Business or pleasure?
Or both?
The topic often comes up when Big island teams fly to Honolulu to compete in state championships, but there is no question regarding Hilo High’s mindset heading into its Division I football final against Waipahu: This is business trip.
It has to be.
“No time to rest,” senior receiver Kalae Akui said.
Or do much of anything else Saturday morning after the Vikings land at the airport, besides heading to Aloha Stadium, dressing and playing.
The Vikings’ football team usually travels to Oahu the Friday before game days and gets in a practice at Aloha Stadium and night in a hotel before playing, but the HHSAA decided differently this season.
For the first time in four state trips to Oahu under this coaching staff, the Viks are flying in the day of the game, and for a late afternoon kickoff. Hilo is scheduled to land on Oahu at at 11:20 a.m, and if all goes as planned coach Kaeo Drummondo estimated the team will arrive in Haleiwa at 12:30 p.m. Kickoff is at 4:30 p.m.
“Look, at this point, my message to the players is would we like to fly the night before? Of course,” Drummondo said. “Would we want to get a practice in the day before at Aloha Stadium? Of course.
“The more we think about it, the more it becomes a distraction. Everything is going to be happening so fast, we don’t have time for a distraction.”
Hilo also doesn’t have time for a flight delay, but beyond just getting to the stadium in time to get proper time to prepare, Drummondo also knows some of his underclassmen will be wide-eyed when they walk out of the north tunnel at a 50,000-seat stadium for the first time.
He’d prefer that happened during a Friday practice.
“The young guys have to get their butterflies out, but it’s just another game on a different field,” said junior Kalen White, who started in the 2017 state final.
Considering the Division II final kicks off at 1:30 p.m., the best Hilo can hope for after arriving at the stadium is probably a walk on the sidelines to the locker room.
The good thing, Drummondo said, is Hilo is used to adjusting on the fly, such as when it rains at practice and the team has to move inside its gym.
“They respond well from switching from one situation to another,” he said.
Maui’s Lahainaluna and Kauai’s Kaapa flew into Oahu on Friday ahead their Division II final.
Thanks, rival
The state final will be Hilo’s first game of the season on artificial turf, so to get acclimated to a similar playing surface to that of Aloha Stadium, the Vikings twice got permission to practice at Waiakea’s Ken Yamase Memorial Stadium.
“It’s been awesome,” Drummondo said.
This will be Waipahu’s third game this season at Aloha Stadium, where they are 1-1.
Next man up
The injury bug has been kind to Hilo for the most part this season, though they will be without promising freshman Tysen Kaniaupio, a 6-foot-1, 230-pound starter at nose guard.
In his absence, juniors Kaoha Wilson and Joshua Niro will rotate at nose, with senior Malu Wong and junior Kayden Alameda getting time at end.
“It’s just a freak accident that is going to hold him out of the game,” Drummondo said. “If there is bright side to it, it happened almost two weeks ago.”