Football double-header stealing election thunder

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Like many Hawai'i residents, Gov. Ben Cayetano will be watching the results of tomorrow's primary election closely.

Coaches of the teams in tomorrow's matchups, from left: Delbert Tengan, St. Louis; Bob Ladouceur, De La Salle; Siuaki Livai, Kahuku; and Raul Lara, Long Beach Poly. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

"Boy, are these going to be great games," Cayetano said yesterday. "I would love to be there.... I have to be at the TV stations that night, but I'm going to see if I can leave early."

Cayetano certainly is not the only person excited about the football doubleheader, which could break Hawai'i's high school attendance record. The games will feature three teams ranked nationally by USA Today (No. 1 De La Salle, No. 3 Long Beach Poly and No. 17 St. Louis.) De La Salle also brings with it a national-record 126-game winning streak.

The Hawai'i High School Athletic Associationisponsored games are getting national attention.

Two stories appeared in two editions of USA Today this week. A "pregame" press conference yesterday at Aloha Stadium drew about 40 people, and several national wire services have requested stories. Papers in Walnut Creek and Long Beach, Calif., are sending reporters and photographers, media representatives from sports Web sites are attending, and two film crews will be documenting the Long Beach Poly and De La Salle programs.

Record attendance for a Hawai'i high school football game was 32,812, set in 1978. Tomorrow's doubleheader will probably be televised live statewide and along the West Coast.

Keith Amemiya, executive director of the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association, gave both teams an allotment of 600 seats along the 30-yard line of the stadium's bottom tier, with De La Salle on the makai side, Long Beach Poly on the mauka side.

De La Salle's allotment is sold out. Terry Eidson, De La Salle athletic director and defensive coordinator, said parents of 45 of the 48 players would attend.

Long Beach Poly's allotment is close to sold out, and Amemiya said several dozen Hawai'i residents who graduated from the school had purchased tickets to sit in the school's designated area.

"This could turn out to be the biggest high school football event in Hawai'i ever, especially if the Hawai'i teams win," said Mark Tennis, editor of Student Sports Inc., a national magazine and Web site based in Torrance, Calif., who will be attending the game.

"Fans from the entire state of California will be watching, and if two of their best teams lose, that'll be a lot of egg in their face," he said.

Both St. Louis and Kahuku have been nationally ranked before, and each has faced established programs from the Mainland. But De La Salle and Long Beach Poly are the two highest-ranked teams ever to come play against Hawai'i teams.

Although they are considered underdogs, many believe the Classic presents a chance for Kahuku and St. Louis to show the nation just how high the quality of high school football is in Hawai'i.

"This is big for our state," said University of Hawai'i football coach June Jones. "I don't think it ever happens anywhere, where you get two teams that are both ranked so high nationally, like De La Salle and Long Beach Poly, in one event."

Jones said Kahuku and St. Louis would impress Mainlanders who have never seen them up close.

"I think they'll both hold their own," he said. "I think (Long Beach Poly and De La Salle) will be in for a shock when they see how good the football is here. If they don't know it now, they'll definitely know it by the end of the first quarter."

Cayetano, who lived in California for nine years, agrees that high school football is one of Hawai'i's top products.

"I think now everybody is going to see what we've felt for a very long time — that Hawai'i high schools can compete with teams all across the country," he said. "I'm sure our local boys will make a good showing for themselves."

Regardless of the scores, the Classic will be a success, he said.

"Win or lose, it'll really add to the quality of our state when we see our best play California's best. It'll be great for everybody all around," Cayetano said.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456.