Over the weekend, the Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) released the brackets for the Division II, Division I and Open Division football state championships.
BIIF DII champion Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i and DI champion Konawaena High will each enter their respective tournaments within the next two weeks.
Division I
After its third straight perfect season in the BIIF — and second straight season of nothing but blowout wins — Konawaena (10-1) will enter the state tourney in good position to make a run at a repeat state championship, receiving the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye.
On Nov. 18, the Wildcats will host a semifinal matchup against the winner of a game Saturday (Nov. 11) between No. 4 Lahainaluna High and No. 5 Kapaa High.
After the Maui fires destroyed their campus, the Lunas showed their resilience — going undefeated during their short, five-game regular season. Lahaianluna and Konawaena have not encountered each other since 2021, when the Lunas routed the Wildcats 30-7 in the semifinal — before suffering an even worse rout of 38-0 at the hands of ‘Iolani in the final round.
Last year, Lahainaluna was upset at home 30-10 by Aiea High during the first round of state. Aiea then fell 27-24 to Konawaena during the semifinals the following week.
This weekend will be Kapa‘a’s second season playing in the DI state playoffs. After winning the DII championship in 2021, the Warriors moved up to DI. They qualified for the 2022 playoffs, but were knocked out 49-41 by Waipahu High in the first round. Waipahua made it to the final round, where it fell 28-28 to Konawaena.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 3 Damien High (8-3) will host Farrington High (6-3), with the winner playing against No. 2 Waipahu (6-4).
Division II
KSH (11-1) will play in the DII tourney for the first time since 2018, entering at No. 5.
The Warriors will play away Friday (Nov. 10) against OIA DII champion Roosevelt High.
After a 6-3 regular season, the Rough Riders edged Kaiser High 35-34 to win the OIA semifinal, then defeated Kaimuki High 34-22 to win the championship last Friday — taking their second-ever OIA football title.
Roosevelt has also not entered the state playoffs since 2018 — when it defeated Pac-Five 20-7 in the first round before falling 48-10 to then-DII Lahainaluna in the semifinal. The Lunas went on to win the DII state title, their third straight, then moved up to DI after making it a four-peat in 2019.
The winner of KSH versus Roosevelt will face defending champion Waimea High — which received the No. 1 seed despite going 2-4 during the regular season on Kauai.
The other side of the bracket will see No. 3 Pac-Five (4-2) host Kaimuki (5-6). The winner of the matchup will face off against No. 2 KS-Maui (6-1).
Open Division
Mililani High (10-1) dethroned Kahuku High (10-2) last week, defeating the Red Raiders 28-21 for the Trojans’ first OIA Open title since 2018. the Trojans will enter the bracket at No. 1, hosting Campbell High (9-3) on Nov. 17.
Punahou School (7-2) received the No. 2 seed, and will host Kahuku the same night.
