While they don’t close the season until tomorrow afternoon, I’m sure some Warrior minds will be wandering to Oahu tonight. With the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s D-II title contest pitting No. 1 Radford against No. 5 Kaimuki, an upset could re-open
While they don’t close the season until tomorrow afternoon, I’m sure some Warrior minds will be wandering to Oahu tonight. With the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s D-II title contest pitting No. 1 Radford against No. 5 Kaimuki, an upset could re-open the door for Kapaa to earn the top seed in next month’s HHSAA state tournament, or at least make it that much more likely the Warriors receive a bye with a top-two seeding.
Having inched past Kapaa a few weeks ago into the ScoringLive No. 1 position, Radford (10-0) would seem to be the heavy favorite for the top seed if it can finish unbeaten tonight. The Rams were tested early in their semifinal contest against Waialua last week, but ran away in the second half for a 23-6 win and a 10th consecutive victory.
Kaimuki (7-3) might be the big underdog, but they would be the much more interesting and sentimental choice. Losers of three of their first four to start the season, the Bulldogs found themselves in the semifinals against early-season favorite, Nanakuli.
In one of the most incredible endings anyone could imagine, Kaimuki held a seven-point lead in the final minute but gave up a touchdown and what appeared to be the game-winning two-point conversion with just 13 seconds to play. But Andrew Neves ran the ensuing kickoff back 83 yards for a touchdown as the clock ran out to not only put the Bulldogs into this title game, but assure them a spot in the D-II state tournament.
So Kapaa will be hoping Kaimuki didn’t use up all its magic last week and has one more stunner in its system. If the Bulldogs do win, that would leave Kapaa (7-0) as D-II’s only unbeaten team heading into the Warriors’ finale tomorrow against Waimea (3-5). A win over the Menehune should then solidify a first-round bye and a spot in the HHSAA semifinals.
I think it would still be difficult to keep Kapaa off that No. 2 line if they finish 8-0, no matter what, but a Radford win could make things a bit more murky. It opens the door for the winner of tonight’s Big Island Interscholastic Federation championship game between No. 3 Kamehameha-Hawaii (9-2) and No. 4 Konawaena (9-1) to potentially jump into that second spot and bump Kapaa down to third.
This scenario seems far more likely if Kamehameha wins, given that their two losses on the season were both to Division I opponents (Hilo, Kealakehe). So if they come away with the BIIF D-II title, they will have gone through their D-II schedule unblemished, just like the Warriors, and could argue a tougher strength of schedule.
It would be a tough pill to swallow if Kapaa were to finish the season 8-0 and still be relegated to a first-round game. You can only play who is on your schedule and the Warriors challenged themselves early with games against Nanakuli and Lahainaluna, who were each expected to compete for a state title. They’ve each fallen a bit from those projections, but both remain in the top 10, still giving Kapaa a pretty strong resume.
Tonight’s pair of conference championship games should provide some clarity to this playoff picture before Saturday’s KIF kickoff. While some results would be beneficial to Kapaa, I’m sure coach Philip Rapozo and the rest of the Warriors will be ready to play, no matter who is placed in front of them in November.
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David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
