Open/D-I Top Ten 2021

[ChadFukuoka]

@unpaid:

Well, the mystery of why Kalaheo High was established, deepens. Be that as it may, that school has had its glory days in various sports, especially boys' basketball, of course. I mean, they kicked butt in the mid-'90s, playing basketball with the best of them, including schools that are D1 in basketball today. Even now, Kalaheo High is still fielding respectable boys' basketball teams. But, here's a request to anyone else "out there" cruising this thread: Can you tell us why Kalaheo High was established? Wasn't there a study done that found the school necessary in terms of population?' As far as I know, that's the only reason the state will build a new high school.

I recall that you once posted that you graduated from Radford High in the late-'60s? Man, that was a long time ago; I'm glad you're here, because there are times when I feel ridiculous about posting on a site that's about high school sports, and I graduated in the mid-'70s. I mean, if you're here, I'm OK to be here too, right? Thanks.

Anyway, I didn't know that there was a football rivalry between Radford High and Waianae High in the late-'60s; thanks for sharing that with us. Yeah, Moanalua High was established in '72. Heck, you were already out of Radford High for three years. But again, it's my understanding that Moanalua High is now Radford High's most "bitter" rival overall, not just in football. And you're right, the three-tier system of high school football in Hawaii complicates matters. After all, while Radford High is in D2, Moanalua High is in D1. So, the two "rival" schools don't even meet in what is the biggest high school sport. But, the two schools can voluntarily agree to play each other, right? Doesn't the OIA allow that, or not?

I believe Radford and Leilehua also had a rivalry, back when those two teams were at the top of the OIA, along with Waianae. Two legendary coaches, John Velasco and Hugh Yoshida, both with their stadiums named after them. Also, the “Army-Navy” aspect to it, as Leilehua is by Schofield Barracks, and Radford by Pearl Harbor.

@Chad Fukuoka:

Yeah, I would agree that Radford and Leilehua had a football rivalry. And indeed, both Velasco and Yoshida were legends, especially Yoshida. If I recall correctly, Velasco passed-away just before Radford played St Louis for the Prep Bowl title in '81. Radford won, and some guys thought Velasco's spirit "influenced" the game. Yoshida went on to become AD at UH. I don't know about the Army vs Navy aspect; I don't recall it looming large at all, "back in the day". After all, Radford and Leilehua are public schools, not military academies. Yes, the Pearl Harbor navy brats went to Radford High, while the Schofield army brats went to Leilehua High. But, each school had more local kids, so I don't recall any notable element of "interservice rivalry" between the two schools.

My uncle played for Leilehua, I can’t remember exactly what year. He said when he played, there were a few “Beat Radford”, “Beat Leilehua” chants, followed up by a few “Beat Navy”, “Beat Army” chants. I always assumed it was a competitive, but naturally respectful aspect to the rivalry (since all branches of military service are defending our country). My uncle told me this story when he came over to visit, and the Army-Navy football game was on.

[ChadFukuoka]

@gopunahou: I'm glad it isn't. I'd prefer that Kamehameha win, but I have a bad feeling that they'll lose. Even if it were on OC16, I wouldn't be able to bring myself to watch, anyway. I have a feeling of dread about the game; don't want to see it unfold. Don't want to feel the anguish. Life is stressful enough.

Then you’ll feel better, Kam won 34-31.

[Jacob Makaiwi]

Imua Kamehameha! Big win!!!!!

[gopunahou]

Kamehameha became the first team to beat St. Louis twice in a season since we did it seven years ago. We play SLS next. Both teams are trying to avoid ugly outcomes--we haven't had a team beat us three times in a season ever. St. Louis is trying to avoid finishing with its first losing record since 1982. St. Louis can ill afford to have its offense abandon them in the 2nd half for the 3rd consecutive game. We can ill afford to give up big plays at any time in the game.

[Jacob Makaiwi]

Man if only the Kam-St.Louis game was on tv. But I think spectrum scheduled the ILH championship game in a couple weeks and for sure Kamehameha will be waiting for whoever they play. The rest of the Open team games were very lopsided, so this game definitely was the most exciting. Hopefully Leilehua does good in its first game ever playing in the Open Division next week

I believed this rematch w/Kam St.Louis was going to be a close game with the winner winning by single digits. I did share that I thought St.Louis had the edge with a 55-60% chance to win this one, but I’m really happy that Kamehameha took it instead. I was rooting for them all game and they came up clutch in the end especially Scoring the winning touchdown with I believe a minute or so left.

I can only base things off scoringlive stats and the live updates of it I was observing, but Kam really did well on their passing game which was almost nonexistent the first game against the Crusaders. QB 14/21 w/160passing yards 3 passing touchdowns and 1 interception. He’s no fluke. And then it looks like they did what they do in the run game with Bartley scoring 2 rushing tds, having 203 rushing yards with an amazing average of 7 yards per carry!!!

This wasn’t just a game where St.Louis O had waaaaaay more yards than Kam, but kept turning the ball over. In fact they forced more turnovers against Kamehameha and actually scored on an interception. But the total yards favored Kamehameha this time around 404 to 393. I’m really proud of Kamehameha’s offensive improvement! Their defense has been amazing all season and looks like they did awesome tonight. Bianco did really good on his feet and I’m not sure if they were designed runs or not, but he ran a whole lot and scored 2 rushing TD’s, but only threw 1 TD, so Kam D took away as best as they could the potential the strength and identity of the St.Louis O which is good. They were especially great in the second half because the Crusaders scored 0 points that half and the Warriors went clutch with 14 unanswered points in the 4th quarter. I believe they out coached St.Louis, and that second half probably proves it with the adjustments they made. Excited for the ILH championship game. I just wish they would have shown this game on tv tonight! Shucks!!!!!

[gopunahou]

The only way Punahou or St. Louis can win the ILH is if they beat Kamehameha twice.

[Jacob Makaiwi]

The only way Punahou or St. Louis can win the ILH is if they beat Kamehameha twice.

Hey gopunahou good luck to your team next week!

I just wanted to check with you, I believe St.Louis and Punahou play each other next week while Kam has a bye. And then Kam plays the winner of the St.Louis/Punahou game. And whoever wins that game against Kam is the ILH champ and lone Open ILH representative in the state championship tournament. That’s what I thought. So I believe they would have to beat Kam just once. Or do they have to play Kam another time if they beat them this time around?

[ChadFukuoka]

The only way Punahou or St. Louis can win the ILH is if they beat Kamehameha twice.

Hey gopunahou good luck to your team next week!

I just wanted to check with you, I believe St.Louis and Punahou play each other next week while Kam has a bye. And then Kam plays the winner of the St.Louis/Punahou game. And whoever wins that game against Kam is the ILH champ and lone Open ILH representative in the state championship tournament. That’s what I thought. So I believe they would have to beat Kam just once. Or do they have to play Kam another time if they beat them this time around?

I think the ILH season is divided into 2 rounds. The regular season and the league tournament. If the same team wins both the regular season (best record), and the league tournament, then they get the state berth. If the league tournament winner is different from the regular season winner, then the two teams play a final playoff game to decide the state berth.

[Jacob Makaiwi]

The only way Punahou or St. Louis can win the ILH is if they beat Kamehameha twice.

Hey gopunahou good luck to your team next week!

I just wanted to check with you, I believe St.Louis and Punahou play each other next week while Kam has a bye. And then Kam plays the winner of the St.Louis/Punahou game. And whoever wins that game against Kam is the ILH champ and lone Open ILH representative in the state championship tournament. That’s what I thought. So I believe they would have to beat Kam just once. Or do they have to play Kam another time if they beat them this time around?

I think the ILH season is divided into 2 rounds. The regular season and the league tournament. If the same team wins both the regular season (best record), and the league tournament, then they get the state berth. If the league tournament winner is different from the regular season winner, then the two teams play a final playoff game to decide the state berth.

Oh I see, Thanks Chad! I see now what you meant gopunahou That is really interesting! Correct me if I’m wrong, but this still means that Pun and StLouis are playing in that first round of the tournament to face Kamehameha right? And that means that tonight’s win gave Kam a whole lot of leverage because even if they lose their upcoming game they still can play another one and win it to be the ILH representative. While either Pun or St.Louis can’t lose another game and must win 3 games straight (one against each other and 2 against Kam) to be the ILH representative yeah?

[ChadFukuoka]

Hey gopunahou good luck to your team next week!

I just wanted to check with you, I believe St.Louis and Punahou play each other next week while Kam has a bye. And then Kam plays the winner of the St.Louis/Punahou game. And whoever wins that game against Kam is the ILH champ and lone Open ILH representative in the state championship tournament. That’s what I thought. So I believe they would have to beat Kam just once. Or do they have to play Kam another time if they beat them this time around?

I think the ILH season is divided into 2 rounds. The regular season and the league tournament. If the same team wins both the regular season (best record), and the league tournament, then they get the state berth. If the league tournament winner is different from the regular season winner, then the two teams play a final playoff game to decide the state berth.

Oh I see, Thanks Chad! I see now what you meant gopunahou That is really interesting! Correct me if I’m wrong, but this still means that Pun and StLouis are playing in that first round of the tournament to face Kamehameha right? And that means that tonight’s win gave Kam a whole lot of leverage because even if they lose their upcoming game they still can play another one and win it to be the ILH representative. While either Pun or St.Louis can’t lose another game and must win 3 games straight (one against each other and 2 against Kam) to be the ILH representative yeah?

Yes, I believe that is correct. Kam is definitely in the driver’s seat now. I think they have definitely been a nice surprise of the ILH Open this season. It’s always good to see teams that haven’t won in awhile find success.

[Jacob Makaiwi]

Yeah they’re definitely in the driver’s seat. Thanks again man! And you’re right about Kamehameha being a pleasant surprise and winning more. I wonder if they’ll be able to keep it up and take it all this year. Even if they win the ILH the OIA teams are still kind of a mystery since they just started week 1. We pretty much know all 3 Open ILH teams by this point.

The only thing with Kam recently is that they have these years where they have amazing teams and talent and win the ILH and States or are the clear 2nd best team in the ILH, but then there’s many years where they are the clear 3rd place, and even were clearly below some OIA teams. I’m just stating a reason for why this is probably the case. This is not an excuse for them. But they are the only team from the big 3 of the ILH who can’t recruit players to come to their school to play football. Even Public schools have started to get that luxury of “recruiting.” Kam gets whoever got accepted into Kamehameha through the academic tests and interviews. That’s why every x amount of years they so happen to have great talent that can match or surpass the other 2 teams. This isn’t a consistent thing that teams with the luxury of recruiting players has. But like any other team, if Kam has a streak of winning more, then more great football athletes might want to try to get into their school and play Football for them. They just have to pass the test and interview, which has a very low acceptance rate. But you never know. Can Kamehameha ever have a consistent streak again of being on the very top like they were in the 70’s?

[ChadFukuoka]

Yeah they’re definitely in the driver’s seat. Thanks again man! And you’re right about Kamehameha being a pleasant surprise and winning more. I wonder if they’ll be able to keep it up and take it all this year. Even if they win the ILH the OIA teams are still kind of a mystery since they just started week 1. We pretty much know all 3 Open ILH teams by this point.

The only thing with Kam recently is that they have these years where they have amazing teams and talent and win the ILH and States or are the clear 2nd best team in the ILH, but then there’s many years where they are the clear 3rd place, and even were clearly below some OIA teams. I’m just stating a reason for why this is probably the case. This is not an excuse for them. But they are the only team from the big 3 of the ILH who can’t recruit players to come to their school to play football. Even Public schools have started to get that luxury of “recruiting.” Kam gets whoever got accepted into Kamehameha through the academic tests and interviews. That’s why every x amount of years they so happen to have great talent that can match or surpass the other 2 teams. This isn’t a consistent thing that teams with the luxury of recruiting players has. But like any other team, if Kam has a streak of winning more, then more great football athletes might want to try to get into their school and play Football for them. They just have to pass the test and interview, which has a very low acceptance rate. But you never know. Can Kamehameha ever have a consistent streak again of being on the very top like they were in the 70’s?

Also, with Kam, you need to be part Hawaiian or full Hawaiian to attend. So players with no Hawaiian blood are not going to school and playing football there. Great QB’s like Marcus Mariota and Tua would not have been able to play for the Warriors. So that limits the available talent pool, especially when your two main competitors both recruit across the whole island. I’m not sure how familiar you are with Kam football during their dominance in the 70’s, but I guess recruiting wasn’t an issue back then, or maybe the other ILH teams didn’t recruit as much as they do now?

[Jacob Makaiwi]

Yeah they’re definitely in the driver’s seat. Thanks again man! And you’re right about Kamehameha being a pleasant surprise and winning more. I wonder if they’ll be able to keep it up and take it all this year. Even if they win the ILH the OIA teams are still kind of a mystery since they just started week 1. We pretty much know all 3 Open ILH teams by this point.

The only thing with Kam recently is that they have these years where they have amazing teams and talent and win the ILH and States or are the clear 2nd best team in the ILH, but then there’s many years where they are the clear 3rd place, and even were clearly below some OIA teams. I’m just stating a reason for why this is probably the case. This is not an excuse for them. But they are the only team from the big 3 of the ILH who can’t recruit players to come to their school to play football. Even Public schools have started to get that luxury of “recruiting.” Kam gets whoever got accepted into Kamehameha through the academic tests and interviews. That’s why every x amount of years they so happen to have great talent that can match or surpass the other 2 teams. This isn’t a consistent thing that teams with the luxury of recruiting players has. But like any other team, if Kam has a streak of winning more, then more great football athletes might want to try to get into their school and play Football for them. They just have to pass the test and interview, which has a very low acceptance rate. But you never know. Can Kamehameha ever have a consistent streak again of being on the very top like they were in the 70’s?

Also, with Kam, you need to be part Hawaiian or full Hawaiian to attend. So players with no Hawaiian blood are not going to school and playing football there. Great QB’s like Marcus Mariota and Tua would not have been able to play for the Warriors. So that limits the available talent pool, especially when your two main competitors both recruit across the whole island. I’m not sure how familiar you are with Kam football during their dominance in the 70’s, but I guess recruiting wasn’t an issue back then, or maybe the other ILH teams didn’t recruit as much as they do now?

Great comment on that too! You’re very right, some of the greats of Hawaii football talent don’t have a lick of Hawaiian blood so they wouldn’t even have a chance for Kam schools. So that’s definitely another way where Kam football talent can possibly be affected. I was born in 93 so yeah I mostly know Kam’s 70’s dominance through word and research. I also attended Kamehameha from 7th grade until I graduated with them and I played on their JV and Vars teams so I know a little bit about those “glory days” through being on campus. I also was fortunate enough to play on their team in ‘09 when we took everything.

But back to Kam’s dominance in the 70’s. I know they won 3 straight prep bowls and went to 5 in total during the 70’s. And the prep bowls didn’t start until ‘73, so in all 7 seasons in the 70s Kam won the ILH 5 out of 7 years to be in those prepbowl games.

But then the Lee brothers came to St.Louis and dominated the 80’s and 90’s. So yeah recruiting football players for Saint Louis and Punahou in the 70s might have happened, but like you said it definitely was a factor afterward and was very obvious and on steroids especially for St.Louis after the 70’s. And then Punahou caught up with their own recruiting battles and eventually started winning that recruiting battle against Saint Louis especially after the Lee brothers left for a bit. But Kam just can’t do it with that recruiting so in a way they’re like some OIA schools where they do happen to have great talent for one or two years and then they just have to wait until the next batch of great talent comes.

[ChadFukuoka]

I'm really interested in McKinley's program. Can Coach Ane revive a once proud Town team.

@TheNewNORM:

Well, McKinley High hasn't had a strong team since '04; that was the last year they made the OIA playoffs. They had a fairly decent team in '13. But, it's been pretty disastrous for them since then. They had a horrible season in '15; that year they lost to Kahuku High, 70-something to 0, and they lost to Waianae like 90 to 0 (yes, ninety to 0). I mean, McKinley alumni have seen their alma mater get kicked-around for the most part, for the past forty years. That's a long time. I don't think Kale can do a whole lot about it. I mean, he's not God. For one thing, McKinley High is in D2. Kale left an Open school, Punahou, and is taking the reins of a D2 school. I don't think he can recruit his way out of this predicament; how do you recruit players to a D2 school? Talk about Mission Impossible. I've heard McKinley High has some big kids, O-lineman types. However, not all of them are even going out for the team, I've heard. And, it's not because of Kale. I've heard they had the same problem before he got there. I mean, you never know, but I'm sorry to say that you'll probably be disappointed by McKinley High's football program. It's just one of those things. I don't think there's a whole lot that Kale can do. He recruited his way to prominence at Punahou School, but I simply don't see it happening at McKinley High.

While McKinley hit rock bottom in that 2015 season, they probably weren’t the worst Hawaii football team ever. I know on the Big Island, Kau was absolutely dreadful in their 2012 season. They lost to Konawaena 86-0, and 91-8. They also got blown out and mercy ruled by some other Big Island teams that year. And who could forget Hilo’s 104-0 victory over Waiakea. I never thought it would be possible to score in the triple digits, especially with a running clock in the second half. I actually thought the score was a typo, and it was supposed to be 14-0.

[gopunahou]

The only way Punahou or St. Louis can win the ILH is if they beat Kamehameha twice.

Hey gopunahou good luck to your team next week!

I just wanted to check with you, I believe St.Louis and Punahou play each other next week while Kam has a bye. And then Kam plays the winner of the St.Louis/Punahou game. And whoever wins that game against Kam is the ILH champ and lone Open ILH representative in the state championship tournament. That’s what I thought. So I believe they would have to beat Kam just once. Or do they have to play Kam another time if they beat them this time around?

Thanks Jacob. Hawaiiprepworld says the ILH championship game in two weeks will decide the winner of the league.