Top seeds in HHSAA state football tournaments all reached 2023 final
BY MICHAEL LASQUERO | HSRN
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 12, 2024
The 2024 First Hawaiian Bank State Football Championships kick off this weekend with a pair of Open Division semifinal games at Mililani’s John Kauinana Stadium on Friday.
Kahuku, the winner of the past three state titles, is the top seed in the Open Division’s four-team bracket after knocking off previously unbeaten Campbell in the OIA championship, 33-15.
The Red Raiders will take on OIA third-place finisher Mililani in the first semifinal at 4 p.m. on Friday in a rematch of last year’s state title game. It will be the third time the two teams have met this year, with each side winning one matchup.
ILH champion Saint Louis is the No. 2 seed in the tournament after a two-year hiatus. The Crusaders will face OIA runner-up Campbell in the second semifinal at John Kauinana Stadium.
The two winners of the Open Division semifinal will have a week off before playing each other on Friday, Nov. 29 at the University of Hawai’i’s Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex in Manoa.
The opening round of the Division I and Division II six-team brackets begin on Saturday while the top two seeds in each tourney have byes.
Konawaena, who has reached the state final in the past two years and won it all in 2022, is the No. 1 seed in D1 and will host the winner between fifth-seeded Leilehua of the OIA and fourth-seeded Lahainaluna of the MIL.
The Mules and Lunas’ opening round matchup is slated for 7 p.m. this Saturday at Sue D. Cooley Stadium in west Maui. The winner will travel to Konawaena next Friday.
Also with a first round bye in the D1 slate is Damien, who is seeded second. The Monarchs will host the winner between third-seeded Kapa’a of the KIF and OIA runner-up Kailua.
The game between the Warriors and Surfriders will be at 2 p.m. at the Bryan J. Baptiste Sports Complex in east Kauai.
In D2, the top-seeded team is MIL champion Kamehameha-Maui, who has reached the state final in two of the previous three years. It will play its first game of the state tournament on Saturday, Nov. 23 at Kana’iaupuni Stadium.
Taking on the top-seeded team will be the winner between fourth-seeded Roosevelt and fifth-seeded Kamehameha-Hawai’i in a rematch of an opening round matchup last year. Kickoff between the Rough Riders and Warriors is slated for 6:30 p.m. this Saturday at Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium.
Kauai, who is making its first state tournament appearance since 2017, is the No. 2 seed in the D2 tournament.
The winner between third-seeded Pac-Five and Kaiser, which will take place on Saturday in a 6:30 p.m. contest at Farrington’s Skippa Diaz Stadium, will move on to face the Red Raiders on Nov. 23. Game time for the semifinal match that Kauai will participate in is slated for 2 p.m. at Vidinha Stadium.
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