In what has been nearly two years and feels like a decade, football is officially back on public high school campuses. Most of the nation returned to prep football during the 2020-21 academic year. In Hawaii, student-athletes in fall and winter sports lost their opportunity to play.

The bleachers will be empty as statewide restrictions continue.

“We got the word last week that they could go to 1,000 spectators. We were thinking this Friday’s game, we could have a crowd, but we found out (Tuesday), there won’t be a crowd,” Mililani wide receiver Gavin Hunter said. “It’s disappointing, but we hope in the next couple of weeks, we can have that.”

Three games in the Open Division are on tap Friday: Waianae at No. 3 Mililani, No. 4 Kahuku at No. 8 Kapolei and Farrington at No. 6 Campbell. Junior varsity games kick off at 5 p.m. with varsity matchups to begin 25 minutes after JV ends.

Division II has one contest on Friday and three more on Saturday. On Friday, Pearl City hosts Kalaheo in JV and varsity games. On Saturday, Kalani travels to Kaiser and McKinley entertains Waialua at Vasconcellos Stadium. The D-II Saturday games are varsity only and begin at 6 p.m.

The OIA’s D-I schedule will begin next week.

The playoffs have been modified to have a championship games in each division, eschewing quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.

The list of football players who transferred to mainland schools grew when the DOE postponed athletics at the start of fall. A major spike in COVID-19 cases, triggered by the Delta variant, led to the six-week delay.

“Some of our guys transferred. One is in Arizona,” Farrington co-captain Josiah Chaffin said.

Because there was no official football season in Hawaii last school year, public-school student-athletes who transferred to private schools were eligible to play immediately this season. Among them were highly coveted offensive lineman Iapani Laloulu, who transferred to Saint Louis.

“I don’t know about the rest of the team, but I was surprised,” Chaffin said. “I’m happy for him. I played with him my sophomore year. He is a good player. I liked playing with him. Wherever he goes, I’ll support.

Student-athletes were mandated by the state to get vaccinated. Some, like Chaffin, received a medical or religious exemption. It was literal paperwork — physical paper rather than electronic forms — that continues to be processed by the DOE’s Civil Rights Compliance Branch (CRCB), according to a coach.

For other programs without strong numbers, getting players a first-shot vaccination before the Sept. 24 deadline set by the DOE was a major challenge. For student-athletes who got the first jab and are waiting to get the second, the OIA initially offered a chance to play as long as they were tested weekly. However, that opportunity was removed by the DOE, which means those student-athletes have to wait until the second shot and the 14-day period following.

In addition, coaches at smaller programs are in a quandary because of the “heat acclimation” requirement once those newly vaccinated players return.

“We didn’t have that requirement when teams had to sit three or four weeks before the state tournament,” one coach said. “Why are we requiring it now even after the kids have done that (in August)?”

A lingering effect in a once-in-a-thousand years pandemic is that many head coaches aren’t certain who will be eligible to play football this week or next. With student-athletes filing for exemptions from vaccinations through religious or medical reasons, it remains a waiting game.

The situation is tricky for coaches, who are not allowed to ask players if they have been vaccinated, so they get their player information from trainers. OIA coaches have also been restricted from talking to media about the league and coronavirus.

At Kahuku, some players left last winter for a chance to play a senior season on the mainland after Hawaii’s season was canceled. This year’s squad made a pact to stay home and was close to 100% in retaining returnees.

“I am just proud of how our players persevered through these tough times. Their patience, personal sacrifice and hard work is about to pay off,” coach Sterling Carvalho said. “My team made the commitment to stick together so that they can play together. These players demonstrated what it means to be a Red Raider for life. Go Big Red!”

Extra points: ILH Division I champion ‘Iolani will play three nonconference games. The Raiders will visit Kailua on Oct. 30, host Castle on Nov. 5 and travel to Radford on Dec. 3. ‘Iolani completed its ILH schedule on Oct. 1. … According to the OIA site, the league’s Open Division final is scheduled for Dec. 10 and the D-I final follows on Dec. 11. The OIA’s D-II title game is slated for Dec. 17.