Aiea, Campbell to forfeit game
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Oahu Interscholastic Association athletic directors have assessed a one-game forfeiture for the Aiea and Campbell football teams following a game-ending fracas on Saturday night at Aiea's field.
The league made its decision yesterday after viewing footage of the incident, which happened with just 57 seconds left in the game.
The ruling applies only to OIA play, which means that Aiea will forfeit its game with Kapolei, and Campbell will forfeit its game with Waianae. Those games were scheduled for next week.
Both schools will still play in nonconference games with interscholastic League of Honolulu teams this week. Aiea will host Saint Louis. Campbell will still play Kamehameha.
In addition to the forfeiture, Aiea has suspended 21 players for breaking the rule that prohibits players from leaving the sideline. Campbell has not suspended any players.
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In two decades of coaching, Wendell Say has never seen his teams at Aiea involved in anything like this.
In the past three weeks, things haven't gone well for Campbell coach Tumoana Kenessey. From a botched scheduling of a scrimmage, to a canceled nonconference game due to vandalism at the school field, and then to Saturday's suspended game at Aiea, Kenessey is wondering when the tide will turn.
The Oahu Interscholastic Association ruled yesterday that Aiea and Campbell will forfeit one league game each as a result of Saturday's fracas. The league made its decision after viewing video footage.
Game officials called the game off with 57 seconds left. Aiea had a 33-26 lead and officially won the game. The play that led to the premature end involved Aiea running back Christian Kupau, playing for injured starter Daniel Liilii. Kupau apparently reacted vigorously to a rougher-than-normal tackle by Campbell defenders. His reaction, which drew a personal foul, included throwing his helmet to the ground and yelling at Campbell players. Many players on both teams, Say said, stepped onto the field.
National federation rules forbid players from being on the field unless they were part of the previous play or the next play.
"We will levy our own sanctions on the kids," said Say, who suspended 21 players for Aiea's nonconference game against Saint Louis. "Even if you're 2 feet onto the field, if you're not on offense, not on the punt team, you're wrong," Say said. "We've gotta accept it as a team. A lot of guys are disappointed they won't play Kapolei (because of the forfeit)."
The incident happened after a third-down play.
"Our offense was in there, and our punt team was running out, so we've been trying to figure out who wasn't supposed to be on the field," Say said. "We teach the guys to walk away and stay off the field. Some of the kids' intentions were good, but they still broke the rules and stepped on the field."
The ruling affects league play only, so both Campbell and Aiea will proceed with their nonconference games set for this weekend. Though Aiea's video shows players from both teams stepping onto the field, Kenessey said that none of the Sabers will be suspended for their nonconference game against Kamehameha this weekend.
"I think that's up to Coach Say as to how he deals with it. I think he's doing a good job there at Aiea High School," Kenessey said. "We'll deal with it internally, with the things our guys will do at practice."
By 7 p.m. yesterday, both coaches were still near their locker rooms. Kenessey made sure his players cleaned up rubbish, while Say reminded some of his players about study hall. Say, a counselor at Aiea, sees a silver lining.
"They (the Sabers) pushed his (Kapau's) head down and all, but that's no reason to do that," he said of the incident that sparked the brawl. "One selfish moment cost the whole team. Calmer heads prevail after they're sorry and crying, but that's why you have to control yourself no matter what. Life situations, you don't know what's going to happen."
Kenessey said the officials' assessment, that there weren't enough players to continue the final 57 seconds, is incorrect.
"Our defensive unit was out there, the punt-return unit was out there. Technically, we could have still played the game," he said, noting that Campbell's previous punt return resulted in a touchdown.
"I thought we had a good shot at tying the game, but the kids did what they did, so they have to suffer the consequence. They're disappointed, but they understood what they did was wrong, and now they pay the price," Kenessey said.
"Now we're 0-2, behind the 8-ball, but they know they still have a chance. We have to play hard, play together and hopefully God favors us and we make the playoffs."
Campbell will forfeit its league game against Waianae.
