Alfred Failauga and the Waipahu Marauders will take on Austin Ewing and the Konawaena Wildcats Friday night at Julian Yates Field. ScoringLive photo illustration

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If season averages hold true this weekend, the scoreboard at Julian Yates Field will see a lot of action Friday night.

Two of the hottest teams in all of Division II will do battle when Waipahu travels to Hawaii Island to take on Konawaena in the opening round of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA D2 Football state tournament.

The Marauders (10-0), ranked second in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric D2 Football Power Rankings, are just one of three teams left in the state without a loss in 2017. They squeaked past Pearl City to win the Oahu Interscholastic Association D2 title last Thursday, 23-22, but have dominated the competition throughout the season, averaging 38.9 points per game while holding opponents to 7.1.

Although his team didn't play at its best last week, Waipahu coach Bryson Carvalho was proud of his team's effort to battle back from a 15-0 second quarter deficit.

"Even though it was a little messy, it was probably the most heart I've seen (all year)," said Carvalho. "Even though things weren't bouncing our way, they had that ‘black flag' attitude; just don't give up. They weren't down, they were focused."

     » WATCH: Pearl City vs. Waipahu OIA D2 Championship recap

The challenge for Carvalho and the Marauders this week is to put their championship win in the rear view mirror and shift attention towards fifth-ranked Konawaena (8-2), a team that won its third straight Big Island Interscholastic Federation D2 title and has scored 40 or more points in four different contests.

"Our motto is straight business," said Carvalho. "We just have to make sure that whatever we do, we have a business mindset. They have to understand that when we travel to Kona this weekend, it's a business trip. It's not a field trip. We need to make sure we take care of what we need to."

Konawaena (8-2), who last played in a 17-9 win over KS-Hawaii on Oct. 20, went undefeated during the regular season and has score 40 points or more in four different contests.

The Wildcats' only blemishes of the season were in non-league action against Kapaa, who reached the D2 state final the previous two years, and Saint Francis, a team that lost the Interscholastic League of Honolulu D2 title game by just one point.

Konawaena coach Brad Uemoto said those tests in the preseason were a big boost to his team's growth over the year.

"I think walking away from those games has really built us into a better team walking into the season, and that's kind of all you want from a preseason game. (It was a) slow start, but hopefully a stronger finish."

While the Marauders are making their first state tournament appearance since 2011, the Wildcats have been in the postseason the past three years. Uemoto is hoping that their experience can be the difference when Waipahu comes into town.

"I think the kids are ready, they're definitely accustomed to the state tournament and sometimes that's one of the big factor heading into a tournament like this," said Uemoto. "They're real relaxed. It hasn't been too big of a situation so far. They're relaxed and the energy has been good in practice. I think we're ready for this."

Leading the charge for Konawaena is senior quarterback Austin Ewing, the reigning All-Hawaii D2 Offensive Player of the Year. Ewing's statistics may not as impressive (1,823 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, 10 interceptions in 2017) as they were a season ago (2,688 yards, 32 TDs, 13 INTs in 2016), but the veteran signal-caller has done a solid job in leading a young team that had just one starting receiver returning.

"We have a lot of holes to fill and he's kind of managed that," Uemoto said of his quarterback. "Statistically, he's obviously down, but it's not a reflection of his play. He's been a good leader for us. He has experience (and that's) something that carries over to the team a lot better than stats."

Carvalho is well aware of Ewing's playmaking abilities, and said that that's the main point of emphasis in the game plan.

"One thing that I want to make sure (we do) is we make that quarterback a little uncomfortable," said Carvalho. "No offense likes third and long, so we we want to do very well on first and second down."

The Marauders' offense is no slouch either. With senior quarterback Braden Amorozo (2,199 passing yards, 26 touchdowns) and sophomore running back Alfred Failauga, who has rushed for 1,220 yards and 17 scores and was the 2016 All-OIA D2 Offensive Player of the Year, the Marauders are able to attack from anywhere on the field and are averaging 402 yards of total offense a game.

"That's the beauty of our offense, that it can be anybody's game," said Carvalho.

Uemoto added that the Marauders have a lot of similarities to the team that he coached two years ago.

"They remind me a lot of how we were a few years back where we just had a number of good players on offense that could break the game at any time. They have a good quarterback, a senior, a good run game, and they have a solid defense that obviously gets overshadowed by their offensive production. They're a good quality football team all the way around. It's going to be a challenge for us Friday."

Kickoff between Waipahu and Konawaena is slated for 7 p.m.