Moanalua forfeits to Campbell, cites 'injuries and illness'

Pete Caldwell | SL

Moanalua has forfeited its scheduled playoff game against Campbell, school athletic director Joel Kawachi confirmed Monday.

The teams were slated to play in a fifth-place semifinal of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I tournament at 5 p.m. Friday at Mililani's John Kauinana Stadium.

Kawachi said the forfeit is for safety purposes, with a large number of players currently out due to "injuries and illness.

"We have ongoing injuries and incurred a few more injuries this past weekend against Kapolei," Kawachi said. "We had a few kids sick that were out for Kapolei and then (Monday) we found out that a bunch more kids are sick, so that kind of pushed us to make a decision early in the week instead of wait."

The 40-point loss to the Hurricanes Friday dropped Na Menehune (5-5) to the eight-team Division I state tournament, where their season could be extended by as many as three more weeks.

Taking the field against the Sabers would have put his student-athletes in danger, Kawachi said.

"Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we'll have a couple kids who are (currently) injured that can make it back, but the risk was too great to play with low numbers and because some of the JV kids we've brought up need more time practicing with the varsity."

In addition to player safety concerns, Kawachi also noted that Campbell beat Moanalua (12-6, in double-overtime) in a regular-season game in mid-September.

"We needed to focus on the health of our kids and getting them ready for the state tournament," Kawachi said.

Mililani will host Leilehua in the other fifth-place semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

All four teams in the consolation bracket will have a bye next week as the final seeding for the OIA's D1 state tournament representatives — essentially the league's fifth- through eighth-place teams — will be determined by tiebreaker, OIA football coordinator Harold Tanaka said.