For the first time in three years, the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Football State Championships are back to a regular 16-team field.
Four teams in the Open Division and six teams each in Divisions I and II will vie for state crowns as the tournament begins on Nov. 11 with two sites hosting Division I games.
There were no surprises in the Open Division. OIA champion Kahuku and OIA third-place Campbell will meet in the semifinals for the third consecutive tournament.
The defending champion Red Raiders (10-2 overall) have won 18 consecutive games against Hawaii opponents since the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 season.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to repeat as state champions,” Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho said Monday. “Yet we are taking nothing for granted. We understand what it takes. We are trusting the process, working hard, and will be ready when the time comes.”
Kahuku has won seven in a row against the Sabers
(7-3), including a 16-6 victory in the mud in Ewa Beach in mid-September.
The other semifinal pits ILH champion Punahou, which snapped Saint Louis’ run of six straight ILH championships, against OIA runner-up Mililani.
Since the Open Division format moved to four teams in 2017, the ILH champion has won all four meetings against the OIA runner-up. Three of the four games have been by at least 24 points. The only close game was last year, when Saint Louis squeaked past the Trojans 27-25.
Punahou hasn’t played in the state tournament since 2016. That was the one year the Open Division was six teams and included the ILH runner-up. The Buffanblu lost to Kapolei when Taulia Tagovailoa threw for 367 yards and five touchdowns with June Jones as his offensive coordinator.
The Open Division semifinals will be played on Nov. 18. All three Open Division state tournament games and the Division I and II championship games will be played at Mililani’s John Kauinana Stadium.
Every championship game since the first state tournament was held in 1999 had been played at Aloha Stadium until it was condemned in December 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Every game of the state tournament last year was held at Farrington’s Skippa Diaz Stadium.
Ching Complex, which seats roughly 9,300 and will expand to close to 17,000 for next year’s University of Hawaii football season, was never a serious option to host any tournament games due to a multitude of cost and logistical issues, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
There were some surprises with the seedings in Divisions I and II.
Defending D-I champion ‘Iolani was not one of those. The Raiders (9-0), who own the state’s longest active winning streak at 20 games, are the No. 1 seed. BIIF champion Konawaena (9-1) earned the No. 2 seed, giving both schools byes into the semifinals, which they will host on Nov. 19.
MIL champion Lahainaluna (9-0), which hasn’t missed states since 2006, will host Aiea as the No. 3 seed, and OIA champion Waipahu, the No. 4 seed, will host Kapaa on Nov. 11.
Surprisingly, both OIA champions in Divisions I and II, despite running the table, were seeded fourth.
It’s the first time an OIA champion has been seeded fourth since the state tournament moved to a three-division format.
Nanakuli (9-1) will host
5 seed Pac-Five in the D-II first round on Nov. 12. OIA runner-up Kaiser will travel to Hanapepe Stadium on Kauai to face KIF champion Waimea, which earned the No. 3 seed.
MIL champion King Kekaulike, which is 4-6 this season, is the top seed in the division and will host the Nanakuli/Pac-Five winner. Na Alii’s only other state appearance came in 2006, when it beat Kauai in the Division II final.
Honokaa, the BIIF champion after going 10-1 during the season, is the No. 2 seed and will host the Kaiser/Waimea winner. Both of those games are on Nov. 19.
The Dragons’ only other state appearance came in 2009.
Three of the four semifinal games in Divisions I and II will take place at the same time on the same night on neighbor islands.
HHSAA State Tournament
Open Division
Friday, Nov. 18 @ Mililani
• Kahuku vs. Campbell, 4 p.m.
• Punahou vs. Mililani, 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 25 @ Mililani
• Championship, 7 p.m.
Division I
Friday, Nov. 11
• Kapaa @ Waipahu, 7 p.m.
• Aiea @ Lahainaluna, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 19
• Waip/Kap @ ‘Iolani, 3 p.m.
• Aiea/Lah @ Konawaena, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 26 @ Mililani
• Championship, 7 p.m.
Division II
Saturday, Nov. 12
• Kaiser vs. Waimea @ Hanapepe Stadium, 1 p.m.
• Pac-Five @ Nanakuli, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 19
• Nan/P5 @ King Kekaulike, 7 p.m.
• Waim/Kais @ Honokaa, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 26 @ Mililani
• Championship, 4 p.m.
