Staff Blog
True or False




On a weekly basis, ScoringLive's "Da Five" will pose five questions relevant to the prep sports world, and get response from five different individuals. What results will hopefully provide multiple angles of insight and analysis for fans to take in.

In this week's installment, our panelists take on a session of True and False with some hot topics in the prep football world.

1. True or False. Campbell has a top five defense in the state.

Kalani Takase, SL reporter: True. Kahuku aside, the Sabers are playing together about as well as any other defensive unit in the state. They showed their flexibility by holding Moanalua's aerial attack to 137 passing yards and limited Waianae's wing-T offense to 146 rushing yards in back-to-back weeks. 

Jordan Helle, ESPN Radio Maui/OC16: True. Campbell's young, but talented defense struggled a little early on in loses to a couple of seasoned teams in Kapolei and Farrington.  In the Sabers' five games since, they have only given up more than 12 points once and that was to Kahuku.  This defense has grown up before our eyes and everyone on that side of the ball for Campbell is contributing.  What they've been able to do the last two weeks in holding down two potent yet very different offenses in Moanalua and Waianae has put Campbell in a solid position to make, at the very least, the Division I state tournament.  This group is physical and fast, which makes them a lot of fun to watch and extremely difficult to play against.

Brien Ing, SL founder: True. Sure they've given up an average of 21.1 points per contest through seven games, but its hard to not be impressed by 44.6 yards rushing allowed per game. An opportunistic secondary has 13 inteceptions in the four victories as well.

Gary Dickman, ESPN 1420 Radio: I'm going to go with True on this. Campbell does have a top five defense in the state. I am saying this based on a couple of reasons. The Sabers held a very powerful Waianae offense, who came in averaging 32 points a game, to just 12 points, showing how great their defense is playing. Also, in four of their last five games, I'm not counting the Kahuku loss, the Sabers have won four games while letting up an average of eight points a game. So yes, it's true. They're good, they're very good.

Michael Lasquero, SL reporter: True. The Sabers have forced multiple turnovers in all of their league games and have no real holes on the defense. The freshmen trio of Pokii Adkins-Kupukaa, Jeremiah Tauai and Tyrese Tafai have received a lot of attention, but Campbell still has plenty of other solid defenders, Braden Kauhane, Kishaun Ki, Dane Esprecion and Iosua Sevao to name a few.

2. True or False. Kapolei is the biggest threat to Kahuku in the OIA.

Takase: True. I think the Hurricanes are a better matchup against Kahuku due to their ability to score quickly. Waianae is a solid team, don't get me wrong, but its style is more of a methodical, run-first attack and, as so many teams have learned already, it's easy to fall behind big against the Red Raiders. 

Helle: True.  Right now I base this off of the tough road Waianae has laid out for itself. The Seariders still have that decisive win over Kapolei early in the season on their resume and if they are fully healthy and not getting in their own way they are as big of a threat as anybody in the OIA.  Yet, Waianae now faces the prospects of playing in the OIA 1st round and potentially a quarterfinal matchup with Farrington or Mililani before even getting to Kahuku in the OIA semifinals.  For Kapolei, the path is a little more friendly and they continue to improve as evidenced by their gritty win against a really tough Farrington squad. 

Ing: True. The Hurricanes have the potential, though I'd kind of stop short calling them a threat. Kapolei ranks 20th in rushing yards per game at 53.7, and though they have scored nine times via the run, I think the lack of balance offensively will be a liability. If the 35-14 loss to Waianae is any indication of the Hurricanes' ability to stop opposing teams' ground attacks, its certainly going to be a challenging matchup  for Kapolei.

Dickman: This is a little tricky. It's true that Kapolei is the biggest threat to Kahuku in the OIA, but there's two ways of looking at this. One is no team is a real threat to knock off Kahuku. The other is that Kapolei is the best of the rest in the OIA. With Waianae, Mililani and Farrington all losing last week, Kapolei is the next best team in the OIA next to Kahuku. The Hurricanes have been getting better and better offensively, averaging over 35 points a game in the last month. Again, I'm not saying they can beat Kahuku, but I do see them today as the biggest threat to the Red Raiders right now.

Lasquero: False. This is more a tongue-in-cheek answer but Kahuku is the biggest threat to Kahuku in the OIA. The Hurricanes are the next best team in the OIA, but their lack of a running game will hurt them in a potential title game matchup with the Red Raiders. Kahuku should and will the OIA title. The only thing that could stop that is the Red Raiders themselves.

3. True or False. Leilehua will extend its winning streak to three games this weekend.

Takase: True. I think the Mules' defense will continue its trend of getting better. After losing the first three games of the season, Leilehua allowed 13 points at Nanakuli, 19 to Farrington, 15 at Kailua and 14 to Castle. In its two losses, Mililani has thrown five interceptions and just one touchdown. 

Helle: I'll go with a very, very unsure true.  I give the slight edge to the home team.  You had the feeling early in the year that the Mules would right the ship and play themselves into playoff position by the end of the year.  Nolan Tokuda has a knack for getting his teams to steadily improve week to week.  2016 has been another example of that, and now they have a chance to move all the way up to 3rd in the OIA Red.  Mililani will be coming in looking for redemption after last week's loss to Kailua, and have all the talent to put the pieces back together and pick up a crucial road win.  I can't wait for this game, old school rivalry renewed with a ton on the line.  You know there will be a little rain at some point in Wahiawa and I wouldn't be surprised to see this one come down to the wire, heck lets hope for a couple of overtimes. 

Ing: False. Look for the Trojans to rebound from somewhat of a stunner against the Surfriders a week ago. Pretty sure Mililani head coach Rod York will want to try and ensure that they end the regular season on a winning note, and its a rivarly game to boot.

Dickman: Here's my first false. I know Leilehua has been playing much better lately, but I don't see the Mules beating Mililani this week. The Mules had a brutal first three games to start the season, losing to Punahou, Kahuku and Kapolei. They have won three out of their last four, but like the losses, the wins came partly as a result of an easier schedule. Beating Kailua was impressive, but I don't see Leilehua beating Mililani, especially after the Trojans had a wake up call with their loss last week.

Lasquero: I'll say true, but I'm really not sure. I haven't covered either team so I'm just going off statistics. The Mules seemed to have found their groove on offense lately while Mililani QB Dillon Gabriel appears to be in a sophomore slump with 10 touchdowns to go against eight interceptions. Slight edge to Leilehua on this one.

4. True or False. The top four OIA Division I teams that are currently ranked in the top 10 will all make the Open Division state tournament.

Takase: False. I have a suspicion that Kailua and/or Mililani will sneak in. I think Campbell's erratic offense (see: four interceptions against Moanalua) will sputter at some point, but I'd be very surprised if Kahuku, Kapolei and Waianae don't get into the Open Division tournament. 

Helle: I'll say False.  This is really really tough to decipher with so many games determining the final playoff seedings.  Mililani-Leilehua, Castle-Kailua, Aiea-Moanaluna, and Campbell's big game against Radford.  We could be looking at Farrington-Campbell or Leilehua-Campbell in a quarterfinal matchup on one side of the bracket and Farrington or Mililani taking on Waianae in another quarterfinal on the other side of the bracket.  Those are all toss-up type games that could easily see a seeded top 4 team lose. The OIA playoffs are shaping up to be a lot of fun this year. 

Ing: True. Though I do think that fourth and final spot is up for grabs at this point. Pencil in Kahuku, Kapolei and Waianae, but whether its Campbell, Farrington, Leilehua, or even MIlilani or Kailua heading to the Open Division is definitely debatable. If had to choose, I'd like to think the Govs will take the final berth.

Dickman: Another false for me. I don't see the top four teams out of the OIA in the ScoringLive rankings making the Open Division tournament. Farrington is the fifth-highest ranked of the OIA schools, and I would never count the Governors out. Farrington is battle tested, and on any given day, anyone can beat anyone in the OIA, except maybe Kahuku.

Lasquero: True. The jury is still out on Campbell, but I think the Sabers have what it takes to win their quarterfinal matchup if they end up with the Blue Division's second seed. Whether it's against Farrington or Mililani, I think the Sabers have improved enough to get it done at home. Kahuku, Kapolei and Waianae will win their respective quarterfinal matchups and make it into the semifinals to clinch a spot in the Open Division tournament.

5. True or False. Saint Louis will sweep the season series against Punahou.

Takase: True. Two words: Tua Tagovailoa. I've never seen anything like him. 

Helle: True. The Punahou defense is going to need to find a way to slow down the St. Louis offense periodically and break up the Crusaders' rhythm.  Punahou's D did well early on against St. Louis, but still surrendered an astronomical amount of yards and points.  If they can throw in some timely stops, particularly via turnovers, they might give their offense enough of a chance to match scores with St. Louis.  Still, the offensive firepower for St. Louis just seems like too much. 

Ing: True. The Tua-led Crusaders find a way to score more than the Buffanblu and pull out the win. Should be a close one though.

Dickman: I'm going to go with true for this. Although I wouldn't mind being wrong. If Punahou beats Saint Louis on Thursday, then it makes for an interesting ILH playoffs. If Saint Louis wins, then we can see how it'll play out in the Open Division playoffs. Both are going to make it into the Open Division, and the top team of the two will get a bye in the first round. I don't think Punahou will win, it played really well offensively in the first game and it still lost by 20. I don't think the Buffanblu can stop Tua Tagovailoa, so I'm hope I'm wrong, but I say True, Saint Louis with the sweep.

Lasquero: False. Even if Saint Louis wins on Thursday night, I still think Punahou will find a way to at least force a playoff for the ILH overall title down the line. These two teams could potentially play each other five times this season so I think a sweep for the year is highly unlikely.





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