Campbell High School from Hawaii defeated Sandra Day O’Connor 37-20 on Friday night. But the result of the game was much overshadowed by a week full of events between the two teams. A game that was five years in the making.

It was a connection that was built at Arizona Western College in Yuma that led to the eventual matchup. It was there where O’Connor head coach Steve Casey, then at AWC, made a connection to Campbell head coach Darren Johnson, who was a player at the time.

Talks of a potential game began five years ago when the two kept in touch while coaching their respective high schools. Discussions between the two went back and forth about a potential matchup between the two coaches.

“They’ve been talking for a while about it and they finally got it done this year,” O'Connor assistant coach Brandt Casey said. “It’s another chance to get better, prove that our state is good with the football. Playing out of state competition shows how good you can be and better yourselves.”

Teams in Arizona have been trending towards playing out-of-state games during non-conference play. Several teams such as Centennial High School have been included in this trend; Centennial played Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas this week. O’Connor and Campbell requred the most travel out of any teams in Arizona this week.

The week leading up to the game was filled with activities between the two teams including practicing together and participating in a team dinner. These activities led to a camaraderie and exchanging of cultures between the two teams.

This resulted in an experience unlike anything the players had experienced before. The players noticed the differences from simple words to cultural practices that were different.

“It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever been a part of, having them at my house, learning a lot of the language and culture,” senior Tanner Sharp of O’Connor said. “They’re not that far but it’s crazy how culturally different everything is. There’s a lot of words we say different than they do, they call octopus, taco.”

For Campbell players, it was a unique experience as they were able to follow O’Connor players around the school and experience their school settings.

The differences between the two schools were evident as one player from Hawaii was even astonished the school had air conditioning in every classroom and referenced a movie when describing O’Connor.

“Their school is amazing,” senior Cayne Carino of Campbell said. “I was getting some high school musical vibes, I thought people were going to stop and start singing to me. Where we come from, our school is not that big, and all the classrooms don’t have AC like that.”

The good times continued between the coaches as they held joint practices throughout the week and participated in a coaches volleyball tournament.

This was a chance to expand the friendship from beyond Casey and Johnson to their coaching staffs as well.

“It’s a bonding experience that the kids will remember forever,” Brandt said. “When you get two different types of races together, you get to share experiences and show cultures and it’s really cool.”

Campbell players and coaches arrived on a redeye flight Tuesday night spending the night in O’Connor’s auxiliary gym. The next two nights were spent at houses of host families from the O’Connor football team.

The host families were treated with gifts from Campbell players including Hawaiian chocolates, coffee, and special flavored pancakes which included passion fruit and macadamia nuts.

“They treat us better than at home,” Carino said. “They’ve treated us so well, I don’t want to leave now.”

While the at home staying experience was positive for the players and families, one story from an O’Connor family showed the unique and outgoing personalities of the Hawaiians.

“I went to bed at 8 o’clock and when I woke up in the morning I look at my Snapchat and they were all in my pool at my house at like two in the morning,” senior Tanner Sharp of O’Connor said.

After a week full of events and house stays from Hawaiian players, the two teams built a sense of friendship and respect for each other. This, however, did not stop Friday’s night game from being an aggressively fought game between the two teams.

“Once the game started that’s when you knew, anyone in the other color jersey, they’re not your friend anymore,” Sharp said.