When Micah Alejado stepped into Allegiant Stadium, he knew a championship was on the line.
Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders, opened in the summer of 2020. It has all the bells and whistles one could imagine. Before he starred for the University of Hawai‘i football team, Alejado gained control of the starting quarterback job at national power Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas as a freshman in high school. Alejado led the Gaels to Nevada state championship wins at Allegiant in 2021 and 2023.
"It's a great experience," Alejado says. "Not a lot of people get the experience. Playing in a state-of-the-art facility like that, and probably the nicest NFL stadium, it's fun. It's a great experience for a kid."
On Friday, championship implications are on the line for an Alejado-led squad once again as Hawai‘i (7-3, 4-2 Mountain West Conference) takes on UNLV (8-2, 4-2) for a 5:30 p.m. HST kickoff. The winner will keep itself in the Mountain West championship game race heading into the final week of the regular season.
"When we go out there, at the end of the day, it's another game and we got to go perform. It's fun just having all those memories there, and looking up in the crowd," Alejado said. "But we're up there to handle business and go get the win."
Led by associate head coach Chris Brown, who coached at Bishop Gorman from 2015 to 2021, a heavy Gaels influence exists on the UH roster. There are six Gorman alums in Alejado, linebacker Jamih Otis, nickelback Elijah Palmer, running back Cam Barfield, linebacker Giovanni Iovino and defensive lineman Aiden McComber. Additionally, Hawai‘i quarterbacks coach Chad Kapanui was BG's quarterbacks coach from 2022 to 2024 before getting scooped up by his alma mater in the spring.
"Representing the state of Hawai‘i in Vegas, I think the pipeline is humongous," said Alejado, who moved from ‘Ewa Beach to Las Vegas as a middle schooler. "I think a lot of the guys that are from Vegas here are doing a great job just representing that pipeline. Being able to get kids from there, being able to open a great relationship, obviously coach Chris helped us a lot with that."
As a program, Hawai‘i is 19-15 against UNLV. The Rainbow Warriors have played the Rebels every year since 2009. In 2017, the two schools began playing for the Island Showdown Trophy, a golden pineapple that commemorates the relationship between the two locales.
"This is an important game. This is an old school rivalry right here," Hawai‘i head coach Timmy Chang said. "I think the [geography] plays right into Hawai‘i and its ties to Las Vegas and so much people. This game just means a lot more. I know the city of Las Vegas is proud to have their Hawai‘i contingency and the families that live there and make up their community, but we're proud too and so it'll be a great game for all those reasons."
Although the Rainbow Warriors have the overall series edge, the Rebels have won the two most recent matchups in 2023 and 2024. UNLV has played in two straight Mountain West championship game, losing to Boise State each time.
Friday will be Alejado's first time playing in Allegiant Stadium in college, while some teammates, such as Otis and Palmer, both played in Hawai‘i's 2023 44-20 loss at UNLV. This time around, Palmer says the 'Bows won't just be happy to be there. Especially with a championship on the line.
"I was just excited to be home (in 2023)," Palmer said. "But now, being an older guy, a leader, I feel like it's good to go back home see the family. They know it's a job that needs to be done. Y'all can come to family time at the hotel, but other than that, it's time to go."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
