Baldwin, Lunas May Host Playoff Games

By Fred Guzman

None of this information is official, but this is what we heard through the grapevine regarding the matchups for the upcoming state high school football playoffs:  Both Baldwin and Lahainaluna are likely to host first-round games at War Memorial Stadium. 

The Division-I Bears are penciled in to face the OIA’s second-place team —  the loser of this week’s showdown between top-ranked Farrington and No. 2 Kahuku.

The D-I quarterfinal game on Maui will be played on Friday, Nov. 11, and will be televised state-wide on OC 16   Let’s hope the battered field at War Memorial is looking better for the cameras by then.

The D-II Lunas will likely play Saturday, Nov. 12, against the survivor of this week’s Big Island  showdown between Konawaena and Kamehameha-Hawaii.

Hawaii Prep Academy initially was in title contention on the Big Island before withdrawn for its final two games because of undisclosed team issues.

Both seventh-ranked Baldwin and Lahainaluna clinched their MIL titles three weeks ago.  Friday night’s rivalry game represents a good final tune-up going into the state tournaments.  The Bears dominated the earlier metting, 40-0.

Although the championship races were decided weeks ago,  that doesn’t mean that the MIL football campaign has been devoid of drama.

A case in point:  Maui High rallied for a stunning 14-13 victory last  Friday night, putting a damper on Lahainaluna’s homecoming festivities.   The Sabers got an excellent performance from the versatile Siueli Vaha.  The senior quarterback ran for 100 yards and threw for 74 as the long-suffering Sabers won their third game of the season while handing the Lunas only their second MIL setback.

Maui High hadn’t won that many games in six years during a more than-decade-long drought on the gridiron.  The Sabers will be looking to make it four wins on Saturday against Kamehameha-Maui in a 3 p.m. game.  The rare kickoff time was set to accommodate a number of other Homecoming activities.

The Warriors also are coming off a victory after defeating King Kekaulike 32-18 win as junior quarterback Connor Yap twice connecting with Dylan Machado on key touchdown passes.