Bransen Apao and the Damien Monarchs will take on KJ Pascua and the Iolani Raiders in an afternoon contest at Kozuki Stadium. ScoringLive photo illustration

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Week four of the prep season starts off a little bit earlier with Damien traveling to Kozuki Stadium to take on Iolani in an early 3:15 matchup. The Monarchs cracked the ScoringLive/OC16 Division II Power Rankings for the first time this week while the Raiders have held the No. 2 spot since the start of the preseason. 

Damien is coming off a 28-21 road win over then No. 5 Kauai. The Red Raiders were the Division II runner-ups in 2013, an achievement that was obtained by defeating Iolani in the state semifinals. 

“For Damien to go on the road and beat (Kauai) on the road, it says a lot about Damien and how far they’ve come along in their program,” Iolani coach Wendell Look said on Damien’s past win. “I think (Damien coach) Eddie (Klaneski) is instilling a lot of good things over there with their program, brining them back to prominence.”

Although the Kauai win was a nice feather in the cap, coach Klaneski has his team looking forward and on their matchup with Iolani this week. The Raiders have had a hold of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II title ever since 2004.

“This is what we prepare for when we start the year, the offseason. It’s always our goal to be ready for Iolani,” said Klaneski. “They’re the top dogs, they’ve been the big dogs for the last how many years. I don’t think we beat them since 2007 or 2006. We always want to do our best against them. We teach our kids that they’re the top program and that’s where we want to be. In order to get there we have to beat them and go through them to take them down from the mountain.”

One immediate concern that Damien will face in Friday’s matchup is against Iolani’s run game. The Monarchs gave up 160 yards and three touchdowns to Kauai running back Jhustin Balisacan. On the other hand, Raider running backs KJ Pascua and Storm Lotomau combined for 207 yards and four touchdowns in Iolani’s win over Mino Jiyu (Japan) two weeks ago.

“We’re going to have to stop the run for sure. We think that’s where they’re going to attack us,” said Klaneski. “It’s going to be a different (defensive) game plan versus Iolani. They don’t have such a power running game as much as Kauai does. Iolani is more of a sophisticated trap like offense. They run little bubble screens, they run the zone plays. A little different with some finesse, but they are big up front.”

Even if the Monarchs are able to stop the run, they still will have to counter Iolani’s aerial attack. The Raiders return All-Hawaii Division II second-team quarterback Austin Jim On at the helm. Jim On completed 68-percent of his passes for 1856 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2013. 

“He’s not the biggest guy around. He doesn’t have the arm strength that some of the other guys have, but I think he’s really cerebral. He goes through the progressions, he knows the situations and he knows to take care of the ball and make good decisions,” Look said on his quarterback. “For us he’s a really heady player. I think any time you have a quarterback that has that kind of awareness and sense, that’s just a plus for your offense.

“He relies on his people around him to make plays. He’s like the point guard. He’s going to manage the game and get the ball to who needs to get it and who’s open at that time.” 

Meanwhile the Raiders will have to deal with a depleted secondary. They retain safeties Wyatt Ma’a and Quinton Slade-Matautia, but graduate three perimeter guys in Max Look, Kevin Togami and J.T. Los Banos.

Damien will look to take advantage of this with 6-foot-5 Kapiinaokala King and 6-foot-1 Ian Lundberg on the outsides.

“Offensively for us we’re just going to have to take advantage of the mismatches we think we have against them,” said Klaneski. “They have a bit of inexperience in their back end so we think we can think we can do different things.”

The Monarchs will also employ a new offense with former Kalaheo coach Chris Mellor taking over play-calling duties. Mellor has roots with De La Selle high school, the famed team with the 151-game win streak. Look for Damein to utilize a more two-back, veer-option attack. Converted receiver Bransen Apao will trigger the new look offense.

A win Friday would be huge for both ball clubs. This week’s contest could potentially determine who is the regular season champion and the top-seeded team in the league’s postseason tournament.