The September 11th attack
OIA won't have title game, will have co-champions instead
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
Repercussions of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., have led to the O'ahu Interscholastic Association canceling its football championship and declaring the semifinalists co-champions, the league announced yesterday.
Tuesday's tragedy triggered a statewide postponement of high school athletic events this weekend, including nine OIA football games. The games will be rescheduled the weekend of Oct. 25-27, the original weekend of the OIA quarterfinals.
The quarterfinals will move to Nov. 1 and Nov. 3, and the semifinals will move to Nov. 9. The state tournament quarterfinals are set for Nov. 16. The top four OIA teams qualify for state tournament berths.
Seeding for state tournament purposes reverts to how the teams were seeded for the OIA playoffs. The Red's first- through fourth-place teams take the top four spots, the White champion is seeded fifth, the Red fifth-place team is seeded sixth and the White's second and third teams make up the seventh and eighth seeds. The higher-seeded team between the semifinalists will be the OIA's No. 1 seed; the higher seeded team among the losing teams in the semifinals will be seeded third.
Siuaki Livai, coach of defending OIA and state champion Kahuku, understood the logistical hurdles, but was disappointed at the move. He felt the OIA should take care of its own issues first, even if it meant the exclusion of OIA teams from the state tournament. Even if it would deny Kahuku the chance to defend its crown.
"We can go without a state champion," Livai said. "The OIA (championship) is the more important game. That's how I feel. Now, they're looking at the state championship as the most important. That's not the best choice."
Other coaches were disappointed, too, but understood the rationale in the decision.
"It makes it very interesting," Castle coach Nelson Maeda said. "You usually don't like 'co' attached (to a title), but that's out of our control. We just have to make do with the situation."
It is the first time in OIA history that the league will intentionally declare co-champions in football. The last time the league had co-champions was 1947 when Waialua and Kahuku played to a scoreless tie in the postseason. They had finished the regular season tied in championship points: Waialua was 2-1-1 and Kahuku was 1-0-3. (championship points award two for a victory and one for a tie.)
When Livai was told of the 1947 co-champions, he said, "At least they had a chance (to decide the champion)."
The OIA principals approved the changes, the league said.
The league considered canceling this weekend's games, leaving some teams with eight games and others with seven. Had there been ties for playoff berths, breaking them "would be a nightmare," OIA executive secretary Dwight Toyama said. But the playoff dates would have been intact.
The OIA also could have reduced playoff participation from eight — the top five Red and top three White teams — to four. But how to determine which four also would have caused a flap. Based on a proportional cut, the top three Red teams and White champion would make up the four. If that were the case, struggling White teams could have given up hope for their seasons. Also, if the top two Red and top two White teams were picked, the Red teams would feel it is unfair because they have to play in the tougher conference.
"After three weeks, there are about 11 teams (half the league) with a chance to make the playoffs," OIA football coordinator Richard Townsend said of the rationale to keep an eight-team format.
There are four unbeaten teams in the White — 'Aiea, Nanakuli and Roosevelt are each 3-0, and Kalaheo is 2-0 — each battling for three playoff berths. Waipahu is 2-1.
In the Red, Castle and Kahuku are each 3-0 and Kailua is 2-0. McKinley is 2-1 and three other teams are 1-2. All are competing for five playoff berths.
'Aiea coach Wendell Say, whose team is in a four-way tie for first in the White, said it would be preferable to have a sole OIA champion, but more opportunities are better.
"It was important to give as many teams a chance to get into the playoffs," he said.
Toyama said the OIA could have requested the state tournament be moved back a week, pushing the final to Dec. 7 or 8. But the other leagues might have a three-week bye between their seasons and the state quarterfinals.
"We sensed that the other leagues wouldn't go for it," Toyama said. "(And) our group didn't want to push back the season one more week because there's already too much overlap (in sports seasons). Our philosophy is we want our kids to play multiple sports."
The OIA never formally asked the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association if the state tournament could be pushed back. Keith Amemiya, HHSAA executive secretary, said if there was a request, he could have explored the issue. Amemiya checked with Aloha Stadium and found that the annual construction union-sponsored all-star football game is set for Dec. 7, but Dec. 8 is open.
ILH
Meanwhile, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu has rescheduled today's postponed varsity football games to next Saturday at Aloha Stadium.
Damien will play Pac-Five at 4:45 p.m. and Punahou will face Kamehameha at 7:30 p.m.
Games originally scheduled for Sept. 22 will move to Sept. 28 at Aloha Stadium. Pac-Five will play Iolani at 4:45 p.m. and St. Louis will meet Kamehameha at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28 was a bye week for the entire league.
The schedule change forced the cancellation of the Iolani at Punahou non-counting league game set for Sept. 28. Since Punahou is in Division I and Iolani is in Division II, the only meeting between the two that counts in the standings is scheduled for Nov. 2 at Iolani. The schools scheduled the exhibition for traditional purposes.
Neighbor Islands
Like the ILH, the Maui Interscholastic League has a built-in bye week to make up the two postponed games this weekend. This weekend's games will be moved to next week, bumping each successive week, MIL executive secretary Stephen Kim said.
The MIL has a bye Oct. 3-5 because of the Maui County Fair held at the War Memorial complex. Games that weekend will be played at King Kekaulike, where games were played the past two weeks to accommodate the University of Hawai'i-Montana football game on Sept. 8.
The fate of the four Big Island Interscholastic Federation games set for this weekend will be determined Monday, executive secretary Roy Fujimoto said.
The likely options are to move the games to Nov. 9, which is an open date in case of a playoff, or to cancel the games if they have no bearing on the league standings by that weekend.
Kaua'i Interscholastic Federation executive secretary Brent Mizutani could not be reached yesterday, but the league essentially has the same scenario as the BIIF. Last night's scheduled game between Kapa'a and Kaua'i could be moved to Nov. 9, also the league's playoff-if-necessary week.
