Saint Louis, Punahou and Kamehameha will meet each other in football starting next month, according to two of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu teams’ head coaches.

At this point, they will not be official ILH games, but the scrimmages will be the first Hawaii high school football competition since the end of the 2019 season and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that suspended prep sports a year ago.

“It’s a go,” said Ron Lee, coach of the four-time defending state champion Crusaders and an advocate of playing football this spring since before last fall’s season was postponed and then canceled.

Saint Louis will play at Kamehameha on April 17 and at Punahou on May 1, Lee said. He added that the Crusaders plan to meet the Warriors again on May 8, at a location to be determined.

Buffanblu interim head coach Leonard Lau confirmed the May 1 hosting of the Crusaders, and said Punahou will play at Kamehameha on April 24.

“The scoreboard won’t be on at the game at our field,” Lau said. “But of course there will be people keeping track. Someone has to win.”

Lee said Saint Louis also is trying to schedule a game for April 24, possibly against ‘Iolani, or a club team of players from public schools. Lee is also open to split-squad doubleheaders against two different teams, he said.

Unlike the private-school ILH, the public-school Oahu Interscholastic Association does not permit school teams to participate in exhibitions.

‘Iolani coach Wendell Look said he didn’t know yet when asked Monday if the Raiders will participate.

Damien coach Eddie Klaneski had not responded yet to a text message late Monday afternoon asking if his team would be involved. There has been discussion since last fall within the ILH of the Open Division teams fielding split squads to play D-I schools Damien and ‘Iolani.

Kamehameha coach Abu Ma‘afala responded but did not comment.

“All media requests have to go through our communications director,” he said.

Saint Louis has been working out since returning from winter break in January; Punahou held its first organized workouts Monday.

“I feel amazing,” Buffanblu defensive back Kilinahe Mendiola-Jensen said. “I really missed playing on the field. I don’t get to see all my boys in school, so this is an awesome way to start it off.”

The UNLV signee said the team will have two weeks of rudimentary conditioning work.

“Warmed up, stretched, did some running mechanics drills, went through linear movements,” he said. “Then we got into some positional drills. We had a good turnout for the first day.”

All of it was with protocols, including wearing masks, working in limited pods. Then more work in the weight room — socially distanced, the senior noted.

Neither school’s teams has practiced in helmets or pads since the end of the 2019 season.

“Four cohorts of 20 each, rotating to the field and the weight room,” Lau said. “It’s like spring practice, but we’re starting from zero, and of course safety is the biggest priority. We also want to be very careful with our seniors who will be having college football opportunities in the fall. It’s such a tough situation, but we want to give them all a football experience and have a chance to evaluate our young talent.”

Saint Louis has been in repetition and drills mode two days per week.

“We’ve done the same thing for the past month or two,” Crusaders quarterback A.J. Bianco said. “We’ve been going an hour-half, no pads, no helmets.”

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound junior has scholarship offers from Hawaii, Nebraska and Washington State.

“I think the best-case scenario would be to play full-on games with kickoffs and everything, but even if it’s just scrimmages, it’ll be good to get out. Everyone’s excited and eager to play.”

Lee also said he and his staff will continue to emphasize safety protocols, including daily temperature checks and mask-wearing by players, coaches and staff.

“Everyone who comes to school gets checked and they get a wristband. We separate the players into groups, keep them in bubbles and keep them moving,” Lee said.

Other sports teams have been practicing and basketball finished a 13-game season recently, Lee said.

“Knock on wood, no one has gotten sick. With the amount of kids, we’re so fortunate, and we’ve just been careful and following the protocols,” he said. “It shows in the kids, they’re happy. They’re having as normal a year as possible. I like what I see, because I see it in the kids.”

As of Monday, it was not known if any spectators would be allowed to attend the games this spring.