The 2005 prep football season kicks off tomorrow with two of Hawai'i's top powerhouse programs meeting for the first time in 36 years.

Defending state champion Kamehameha will play perennial juggernaut Kahuku at about 7 p.m. at Aloha Stadium. The showdown, one of 20 nonleague varsity games this weekend, will follow a JV game at 4:30.

The two schools have won four of the past six state championships and have been contenders in their respective leagues for at least half a century. But for various reasons, curiously they have met only five times, with Kamehameha winning every game, including a 32-7 victory in 1969.

Since then, schools from the O'ahu Interscholastic Association and Interscholastic League of Honolulu essentially had only two opportunities per season to play each other — either in the nonleague "preseason" or in the O'ahu Prep Bowl/state tournament. Until last year, OIA bylaws prohibited its teams from playing outside the league during the regular season.

With Saint Louis winning 18 ILH championships in a row from 1986 to 2003 and the league getting only one Division I state tournament berth, that eliminated the possibility of Kamehameha facing Kahuku after August.

Last year, of course, the Warriors finally won the ILH and reached the state title game only to see Kahuku fall to Leilehua in the semifinals.

"We're excited because we wanted to play them last year," said Kamehameha linebacker Kaipo Sarkissan. "This is how we want it — to play the best."

For the Red Raiders, tomorrow's game ends a nine-month wait to get rid of the bad taste left by their upset loss in the state semifinals.

"After we lost that game, I got back into the weight room the next Monday," said Kahuku defensive end B.J. Beatty. "I was excited when I saw we were playing Kamehameha first this year. At Kahuku, we feel like we always gotta be No. 1. We're not expected to do anything less."

Both teams suffered heavy losses to graduation, but still return several key starters.

Besides Sarkissan, the Warriors return defensive lineman Kapono Rawlins-Crevello, linebackers Gerrit Vincent and Mana Lolotai, and defensive back Drew Ueno. Speedy receiver Aaron Nichols returns on offense.

Kamehameha's most noticeable change may be on the sidelines, where Doss Tannehill has taken over as head coach in place of Kanani Souza, who is on a one-year leave at Oregon State University. Sarkissan says the transition has been smooth.

"Mostly it's been more conditioning," Sarkissan said. "A lot of us played for (Tannehill) in intermediate, and the other (assistant) coaches are the same."

Kahuku, meanwhile, returns Beatty on defense, quarterback Jacob Kahawai'i and running backs Kamuela Alisa and Simi Alo on offense, not to mention an entire offseason of motivation.

"It's better to redeem yourself right away after a loss, because the only thing to heal it is another game," Red Raiders coach Siuaki Livai said. "It's bad enough to have a bye week, but we've had nine months go by. Now we don't have to wait.

"To play the No. 1 team is a blessing, because we'll know right away how much work we have to do."

EXTRA POINTS: Tomorrow also will mark the first time the schools' JV teams have played in a long time. The ILH dropped JV football in the late 1990s and brought it back this summer. ... Another significant game is Kailua at Kapolei. It will be the first game played at Kapolei's new stadium and the first at a new OIA field since Mililani opened its facility in the early 1980s. Kapolei, in its fourth year as a varsity program, played its "home" games at Pearl City the past three seasons.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.