Kaiser will be playing its fourth consecutive road game when it visits the Masa Yonamine Athletic Complex Friday for an OIA Division I Red contest against Waipahu. ScoringLive photo illustration

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Things haven't come easy for the Kaiser football team this season.

The Cougars (0-3 overall, 0-2 league) went 5-4 a year ago, but have stumbled out of the gates in 2015, dropping their first three games, all of which have come on the road.

Cameron Higgins' squad will hit the pavement once again this weekend when they visit Waipahu (1-2, 1-2) Friday night.

"We're almost halfway into the season and we haven't had a home game yet," Higgins said. "It's kind of tough because next week is homecoming and it's our first home game and you want to get the school and the community involved, but that's where it's been tough."

Kaiser has allowed an average of 43 points and 412 yards by the opposition this year, but is coming off a well-timed bye, Higgins said.

"We had a great bye week," Higgins said. "A lot of guys got to heal up, we got back to basics and we're really excited to play Waipahu."

Higgins said his team remains optimistic despite the slow start.

"The morale is actually really upbeat," the second-year coach said. "If you really break down the film, when we played Kahuku and Aiea, we really just gave those games away. I didn't think we got beat up against Kahuku. I thought we matched their physicality, but we missed gaps, made bad reads and dropped balls, so it's just minor things that had big consequences for us, but they're definitely correctable so we're very confident."

Offensively, the Cougars are averaging just under 25 points and 400 yards per contest, but may be without running back Jensen McDaniel (370 rush yards, 4 touchdowns) for the game.

"We're probably going to get him back this week, but he's just not himself," Higgins said of McDaniel, who sustained a foot injury against Aiea nearly three weeks ago and did not play against Kahuku. "He's still in some pain. Overall he's about 90 percent, hopefully we can get him back to 100 percent by next week."

Waipahu first-year coach Bryson Carvalho said stopping McDaniel will be of utmost importance for his defense.

"Slowing down (McDaniel) will be our focus defensively," said Carvalho, whose team will be without a few players as well.

"We have a few injuries, some at practice this week, and some of our offensive linemen came down with the flu this week," Carvalho said. "One of our slotbacks, Kamakani (Kahalewai) got hurt on the first play of the game against Castle and sprained his knee — hopefully it's not an ACL — but he'll be out a couple of weeks, so we will have to adjust. Matthew Leilehua, a linebacker, will be playing both ways, but if anybody can it's him. He's in shape, so he'll see time at slotback and linebacker."

The Marauders ran the ball 39 times for 201 yards against Castle last week, but Carvalho said he expects to air it out more against the Cougars.

"Offensively we kind of went outside of our comfort zone last week versus Castle," Carvalho said. "We turned to power football, which we probably haven't done since (former coach Sean) Saturnio was here with the option, but we're looking forward to getting back to what our offense is really about: speeding them out, going some zone, veer and throwing the ball. We're really a 95 percent shotgun team."

Waipahu is averaging 28 points and 331 yards per game offensively, while allowing just under 28 points and 315 yards defensively.

"They're pretty good," Higgins said of the Marauders. "They've got size up front and they run that triple option, which is always dangerous. If you can't stop it and you don't know your keys and read, it'll be a long day for the defense. They'll just control the clock and run the ball, so we've made it a point to be gap strong and we're looking for a physical game."

Carvalho is hopeful that senior wide receivers Storm De Asis and Andrew Simanu will play a big part in Friday's game.

"Those are our two playmakers on offense really," Carvalho said. "I'm looking for both of our receivers to have a big game and really, for that to be possible, we've got to be able to run the ball and we must win the line of scrimmage first. Storm hasn't had a breakout game yet. Andrew has had several 100-yard games, so we're looking for Storm to step up. When Andrew plays to his potential he can be a big threat. By them playing to their potential, that really opens up a lot more of our offense as well."

The Marauders sit in fourth place and one-half game ahead of the Cougars in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Red conference standings, but Carvalho noted the importance of the game with their final three contests against Leilehua, Waianae and Kahuku.

"It's very, very important," Carvalho said. "I think how our season was drawn up — outside of not having a bye until the last week — it's perfect because I think it gets harder and harder every week. The teams will be a little better every week and we should be getting better and better every week, so getting wins early is definitely really important and it's important for morale, too. Winning brings up the spirit and it's a home game and we've only got three home games this year, so it's real important to get a ‘W' this week."

Kickoff between the Cougars and Marauders is slated for 7:30 p.m. at the Masa Yonamine Athletic Complex.