Apparently, we all can get along.

Four years after vowing to never — ever, ever — play Eastern Illinois again in football, University of Hawai'i officials yesterday announced the teams will meet Sept. 30 at Aloha Stadium.

"I'm glad we have another home game," UH coach June Jones said.

Eastern Illinois is UH's eighth — and final — home opponent for the 2006 season. The Warriors have scheduled the maximum 13 regular-season games.

Eastern Illinois competes on the Division I-AA level. But under revised NCAA rules, if the Warriors were to win the game, they could count it toward bowl-eligibility consideration. The Warriors need a winning regular season record to be eligible.

Jones said UH considered several other opponents before agreeing to play Eastern Illinois.

"The timing and the dates weren't agreeable," Jones said of the other possible matchups.

While UH athletic director Herman Frazier had said as far back as September that a Division I-AA opponent would be an option for the final spot, it did not appear that Eastern Illinois, based on past experience, would be a candidate.

The day after the 2002 opener between the teams, UH coaches were furious with the Panthers over what they claimed was a "cheap shot" that led to defensive tackle Lui Fuga suffering a severe leg injury. Fuga did not play the rest of that season.

Television replays showed Fuga was engaged in a block when a second Panther lunged helmet-first toward the back of Fuga's left leg. Jones, at the time, said: "That was as cheap and as flagrant a shot as I've ever seen."

A day after the game, the UH coaches accused the Panthers of using chop blocks, in which a defender is struck low while engaged in a block.

Kevin Lempa, who was UH's defensive coordinator at the time, said then: "If that was a one-shot deal ... if the kid just did that, it's one thing. But there were other ones where other guys could have gotten hurt, and they didn't, with the same kind of block."

Later, Jones told reporters he would not schedule Eastern Illinois again.

But yesterday, all was forgiven and forgotten. "I didn't think about it," Jones said, when he was told about Eastern Illinois being added to the schedule.

"It was an isolated incident," Jones said of the play that led to Fuga's injury. "It was very unfortunate."

Jones reiterated: "It's tough for us to get home games, so I'm glad we have another one. It doesn't matter who it's against."

RECRUITING FOR 2007

Former NFL quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver said his son, Austin, a junior receiver at Captain Shreve High in Louisiana, has received a scholarship offer from Jones. "June's only known him since he was about 3 years old," said Tolliver, who played for Jones with the Atlanta Falcons in the early 1990s.

Austin Tolliver, who caught 64 passes for 1,100 yards last year, is being recruited by Notre Dame, Louisiana State and Alabama. "When June offered, he took it right there," the elder Tolliver said. "I said, 'Let's wait and see.' Hawai'i will be one of the teams on the top of his list."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.