By Paul Honda
hondareporttop10@aol.com
Sunday, Sept. 3, 2006

Dang, it won't be quite as intriguing next week because the top two teams, Punahou and Kahuku, will have byes.

Hope I'm wrong. Here's my ballot.

1. Punahou 3-0-0 (0-0-0 ILH). You may have doubted the rebuilt Buffanblu defense, and you might even have had a case in pointing out the nature of their win over defending state champ Kahuku ... and the relatively small margin of victory at Waianae. Beating a good Eastlake (Wash.) team in Seattle 23-16 cannot be argued.

2. Kahuku 2-1-0 (0-0-0 OIA Red East). The Red Raiders took care of their opponent, Narbonne (Calif.) of the CIF's Marine League, while getting their agenda completed (getting reps for reserves). Coach Torres is confident about the direction and momentum of the team.

3. Saint Louis 3-0-0 (0-0-0 ILH). I will actually listen to anyone who wants to argue that Saint Louis can't be ranked higher than Kamehameha or even Farrington. And I won't try to argue back, not yet. The Crusaders needed a fourth-quarter rally to win at Castle, which might register as a negative for some voters. Not me.

4. Kamehameha 3-0-0 (0-0-0 ILH). The Warriors are stellar in the box with size, strength and speed. Their ability to close out tackles is unmatched except by Farrington. That was a helluva game to watch (and hear) last night. When the Warriors develop their passing game, look out.

5. Farrington 2-1-0 (1-0-0 OIA Red East). How is it possible that I've moved the Govs up two notches on my ballot after they lost? Easy. They are dead even with Kamehameha, period. The only difference was an extra-point kick. This is easily the best Farrington team in years, maybe going back to Coach Okimoto's time when he was the star running back.

The picking gets choppy after this, especially since Mililani and Campbell fell.

6. Iolani 2-1-0 (0-0-0 ILH). This is about as high as the Raiders can go on my ballot. They just don't have the girth to withstand huge, smashmouth teams, but does that mean they can't upset any of the Top 5? Of course not. With the win over Moanalua yesterday, the Raiders continue to show that intelligence, speed and skill can overcome a lot of shortcomings. Easily the best Division II team in the state.

7. Leilehua 2-1-0 (1-0-0 OIA Red West). The Mules fell to Saint Louis convincingly last week, but have been tough against everyone else. Yesterday's win over Radford was overwhelming for much of the night, surprisingly so.

8. Aiea 2-1-0 (1-0-0 OIA Red West). Na Alii came through with a huge win at Campbell last week. They've only got one loss (to Kamehameha), so this is legit at the 8 spot.

9. Baldwin 2-0-0 (1-0-0 MIL). The Bears wipe out KS-Maui, but slip a spot on my ballot. Fair? No, but quality competition makes a huge difference in my voting, and Baldwin simply can't gain any momentum by beating a Division II team not named Iolani.

10. Campbell 2-1-0 (0-1-0 OIA Red West). The Sabers have done enough in their wins to stay in my poll, just by a thread. The loss to Aiea was a virtual standoff, which means quite a bit. Waianae is closer to bumping Campbell off my ballot than Mililani, since the Seariders won so convincingly against the Trojans. And oh ... look what we have here on the slate ... Campbell at Waianae on Saturday. Oh yeeeaaahh ...

On the cusp
Waianae, Mililani, Castle, Pac-Five, Lahainaluna, Kauai.

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