[ PREP FOOTBALL ]
The Interscholastic League of Honolulu boys volleyball race heats up today when Iolani hosts Kamehameha in a key early season contest. Iolani and Kamehameha
duel todayBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comThe opening serve is set for 4:30 p.m. at the Raiders' gym.
Both teams enter the match with 3-0 records and are seeking to take the early lead in the ILH title chase.
Kamehameha last played Sept. 8, when it swept defending state champion Punahou. Iolani has wins over Maryknoll, Hawaii Baptist and Lutheran.
A win today would provide a big boost to Iolani's hopes of earning a state tournament berth in a league dominated for decades by Punahou and Kamehameha.
Punahou has won 19 of the last 21 state championships. Kamehameha won the other two (1991 and '93).
Stadium security tightened: New security measures will be enforced at Aloha Stadium starting with this week's high school football games.
Stadium security will be conducting visual checks of vehicles entering the stadium and all bags will be checked at the gates. Also, large bags and backpacks will not be allowed into the stadium.
"We want to make it as safe as possible," said events manager Eugene Tokuhama. "We wouldn't want the public to be scared of coming to the stadium."
The rules will go into effect with Friday's Oahu Interscholastic Association game between Castle and Kahuku and Saturday's ILH doubleheader.
Red Raiders, Crusaders moving up: Kahuku and St. Louis continue to climb in the national high school football rankings.
Kahuku (4-0) jumped from No. 30 to 26 in the Student Sports Fab 50 national rankings last week, while St. Louis (3-0) moved up from No. 37 to 30. St. Louis also moved up from No. 25 to 24 in the USA Today Super 25 rankings. The Crusaders are 25th in the Rivals High 25 rankings.
Kahuku, the defending Oahu Interscholastic Association and state champion, beat Mililani 34-19 in its last game on Sept. 8. St. Louis defeated Punahou 25-16 in its Interscholastic League of Honolulu opener Sept. 7.
Kahuku faces Castle on Friday at Aloha Stadium. St. Louis has a bye this week.
De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) is the top ranked team in the Student Sports rankings, while Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) is second. The teams are reversed in the USA Today poll.
De La Salle puts its record 114-game winning streak on the line against unranked Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) on Saturday in Stockton, Calif.
Iolani, Punahou game off: With the ILH rescheduling last week's games for Sept. 28, a non-league matchup between Punahou and Iolani has been scratched.
Under the ILH's new format, the Raiders and Buffanblu were scheduled to meet just once during the regular season. The schools decided to schedule a non-league game during an open week to preserve the schools' home-and-home rivalry.
But with last week's postponements due to terrorist attacks on the mainland, the schedule was pushed back a week, eliminating the open date.
"It would have been nice to play, but we weren't able to work it out," said Punahou coach Kale Ane.
The teams will meet Nov. 2 at Iolani.
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