Sports Watch
Still, the matchup has taken a long time in coming, considering that Boise State has enjoyed quite a tradition involving athletes from Hawaii. Call them Da Boyz from Boise. They're holding a reunion tonight at the St. Louis Alumni Clubhouse.
There's no one from Hawaii on this year's Boise State team except for offensive line coach Robert Anae of Kahuku. It wasn't always that way.
One of the more recent Broncos from the 50th State was 6-foot-4, 300-pound defensive tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen, now with the Cincinnati Bengals. If the name's familiar, it should be. The Molokai native was recruited by the Rainbows but left the UH program.
Perhaps the best - in terms of longevity in the National Football League - from here to play for Boise State was Kamehameha's David Hughes, who played five years with the Seahawks after being drafted by Seattle in the second round.
But the pipeline from Hawaii to Boise State really began pumping back in the 1960s when the school was still a junior college.
AMONG the early Boise Boyz were the late Francis Ah Yat, former McKinley athletic director Joe Ho, St. Louis all-star end Jimmy Aiwohi, who's now an assistant coach at Kamehameha, the late Tiloi Lolotai of Leilehua, Waipahu's Franklin Kaaa and St. Louis guard Lenny Chow, the older brother of BYU offensive coordinator Norm Chow.
Chow, who's an insurance agent in Boise, is here with 65 members of the BSU Boosters Club for the game.
In the 1960s, Boise College had two Johns from Hawaii. The coaches just called them "Big John" when they referred to Kaimuki's John Kauinana, now Mililani's athletic director, and "Little John," when they meant John Kameenui, a Farrington grad. "Little John" weighed 260 pounds, so you can imagine how big "Big John" was.
Also playing for Boise J.C. then were Jacob Hoopai, now a special motivations teacher at McKinley, Kaimuki's Rocky Lima, who coaches wrestling at a high school in Boise, and Punahou's Milt Kanehe.
That set the stage for the early 1970s, when Boise became a state university. Its roster was loaded with Hawaii players, especially with Ho and Hoopai encouraging McKinley players to enroll there.
Among the Tigers who played for Boise State were quarterback Ron Autele, guard Blessing Bird and fullback Chester Grey. They all still live in Boise. Another McKinley/Boise State teammate, Charlie Russell, opted for Pukalani, Maui.
Bird is a welder, while Grey coaches track at Borah High School. Autele works for Idaho Power Co. and still follows Boise State's football team when he's not playing musical gigs with his five-man Hawaiian band called, "Homegrown."
THE Autele clan could be the Original Boyz from Boise. Ron's older brother, Wayne, now with the Honolulu Police Department, was on the McKinley team with Hoopai that played Borah High in 1965. Ron's son, Tasi, was born in Boise, played two years for the Rainbows and returned to play for Boise State in 1993 before injuring his shoulder. Tasi's back here.
Autele, a three-year starting quarterback at McKinley, says that Boise State has an exceptional passer, quarterback Tony Hilde, and wide receiver, Ryan Ikebe, so the Rainbows had better watch out.
He couldn't explain Boise State's loss last week to Eastern Washington.
"Maybe they were looking forward to the Hawaii trip," Autele said. "I know I would."