The last Prep Bowl was held on Nov. 27, 1998, and featured Saint Louis against long ago annual underdog Kahuku, which lost 28-20.
The last Prep Bowl was held on Nov. 27, 1998, and featured Saint Louis against long ago annual underdog Kahuku, which lost 28-20.
Household-name quarterback Timmy Chang led the Crusaders to their 13th consecutive invitation-only crown between the ILH and OIA schools.
In a 10-year span, the Red Raiders had finished runner-up five times to coach Cal Lee’s juggernaut, which closed out the Prep Bowl era with 14 of the last 15 titles.
The game couldn’t be called a state championship, at least not by the HHSAA because three leagues are required for that distinction. Actually, on the HHSAA’s website (sportshigh.com), the 1998 season page is called the Football State Championships presented by the Hawaii High School Athletic Association.
Technical designations aside, that last Prep Bowl at Aloha Stadium drew 20,959 fans, one of the lowest figures in history. But obviously, the game made money. By the way, the HHSAA still held state championships for other sports, such as girls volleyball, cross country, softball, and baseball to name a few, during the Prep Bowl era (1973-1998).
The biggest news out of the Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association conference, which concluded Thursday, was although football’s ILH-OIA Super Alliance wasn’t brought to the table, loud rumblings bothered the dolphins at Hilton Waikoloa.
The five league presidents, from the BIIF, ILH, OIA, MIL, and KIF, rubber-stamped recommendations on Friday, including a measure for BIIF and MIL runner-ups to host Division I play-in games for volleyball, basketball, soccer, and water polo.
It’s been reported that a 10-team Open division would be composed of ILH schools Kamehameha-Kapalama, Punahou, and Saint Louis, and seven OIA schools and that $3 million sits in a grab bag for the OIA.
The Super Alliance between the ILH and OIA doesn’t need the HHSAA’s approval to hold their own Open division and a Prep Bowl Part 2.
It’s been done before, although the ILH and OIA weren’t exactly best friends and didn’t play each other during the regular season. In that 1998 season, Saint Louis crushed Damien 83-0. In the first ILH meeting, the Crusaders merely pulverized the Monarchs 68-0.
It makes perfect sense for the ILH to battle the OIA’s best and jump playing from six to nine games, which helps in all sorts of ways.
Most important, the ILH would likely get two or probably all three teams competing for the Prep Bowl Part 2 championship or Super Alliance title, instead of one team in the current six-team Division I state setup.
The diversity of opponents would also sharpen the ILH teams instead of playing each other twice. For example, 2015 state runner-up Saint Louis could face Kahuku and its power running game one week and Mililani’s aerial attack the next.
Then the Crusaders could jot down notes about the Red Raiders’ best secondary defenders and avoid them if they meet in a rematch for the Super Alliance title.
Last season, Kahuku walloped Saint Louis 39-14 for the state championship and shackled Alabama verbal commit quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to 21 of 40 passing and 191 yards and three picks and four sacks.
From an enrollment perspective, Kamehameha-Kapalama, Punahou or Saint Louis would be able to offer the best league competition for potential football players and an elite private-school education as well.
Perhaps equally attractive, the diversity of games would be a selling point for gridiron standouts with college-ball playing ambition, especially with a wider range of game tape.
Major meeting
The ILH and OIA are not exactly forthcoming. Neither league told BIIF executive director Lyle Crozier that they were in talks about their Super Alliance.
A football committee meeting has been called for Sunday, July 10 at Oahu’s Radford High. Crozier and BIIF football coordinator and Ka‘u AD Kalei Namohala will represent the league.
As aforementioned, the biggest news out of HIADA was that the dolphins heard loud rumblings.
“I got a feeling something is up,” Crozier said. “Usually, they don’t have a first meeting until right before the state tournament.
“Something is up. I don’t know. They won’t have that alliance this year. It’s too late.”
No one told Crozier what’s on the agenda. No one would go into details.
Several BIIF ADs have compared the ILH-OIA Super Friends Alliance to college football’s Power Five conference.
It’s probably worth noting that one reason the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12, and SEC got its “power” nickname is because the conference has enough juice to get its way.