While Open Division state champion Kahuku closed out the year at No. 1, Punahou, Kapaa and Waianae finished on an uptick in Monday’s Star-Advertiser Football Top 10.
Division I state champion ‘Iolani (11-0) completed the year at No. 5. Kapaa won the D-II state title last week and dominated the division from start to finish. The Warriors finished the season at No. 8, the highest ranking in school history.
Football Top 10
Jan. 3
Rank School (1st) Pts LW
1. Kahuku (12) (10-0) 120 1
2. Saint Louis (6-4) 108 2
3. Mililani (5-3) 96 3
4. Kamehameha (3-3) 84 4
5. ‘Iolani (11-0) 61 5
6. Punahou (1-4) 56 7
7. Campbell (5-4) 49 6
8. Kapaa (8-0) 36 9-t
9. Waianae (3-5) 22 8
10. Lahainaluna (7-1) 14 9-t
Also receiving votes: Aiea 9, Moanalua 5, Kamehameha-Maui 2, Maui 1.
This has got to be the DUMBEST football rankings in the history of football rankings. How the hell are you going to rank a D1 and D2 team along side Open teams. Ain’t D1 and D2 suppose to be inferior and that’s why they play in the lower division. Way to reward mediocrity..
Is that Maui High that rcvd 1 vote? Teehee.
88 – Just how the people voted bro.
Thoughts:
– Kapaa to Div 1
– Much respect to Lahainaluna playing in Div 1
– Iolani to Open
– Farrington down to Div 1
– Continue the Varsity II format for ILH
– Abolish ILH transfer rules and off season restrictions (club play for underclassmen)
– re-establish OIA & ILH inter-league play
– Allow HS games to be played at Ching Field
Why should HS play at Ching when Farrington, Kahuku,Roosevelt, etc. have new fields? Dont need $$$ going to UH. Also during UH season, many Saturday not available.
Iolani would not beat Punahou.
Feel free to post your rankings.
Interesting. You consider rankings a “reward.” It’s not. It’s fun. It’s whipped cream. It’s not something you can live on.
But yeah, let’s see your Top 10.
I also say the state championship games should move to Ching Field. They easily could get 9,000 fans in there instead of the 2,000 at Farrington for the Kahuku-St. Louis game. Nothing wrong with sharing the $$$. HHSAA can keep the ticket money and UH keep the parking. We all from the same state.
Okay I will play along.
1. Kahuku
2. St. Louis
3. Mililani
4. Kamehameha
5. Punahou
6. Campbell
7. Waianae
8. Iolani
9. Kapaa
10. St. Louis II
I base this rankings on who I think would win over the teams below them if they played each other on the field. So yeah, you notice Punahou is ahead of Iolani as they should be.
I’ll play along too:
Open: Kahuku #1
DI: Iolani #1
DII: Kapaa #1
The only Rankings that matter!!!!!!!!
How are these rankings just for fun when its the official state newspaper serving all the people in Hawaii? for fun would be on your instagram or facebook account.
I think its disrespectful to the Open division coaches and players to mix D1 into their poll but we all know that everything is done to cater the big money schools and their alumni.
1. Kahuku
2. St. Louis
3. Mililani
4. Kamehameha
5. Campbell
6. Punahou
7. Waianae
8. Kapolei
9. Iolani
10. Kapa’a
Pretty sure the top 8 teams would beat everyone else in the state, just my observation tho.
I say we do it like how they do in California. Create whatever leagues you prefer…East, West, North, etc. Then, at the end of the season, determine what teams will be invited to the playoffs and which Division, ie Open, D1, D2. Are you going to have mismatches, YES, but we still have mismatches in the current format.
If, for example, we went back to the old East and West in the OIA, Kaiser would’ve more than likely beaten Farrington, and would’ve done better against Big Red than Leilehua or the aforementioned Govs. Radford would also more than likely have beaten Leilehua and given Kapolei , Waianae and Campbell some really good games.
Football coaches, including those in the Open Division, freely voted for ‘Iolani and Kapaa on their ballots.
Your claim is lacking.
It’s long overdue to clean out the dictatorship of the Hawaii High School Sports programs
I understand it’s controlled by Iolani grads
If that’s true it really does appear these bias alumni are manipulating the rankings to benefit Iolani over other superior teams
It’s time to trash this convoluted rankings system and let the teams all earn their rankings on their own merits, not shibai
Even more important…..
Will the Lee Bro’s return???
If not, who will carry on the Brotherhood?
The coach who is always wearing different clothes from the rest of the Coaches? Mostly red colored.
The assistant AD?
The ACTUAL D coordinator?
That SASA is a tough way to cap a career.
Okay, I play.
1kahuku
2stlouis
3mililani
4kamehameha
5punahou
6campbell
7iolani
8kapaa
9waianae
10kapolei
The reason there is open,d1 and D2 is supposed school size, athelete size, roster size and throw in recruiting opportunities and $$$ budget. Schools like Iolani are not recruiting the big polys like in the past, but will recruit polys for girls sports. Kapaa is like Mililani. The biggest and best athletes on Kauai will go there. So maybe Kapaa will go up to D1. For pride. Other then that, HS polls in Hawaii is fluff. The mindset is Stlouis this and stlouis that. Its embedded in local brains. Even Scoringlive had a 6-3 St.louis team #1 for most of the season. When Hawaii perennial team, loses, other programs gain. Stlouis is also vile for the ILH program. No wonder they only have 3 teams. What happened to Pac5,Damien,Iolani? They dropped or got pushed down because of this dynasty. Once the machine got going, they were pounding thru the ILH, Prep Bowl, Oahu bowl, Open etc. Time to stop this and have competitive HS football for the good of all Hawaii.
Eddie K –
How do you propose balancing the competitive scale??
By the way, Kahuku is considered a small enrollment school.
Dang Paul,
Don’t remember you being as engaged before…I like it!!
@ Ilove,
Actually the balancing scale has started with Kamehameha beating St.Louis twice. With the Lee’s getting older and public schools getting more competitive, it will be hard to recruit away top players. Mililani are attracting players and the QB training has developed very good D1 college QBs. Kahuku, Mililani KAPOLEI ,Campbell , Waianae and other OIA teams in D1 has sent players to college with scholarships.
Correction on my top 10….Mililani and St.Louis, tied at #2. Unlike Kamehameha which had 4 games against St.Louis, I think Mililani could beat St.louis 3 out of 4. Why? St.Louis run defense is hash. Could not stop Bartley, Timoteo or Kaluna. Plus Mililani has the personnel and coaching to beat St.Louis. Thanks Paul for letting us folks throw in our fluff.
One more thing. A glaring favoritism. KHON Cover 2 Offensive Player of the Year voting has 2 St.Louis quarterbacks on the list. Is Kainoa Carvalho on the list? No. What about Jason Matetarengi, the undefeated Kahuku QB who lead his team? No. How is this possible??? Even my ILH friends are calling them out.
Aia i ka la I o Pu wa a wa a Home noho o ka wahine pu u wai aloha Ke li i hele loa kou inoa Eo ka wahine no na ka lei Wehi wehi Pihanakalani i na pua ala onaona Kahi a na manu eluana ai Ia home i puia i ke ala Eo ka wahine no na ka lei
Oh my! Kaikai Carvalho, Kahuku Jr.,Voted Gatorade Player of the Year. My let’s see what the entrenched ILH Khon Cover 2 will do? Bianco, a 6-4 record qb? Oh my no.
Kahuku LB #10 should be Player of the year.
End of the year rankings:
Open Division: #1 Kahuku
Although Saint Louis won vs Mililani we all know they should have lost that game! #2 Mililani
#3 Saint Louis
#4 Kamehameha
#5Punahou
#6Campbell
#7 Waianae
#8 Kapolei
#9 Iolani
#10 Kapaa
HailFromDaNorth: Saint Louis should have lost that game ? but they didn’t, a lost is a lost no matter what, could have , should have no more excuses, take the hard lost. if that is the case i say Iolani would have beaten Kapolei, Waianae,Campbell and maybe even Punahou, Punahou’s problem this year is that they did not have a good running back. i heard the Lee’s will be back for the 2022/2023 season.
“a lost is a lost”??? and “take the hard lost”??? C’mon man… Must be St Louis alum…Puns and Kam would know it’s spelled “loss” in the context of those sentences…lmao.
And only an ILH bum would even THINK Iolani could beat Kapolei, Waianae or Campbell… Put da joint down and slowly walk away cuz… You talking bubbles right there.
Like Paul said – just for fun. Plus, it’s coaches…so if you want your 2 cents to count…go coach. Duh.
Looks like covid exponentially negatively impacted ILH from getting the top recruits from around the state…and that their current rosters didn’t put in the necessary work in the elongated “off season” to really compete on the field… tbh I was shocked as I watched the championship game…. I cannot remember a St Louis team that looked like it absolutely did not belong on the same field as Kahuku (except Tua’s Jr year – the last time they got smoked).
Like I said in a previous post: If Kahuku’s talent stays home every year, then they are the team to beat…every year. Stop going to ILH and Campbell and mainland.
Good night. Now I can switch to bball and come read all the babbogum comments from babbogum backseat drivers.
RRFL.
StarAdvertiser: “Here guys, a list of all the HS football teams this year, tell us how you would rank them”
Coaches: “Shouldn’t we rank them based on their respective divisions”
StarAdvertiser: “No” (our big money sponsors don’t want the D1 and D2 champs to feel inferior in a separate poll)
Coaches: “OK, whatever”
———————-
StarAdvertiser: OUR POLL IS VOTED BY COACHES!
I wouldn’t blame writers, employees or coaches for a questionable polling system, nor would I expect them to speak out for fear of being shunned, pidgeon holed.
That is why us common people can freely speak out because they cant fire us.
The poll is voted on by coaches and media. Period. It isn’t about “big money sponsors” or whatever else theories are caranging within your skull, brother.
I dunno. It’s a cup of whipped cream and you think it’s the Mt. Everest of conspiracy theories. The coaches (and a few media) can leave any teams off their ballots that they want. Then I do the math. Simple.
Tell us, what do you think of iPhone technology? Is it really earth-originated? Or did Steve Jobs negotiate it away from alien visitors?
While you’re at that, post your personal Top 10 high school football teams of Hawaii for the 2021 season. That will be worth the wait.
Paul,
I am curious how and which coaches voted. I’d like to know if any open coach voted for a lower division team to be higher then an open team. If an open coach actually threw a D2 team in over all D1 and open teams. And how Iolani voted.
@Oiafan – yup lets see who voted and what they voted for.
@Paul – You are missing the point. Greater then the voting participants its the simple fact that the SA present the voters with the only option of a single poll, something you may not be in charge of.
My polling system:
* Make the open div the owner of the Div 1 classification, this is a whole new rabbit hole that goes back to the history of the OIA/HHSAA/ILH meetings.
Div 1
1. Kahuku
2. STL
3. MIL
4-10. it doesnt matter
Div 2
1. Iolani
2. Lahainaluna
3. Aiea
4-10. it doesnt matter
Div 3
1. Kapaa
2. KS-Maui
3. Kaiser
4-10. it doesnt matter
This is my 2022 Pre Pre Season Hawaii High School Top 10.
1. Kahuku…till somebody knocks them off, I could be wrong but some pollsters had a 6-3 team #1 for weeks. Also too much Carvalho,Lefau,Ah You,Taulapapa,Crawford,and maybe Akana?
2. St.Louis. too much returnees. Sagapolutele at QB.
3. Mililani.
4. Punahou. Sagapolutele at QB. Wait ,I said that already.
5. Kamehameha..good nucleus of Offensive players
Ah Yat back.
6. Campbell
7. Kapolei..Tapeni is a monster.
8. Waianae…thank you coaches and community.
9. Leileihua…because they Open.
10.Aiea…because they go up to Open, and really have a decent team.
I’m not including any D1 or D2 team because I believe if you dont play a Open team on a weekly basis then No can. Yes Iolani is undefeated, and they got a better coach to player ratio and also $$$ and facility, but then other D1 teams need to step up. I’m still a bit confused on St.Louis 2 team. Are they JV or varsity D2? If they get varsity status then that’s easy 200 plus football players at that small school. So, it’s a football high school?
Also toomeke, you didnt watch the St. Louis vs. Kahuku 2010 when they beat a senior Mariota team by 22 pts?
If Eddie K sincerely would like to know if Saint Louis is a “football high school” he could arrange to meet with the President of the school, Dr. Glenn Medeiros, or Admissions Director Russel Valente, or someone in the school administration, or just ask Gerald Welch if you live in his neighborhood.
The ballots are, as always, confidential. Just like your ID here.
I SECOND the #30 post! This makes the most sense and remains INCLUSIVE as so many people worry about. I think showing the top 5 teams for each division would be useful for multiple reasons.
Open:
1
2
3
4
5
Div 1:
1
2
3
4
5
Div 2:
1
2
3
4
5
I want to play this ranking game. My way-too-early Top 5 rankings for next season is based off of potential. Please don’t take offense to any of this. This is my opinion. It’s totally fine if you dislike it.
1) Kahuku, Having both the offensive and defensive player of the year in Kainoa Carvalho and Liona Lefau back next year I expect them to not skip a beat back on the field. If Tausili Akana transfers to his Home in Kahuku, this team will be packed with talent and still be hungry for there next championship. The only way I see them coming up short is if they do not stay healthy. But with this championship mentality, I see them going far like always.
2) Saint Louis, Although coming up short this past year, I see a destined team wanting to prove they are the next destiny in the family. With Iona Purcell and Josh Sagapolutele leading the Crusaders on the defensive side and Trench Kekahuna contributing to the offense. I anticipate Kekahi Graham transferring back to Saint Louis from Timpview to take over the reins of this Crusader team. Lack of consistency in certain positions(I won’t go in depth) last year put them in tough situations but I expect them to clean it up this year. Expect them to make it a special season.
3) Mililani, Having 2 stellar QBs in Emana Tarape and Treston McMillian, I wonder who’s going to lead this offense. Both QBs are good so I await to see who is going to be under center this August. 2-way player Gavin Hunter is probably going to be one of the best skill’s player to come out of Mililani. I predict he’s going to be a key contribution to Mililani’s success next season. Aiden Manutai and Kamaehu Roman will probably clamp it down on the defensive side. If they can overcome adversity and pacify themselves, Mililani is going to be up there in the rankings for sure.
4) Kamehameha, despite not making it to state tourney. This is a very physical team, with QB Keali’i Ah Yat taking snaps for the Warriors offense and LB Brennan Dupio on the defense, I see them making an impact on the ILH conference. I will say thought it will be hard trying to replace Noah Bartley who was there heart and soul for the Warriors. I hope to see them light it up.
5) Punahou, With the way they did not planned to go out, 3 year starter QB John-Keawe Sagapolutele will bring his will power and life back to the Buff-n-Blue for a final time. Also with his weapons Astin Hange, Noah Macapulay, and Ean Waikiki all back. The team chemistry will go through the roof. With Terahiti Wolfe and Iosepa Lyman on the defensive side. These guys will make it a hard time for opponents to pass or run. A problem I see was the lack of taking downfield shots this past year. I would say there was an excessive amount of screens/RPO’s in this offense and we all know Sagapolutele has a cannon of an arm. We saw flashes of his downfield throws last year but I think they will need to use his arm far down the field more to be up there again.
-I apologize in advanced if I spelled any name wrong. I’m just going off the top of my head.