Damien will be taking its first mainland football trip since well before Eddie Klaneski became the head coach in 2011.
Damien will play Mt. Spokane in Mead, Wash., on Aug. 31. The Wildcats went 8-3 a year ago.
Klaneski led the Monarchs to a 10-4 mark and the ILH D-II title in 2017. That record included a 13-10 Division I (middle tier) state-tourney win over Kauai before a 35-19 loss in the D-I state final to Hilo.
The idea to schedule the game came about when Damien alum Clem Hong, an assistant at Mt. Spokane, spoke with Klaneski at a summer camp. Hong told Klaneski the Wildcats were looking for a Hawaii opponent and had been in talks about a trip to Waianae but that no game came out of it.
A quick glance at Damien football history on Hawaii Prep World shows that the last time the Monarchs played a mainland team was last season — a 14-6 loss to Villa Park (Villa Park, Calif.) at Farrington’s Skippa Diaz Stadium. No Damien games on the mainland are listed between 1973 and 2017.
You can view Damien’s football history here.
The Star-Advertiser knows of three other Hawaii football teams playing mainland opponents this fall.
Saint Louis meets Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas at Aloha Stadium on Aug. 31. The Gaels won national titles in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Farrington plays Carson (Carson, Calif.) in the Polynesian Football Classic at Liberty High School in Las Vegas on Sept. 8.
Also, ‘Iolani hosts defending Oregon 6-A state champion Clackamas on Aug. 31.
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