Saint Louis head coach Cal Lee will have his hands full with national power Bishop Gorman on Friday.
We know that Saint Louis School is on a roll as the three-time defending Hawaii High School Athletic Association Open Division champion and 2018 runner-up Mililani is right behind the Crusaders with a quarterback factory of its own.
But, really, how good are the Crusaders and Trojans across a broader, national landscape?
It is something of an almost annual question and regular topic of debate. Most years that is all it is: speculation.
But thanks to the inaugural Aloha Football Classic on Friday, we will get a four-quarter, helmet-to-helmet comparison.
Defending state champion Saint Louis School, 12th in the USA Today national rankings this week, and 13th-ranked Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas meet at 7:30 p.m. at Aloha Stadium.
Out in Mililani, the state runner-up Trojans play Liberty High of Las Vegas, a Nevada public school powerhouse, at 7 p.m.
The games will not be televised, officials said.
It is the first time in 16 years we’ve had as compelling a one-two matchup of local vs. continental marquee teams on these shores.
Not since Keith Amemiya, then executive director of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, brought five-time national champion De La Salle of Concord, Calif., and perennial power Long Beach (Calif.) Poly to Aloha Stadium to play Saint Louis and Kahuku in 2003 has there been as must-see a double matchup.
That doubleheader, which was carried by the Fox Network, drew a crowd of 27,000 and brought national media to Aloha Stadium, was in some ways a genesis for wider intersectional and national high school showdowns.
The Aloha Football Classic, an offshoot of the Polynesian Football Classic that has been played in Las Vegas the past four years and has included Kahuku, brings it back here.
“This will be another great opportunity to showcase the immense talent here in the Aloha State,” said Jesse Sapolu, chairman of the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame.
Bishop Gorman has three times (2014, ‘15 and ‘16) been designated a national champion, a title that is arbitrary since no national high school playoff is currently sanctioned.
“If Saint Louis wins, I think they’d be a top-10 (team) and, depending on how dominating they are, arguably a top-five team,” said Rich Miano, matchmaker for the event. “If they were to (then) go on and finish unbeaten, who is to say they couldn’t also be considered a national champion? They would have a big victory to point to.”
“Then, you’ve got Mililani and their chance to make a national name for themselves against Liberty, the top public school in the state of Nevada,” Miano said.
Along with helping define a place in the national pecking order of top teams, the games also serve as a showcase for recruiting.
The top Crusaders and Trojans players have, of course, already been identified are being recruited by colleges. But the games also give other players an opening to display and validate their talents against brand-name competition.
“That’s something that can be valuable to have on tape, to show schools,” Miano said.
Not to mention the bragging rights, if you win.
