Football Top 10: No. 1 Kahuku plays for OIA title, No. 3 Punahou waits for states
Oct. 31—For a seventh week in a row, Kahuku is a unanimous No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser Football Top 10.
For a seventh week in a row, Kahuku is a unanimous No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser Football Top 10.
Kahuku collected all 10 first-place votes after a 42-7 playoff win over Kapolei. The two-time defending Open Division state champions will clash with No. 2 Mililani for the OIA championship on Saturday at Farrington's Skippa Diaz Stadium.
Punahou defeated Saint Louis 24-10 to secure the ILH Open title. The Buffanblu moved ahead of Campbell to No. 3, their highest ranking since Sept. 11.
No. 4 Campbell will battle No. 6 Kapolei for the third and last Open Division state-tournament berth allotted to the OIA. That game will be at Roosevelt's Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Ninth-ranked Farrington will face defending champion Waipahu in the OIA Division I final. Kickoff at Mililani's John Kauinana Stadium is Friday at 8 p.m. Both teams have qualified for the state championships.
ILH Open champion Punahou, BIIF D-I champion Konawaena, KIF D-I champion, MIL D-I champion Lahainaluna and MIL D-II champion Kamehameha-Maui are idle until the First Hawaiian Bank /HHSAA State Championships. The D-I and D-II state brackets begin Nov. 10-11. The Open state bracket begins play Nov. 17-18.
Punahou will be without a game for three weeks.
"Without knowing who our next opponent is yet, the focus is physical recovery and sharpening our swords for the next battle, " Buffanblu coach Nate Kia said.
Konawaena is the defending D-I state champion. There is a two-week gap between games for the Wildcats.
"Luckily, we've been here before. We just go back to fundamentals, film and clean stuff up, " Konawaena coach Brad Uemoto said. "The key is to stay sharp but injury free. At this point in the season, it's more about fine-tuning. We will continue to train and keep our bodies in good shape."
Lunas co-head coach Dean Rickard likes the timing of a break.
"We've had five straight games and are a little banged up, so the extra week will allow us some much-needed rest and rehab of injuries, " Rickard said. "We'll mentally focus on taking care of the little things fundamental-and technique-wise in order to minimize our mistakes and maximize our fullest potential on both sides of the ball."
