Dylan Raiola and Micah Alejado share more than just being teammates in this week’s Polynesian Bowl.
The two quarterbacks left Hawaii in middle school with a dream of making it to college football and eventually the NFL.
While their journeys are just getting started, their shared success has brought them back home, albeit for different amounts of time.
For Raiola, this week’s high school football all-star game on Friday at Kunuiakea Stadium is one opportunity to play in front of family and friends at home.
For Alejado, it’s the first of many opportunities as now a student-athlete at the University of Hawaii to make a name for himself as a part of the “Braddahhood.”
“I went to class last week and now I’m here, so it’s kind of retracting back to high school,” Alejado said at the first official practice held Monday. “It’s a fun experience. The last of my high school experience. Just trying to enjoy it a lot.”
Alejado, who led Bishop Gorman to a MaxPreps national championship as a senior, is one of a record seven Hawaii commitments selected to the game, which is being held in the islands for the seventh time.
The Polynesian Bowl has continually grown over the years and is now a goal for a lot of high school football players, especially those of Polynesian descent. This year it features the most five-star recruits it has ever had, including Raiola, the son of longtime Detroit Lions center and Saint Louis School alumnus Dominic Raiola.
Rated as the No. 1 quarterback in the class of 2024 by 247Sports, Dylan Raiola said he committed to the game the moment he had the opportunity.
“The Polynesian Bowl was something I wanted to do right away,” he said. “My dad got inducted into (the Polynesian Bowl Hall of Fame in 2020), so I knew about it early when it started and it was probably the first bowl game I accepted an invite right on the phone call.”
Raiola said he grew up playing baseball and wasn’t interested in football until he played for the first time as a freshman in high school.
A prime example of how the world of college and high school football has changed, Raiola played for a different high school each of his last three years.
He ended up in Georgia for his senior season and threw for 34 touchdowns with only one interception.
He had committed to Ohio State and Georgia earlier in high school but eventually switched to Nebraska in December and signed with the Cornhuskers, where his father played.
With all of that now in the rear-view mirror, Raiola is enjoying this entire week as much as he can.
“When I grew up in Hawaii, I didn’t really play football … but to come back and play in a stadium like this with all of these great athletes, (at) the high school my mom went to, I don’t think you can ask for anything better,” Raiola said. “The Polynesian culture is something special. Hopefully we can spread it down throughout this group of guys that came out throughout the whole world and just to show the guys what the Polynesian culture means to me and all of the Polynesian people is definitely a goal for me.”
Raiola showed off his arm in a throwing contest held in the middle of practice Monday, with the six quarterbacks getting two attempts each. Raiola’s two throws went 70 and 72 yards.
“I had a little left in me,” Raiola joked. “It was fun. All the guys making jokes. It’s just a great time to be around all of these great athletes.”
Raiola and Alejado are joined on Team Makai, coached by Mike Zimmer, by Punahou’s Ty McCutcheon, who will play at Utah Tech next season.
Team Mauka, coached by Marvin Lewis, has Utah signee Isaac Wilson, the brother of New York Jets QB Zach Wilson, along with future Tennessee Volunteer Jake Merklinger and Oklahoma State signee Maealiuaki Smith.
Other Hawaii signees in the game are offensive linemen Tui Muti and Joshua Tavui, defensive linemen Nazaiah Caravallo and Tristan Waiamau-Galindo and linebackers Noah Wily and Alika Cavaco-Amoy.
Kickoff on Friday is at 4 p.m. The game is being broadcast by the NFL Network.
