McKinley and Farrington will renew their longtime rivalry this Saturday at Roosevelt's Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium. ScoringLive photo illustration

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As former players and now coaches at their respective alma maters, McKinley's Joe Cho and Farrington's Randall Okimoto know all about the storied rivalry between the Tigers and Governors.

The two schools – separated by just three miles – have one of the longest-running rivalries in all of Hawaii prep sports. They first met on the football field in 1938, when McKinley shutout Farrington, 40-0. The Govs, however, have won 41 of the 66 times the teams have met, including a 23-8-2 record since both schools moved from the old Interscholastic League of Honolulu to the Oahu Interscholastic League of Honolulu in 1970.

Farrington has won or tied each of the last eight games against McKinley. The Tigers last beat the Govs in 2002.

With their squads set to face off this weekend, Cho, a 1972 McKinley graduate, and Okimoto, a 1992 Farrington graduate, spoke to ScoringLive about their teams, coaching at their alma mater and Saturday's impending game.

ScoringLive: Describe your team's current situation in one word.

Joe Cho: "Mystery. I'm not sure which team will show up. The team that wants the win or the team that wants to get the handed the win."

Randall Okimoto: "Progressing. Based on the last four games that we had, we're slowly progressing forward but we're still far from where we want to be."

SL: What did you learn about your team from your last game?

JC: "We're not as good as we think we are. We still got a lot more work to do."

RO: "Offensively, we were able to generate some yardage and some points. I think we punted eight times in the Castle game, but against Kailua it was way less, so I'm happy about that."

SL: How is the health of your team?

JC: "Gerime (Bradley) is fine – he got dinged up a little against Castle – and (wide receiver/defensive back) Tyrell Tuiasosopo will be full-time this week. He got in a little bit this week and we're starting him this week – maybe both sides – but he'll at least start on the offensive side."

RO: "So far, so good. We have no starter injured right now."

SL: Which players or group of players is the heart of your team?

JC: "Gerime, Denzel Kalahiki-Gaspar, Mathias (Tuitele-Iafeta) – now that we got Tyrell back, that will help, obviously, after having him gone for all these games and practices. As far as our line goes, Mana Laulu has been our most consistent player. He's great both defensively and offensively. He's out starting right tackle and our right defensive end.  I can't say enough about that kid. That the heart and soul of our team and hopefully these other kids can come around."

RO: "I'm not too sure. You know, everybody has their own role, but definitely our seniors have an influence I think, and our captains as well, but everybody has their own role."

SL: What is it like to be the head coach at your alma mater?

JC: "It's an honor coaching my alma mater. I never ever thought that if I did go into coaching, which I did, that I would come back here. My plans were never to come back here and coach, but the situation came up and I thought it would be a great opportunity after being asked by coach (Neal) Takamori, who was one of my coaches, to come back here. It was a good time to come back and give back to the school."

RO: "It's great. I think that everybody knows that coaching – especially on the public school side – really doesn't pay much, so you're genuinely doing it out of love. For love of the game, the school, the community and definitely the kids and being at your alma mater is like being home."

SL: What is the rivalry like between McKinley and Farrington?

JC: "Since I got here, last year was the first time that we played Farrington in a while because we were in the White, but I know what the rivalry was like when I was in high school. I was always taught as a coach that you win your first game, you win your last game and you beat your rival. I always see it as a former player, and as a coach obviously, as a rivalry. It's important, but I think it's just important that we play well and represent McKinley well."

RO: "A lot of the kids know each other, so I think that makes it a rivalry because of the close relationships, the close communities right next to each other. Some of the guys may have gone to Kalakaua (Middle School) or some other school together. It's like playing in the back in your back yard, like the rivalries down at the park and I think that's what is fun about it."

SL: What do you expect from Saturday's game?

JC: "I know what Farrington's going to do and that's run and throw the ball now that they have (quarterback) Montana Liana back. They're throwing a lot more than they ever have, so they're going to be well balanced, which they were not last year. We could load up box against them last year, but this year we need to be a little more cautious. I hope it's a defensive battle. If we cannot keep them out of the end zone, then it could be a long ride for us. I don't know if our offense has enough firepower at this stage, because of injuries here and there, to trade scores with them, but if we get some breaks, things could go our way. It's up to our defense to keep us in the game and our offense to not turn the ball over. If we can stay with them defensively we have a shot, if not, we could lose by up to three touchdowns, I think."

RO: "Good question. We expect to hopefully get rid of our 21 penalties – at least cut them in half for us – and we definitely expect our kids to come out and give the effort that we expect from them."

Kickoff between the Tigers (3-2 overall, 2-1 OIA Red East) and the Govs (2-2, 2-0) is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Roosevelt's Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium. The game will be televised live statewide on OC16.

ScoringLive reporter Stacy Kaneshiro contributed to this report.