Appearances at Aloha Stadium were once fairly common for Kailua and McKinley.
But not so much in recent years.
Thursday’s meeting between the Surfriders and Tigers in the first game of an OIA Red East doubleheader will mark the first time they’ve played in Halawa since 2005.
Kailua’s last game at Aloha Stadium was a 24-6 loss to Castle on Sept. 9, 2005. McKinley played there a couple of weeks later and lost to Farrington 23-0.
Kailua is 39-42-3 at Aloha Stadium since 1978 while McKinley enters the game at 24-33.
McKinley quarterback Darin Garcia turned in the Tigers’ top Aloha Stadium passing performance on Oct. 10, 1998 when he threw for 412 yards and five touchdowns in a 35-21 win over Leilehua. Garcia’s total remains the program’s highest overall in the last 40 years. Rene Melson’s 206 receiving yards that night is McKinley’s second highest mark since 1973. The Tigers’ top stadium rushing performance belongs to Michael Vasconcellos, who ran for 136 yards in a win over ‘Iolani on Aug. 23, 2003.
Kailua’s top passing performance also came in an Aloha Stadium appearance. Taleki Mailau threw for 387 yards in a 58-45 loss to Mililani on Sept. 2, 2000. Ryan Lum finished that game with 163 receiving yards. Nathan Leaver delivered the Surfriders’ top rushing performance with 223 yards in a 41-17 win over Mililani on Nov. 1, 2002.
Both McKinley (3-4 overall, 2-3 OIA Red East) and Kailua (2-5, 2-3) have secured spots in the OIA Red playoffs.
McKinley can move into third place in the conference with a win. The Tigers would finish tied with Moanalua (3-3), but have the edge with a head-to-head win.
Kailua lost to Moanalua earlier this season, so a Surfrider win on Thursday would give them the fourth seed.
McKinley could fall to sixth with a loss and a Castle win over Kaimuki on Friday at Kaiser.
COMMENTS