for the rest of the season, the coaching staff is going to risk injury to their players and feed them through the grinder for no benefit whatsoever (unless showing your players how inferior they are is a benefit). I am more outraged at McKinley's coaching staff than at anyone for allowing this situation to occur.

Hats off to the Red Raiders on their dominating performance. If only the McKinley staff had some common sense. I am not a football coach, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that subjecting your teams to vastly superior opponents does not rebuild a program.

@politckyincrekt: I'm not a coach either, but my understanding is that a coach--at least here, and on the high-school level--isn't "supposed" to forfeit unless he has injury issues severe enough to jeopardize the physical safety of his players. I heard McKinley has a fairly big O-line. Apparently Coach Cantiberos felt he couldn't forfeit just because McKinley wasn't "good enough." Cantiberos is also a McKinley alumnus, so perhaps he wanted to protect his alma mater from accusations of cowardice. His starting QB (Badua) was injured during practice, so his backup (Pita) played. Both Pita and the coach claim the boys wanted to play Kahuku. It that claim is true, well, you have to give the team credit.