Football

Latest news

Latest news

Watson steps down as Nanakuli football coach

By Hawaii Prep World on March 8, 2017

Nanakuli announced Wednesday night that head football coach Keala Watson is stepping down for personal family issues. Offensive coordinator Kieran Watson will take over as head coach. Keala Watson went 21-17 in four seasons with the Golden Hawks. After going 4-5 in his first season, Watson led the Golden Hawks to the OIA Division II championship in 2014 with a 37-36 overtime win over Pearl City in the final. It was the first OIA football title for Nanakuli since 1983. […]

Punahou football will play in Honor Bowl

By Nick Abramo on March 8, 2017

Punahou is going back to the Honor Bowl Football Showcase this fall. The Buffanblu will play against Junipero Serra High, a Roman Catholic private school in Gardena, Calif., as part of a tripleheader Sept. 2 on the campus of Cathedral Catholic in San Diego. The Honor Bowl is a five-game, two-day affair that starts Sept. 1. The 10 participating teams are from four states — California, Arizona, Florida and Hawaii. IMG Academy, the top-ranked team from Florida that finished last season […]

HHSAA works on Year 2 of 3-tier football system

By Nick Abramo on March 5, 2017

Hawaii’s three-tier football state tournament is likely to be kept for 2017 and beyond after being run on a pilot basis for 2016. The Hawaii High School Athletic Association’s football committee has met twice this offseason to discuss ways to improve what turned out to be a successful pilot season in which Saint Louis, Mililani and Lahainaluna won the Open, Division I and D-II championships. “The committee is discussing the size of the tournament divisions, the seeding formula and declarations […]


UH is latest offer for Kapolei’s Emmsley

By Paul Honda on March 4, 2017

Kapolei defensive end Kukea Emmsley continues to be a magnet. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound junior just received a football scholarship offer from Hawaii. Within the past week, Emmsley received his first offer, from Oregon State, and second offer, from Navy. Coach Darren Hernandez said earlier in the week that Emmsley looks like a very young version of former NFL star Jevon Kearse. “Initially, UH thought he needed to develop more physically, but I think once interest picked up on Kukea, and […]

Salanoa to be an assistant at E. Washington

By Nick Abramo on March 3, 2017

Former Radford football head coach Fred Salanoa is the new offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at his alma mater, Eastern Washington, he told Hawaii Prep World today. Salanoa most recently was an assistant under Kale Ane at Punahou. He was the head coach at Radford from 2003 to 2015, finishing that stint with a Division II state title. Salanoa is also a former standout quarterback at Radford and Eastern Washington (1999-2001).

Standout OL transfers from Damien to Kapolei

By Paul Honda on March 2, 2017

Julius Buelow has returned to the neighborhood. The 6-foot-7, 292-pound sophomore has transferred from Damien to Kapolei, his district school. He enrolled at Kapolei during the winter and will play football this fall for the Hurricanes. Buelow has scholarship offers from Hawaii, BYU and Oregon State. Kapolei, which plays in OIA Division I (and is eligible for Open Division), makes it a shorter commute for Buelow. Damien plays football in Division II of the ILH. “He’s off the charts, a […]

Sumstine clears up football rule changes

By Billy Hull on March 1, 2017

Sorry quarterbacks out there, but you’re not quite as protected as it seemed. Many eyebrows were raised when the NFHS put out a press release last week regarding new rule changes for the 2017 football season. In the release, the rules committee expanded on the rule regarding what is considered a defenseless player by adding specific examples. The first one, which read, “a) A player in the act of or just after throwing a pass,” caught a lot of people […]

Rule changes approved for prep football

By Billy Hull on February 28, 2017

HHSAA Football Officials Coordinator clears up rule changes New rules for high school football recommended by the NFHS Football Rules Committee in January were approved last week and have been put in place for the 2017 season. An onside kick in which the kicker tries to drive the ball into the ground to pop back up into the air has been eliminated. Such kicks will be penalized as a 5-yard penalty with possession of the ball going to the return […]