Memorial Stadium on Saturday was the setting for two of the all-time greats in Hawaii high school football to square off against each other.

California redshirt sophomore receiver Kanawai Noa and Southern California redshirt freshman running back Vavae Malepeai stood on opposite sidelines in the first-ever Division I collegiate game between two of Hawaii’s career prep football record holders.

Malepeai’s Trojans got the better of Noa’s Bears, 30-20, and while the two have never played on the same team, they are forever linked by their high school greatness.

Three years ago, they also stood on opposite sidelines when Malepeai helped lead Mililani to its very first state football title, 53-45 over Punahou.

In his final high school game, Noa had five receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown to break Gerald Welch’s state receiving record that had stood for 15 years.

In 28 games, Noa caught 172 passes for 3,510 yards and 36 touchdowns with the Buffanblu.

A year later, in Malepeai’s final high school game, a 56-30 loss to Saint Louis in the state semifinals, he ended another long-standing high school record.

Malepeai rushed for 258 yards on 30 carries against the Crusaders to finish his career with 4,549 rushing yards and 71 rushing touchdowns.

Both are state records and the yardage mark passed Joe Igber’s record that had stood for 17 years.

Still early in their college careers, both have had to work their way through a few obstacles to get on the field.

Malepeai broke a shoulder blade in fall camp last year and missed the first six games. He eventually decided to sit out the entire season and take a redshirt.

Noa played in all 13 games his first season at Cal, but only played three games last year before suffering a season-ending injury after missing the spring game with another injury.

Starting for the first time this year, Noa has led Cal in receptions and yards in each of the past two games.

He followed up a six-catch, 81-yard performance in a win over Ole Miss with six receptions for 110 yards against the Trojans.

Monday he was named to the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award watch list.

“I’m very thankful and humbled,” Noa told reporters on Monday. “It’s just another motivation for me to just keep striving and trying to be a better me in all aspects of my game.”

Malepeai finished with a modest 17 rushing yards on four carries against Cal, but USC got the win, handing the Bears their first loss of the season.

“Definitely a disappointing loss, but after (Sunday) going over film, we just had a lot of missed opportunities, especially offensively where we could have capitalized,” Noa said.

Up next for Cal is a game Saturday at Oregon, which has five players on its roster from Hawaii, including linebacker Kaulana Apelu (Kamehameha ’15), who had four tackles and one tackle for loss on Saturday against Arizona State.

Noa played in Autzen Stadium two years ago in a 44-28 loss.

“It was definitely a packed stadium. A lot of yellow and green,” Noa said. “The atmosphere is definitely electrifying and just being able to play there my freshman year was not only a first but definitely an exciting one.”

The fifth-ranked Trojans play on Friday night on ESPN at No. 16 Washington State.

Malepeai is listed fourth on the USC depth chart at running back.

The Cougars are led on defense by junior defensive end Hercules Mata’afa, a 2014 Lahainaluna alum.

Mata’afa is the active leader in the Pac-12 with 321⁄2 career tackles for loss and 161⁄2 sacks.