Defending state champion Lahainaluna will await the winner between Roosevelt and Kamehameha-Hawaii to begin its defense in the state Division II football tournament.
The Lunas will host the winner of that game on Nov. 23. The Lunas have played a state tournament game at home twice and won both, beating Kaimuki 7-0 in 2015 and Roosevelt 48-10 last year.
Kamehameha-Hawaii, which hosts Roosevelt on Nov. 16 for the right to travel to Maui, has not been nearly as successful on campus in state games. The Warriors have lost three of four on their own field with the lone win coming in 2014 against Nanakuli. The Warriors lost to Kaimuki in a thriller at home last year.
League champions Kapaa and Kaimuki will hook up at Vidinha Stadium in the other semifinal, a 2 p.m. game on Nov. 23. That will be a rematch of last year’s 20-12 win by Kapaa at Vidinha Stadium.
That makes it a tough trip for the OIA kings, as Kapaa has not lost in two state games at Vidinha, but they haven’t played there since beating Lahainaluna in 2015.
OIA schools are 2-6 in state games at the venue, with only 2008 and 2012 Radford teams earning victories.
The championship will be held Nov. 29 at Aloha Stadium.
That’s because the refs are on the their side. It’s hard for anyone to win there. Ask anyone in the state….Kauai Refs should be under a microscope this year.
I agree, these refs from the outer islands need to be held in check. If it was Open Division I know for a fact they be on level ground. Oh well. I think Kaimuki get one legit shot to turn that around. My RoughRiders have a much tougher road cuz it’s no different in Maui with the zebras. Might be their biggest opponent, not Lahainaluna. Best of luck to OIA tho. Let’s represent Oahu well!
You guys are clueless…every state game has mixed crews represented by officials from around the state. There may be KIF or MIL officials on the crew but usually the Oahu refs take control over the calls and they are just as bad as the others.
1&2 give neighbor island referees a break, they’re no different than Oahu’s referees Lol.
Yeah keep blaming the refs guys…
The Damien game on Kauai couple years back come to mind………..
Horrible.
There is another issue on Maui. I think it’s plain wrong that the best team on the island is in D2 and the third-best team on the island goes to D1. And it’s not like this is a one year fluke. They been doing this every year for the past how many years.
Falcon Future
Lahaina coaches were trying talk to the department about sending the first place team on maui to D1 states while the second place goes to D2. I would really loved to see this. Heck even the boys would agree.
Why not change the designation of Lunas to D1?
Thats a heck of a safety net and a bad precedence to set.
What is the reasoning behind Kamehameha being in D2??
Are they not competitive enough to be in D1?
With the resources allowed to them, one would think that they would fall into the higher designation.
I can understand if it because they are building up to it, especially when competing with the success of Konawaena and Hilo the past few years. Just genuinely curious.
@ILH they would not have been competitive at D1 this year. Their best players from last year transferred to Hilo. If anything, some of the BIg Island D1 teams should have been in D2, but most of D2 should have played 8 man. I’m pulling for them against Roosevelt, but not sure they will match up well…..