KS-Hawaii travels out to the Westside of Hawaii island to take on Konawaena in the BIIF D2 championship game. ScoringLive photo illustration

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If the last two meetings between the Kamehameha-Hawaii and Konawaena football teams are any indication of what to expect when the teams face off Friday, it should be a doozy of a game.

The Warriors (7-3), No. 9 in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Division II Power Rankings, will travel across the island to face off against the sixth-ranked Wildcats (7-2) for the Big Island Interscholastic Federation D2 championship at Julian T. Yates Field in Kealakekua.

Just three weeks ago, Konawaena made the trek to Keaau and came away with a narrow 13-12 win over Kamehameha-Hawaii in the regular-season meeting.

The same two teams squared off in last season's league title game. The Warriors drove to the Wildcats' 1-yard line in the closing seconds of that game, but threw an interception in the end zone and consequently fell short, 27-23.

We caught up with the coaches of both squads a few days before they do battle Friday night.

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

Dan Lyons, Kamehameha-Hawaii coach: "Optimistic. I just think we're looking forward to a good, competitive game. Going back to last year's championship game and this year's regular season game, we've had very good games against Kona and we look optimistically for the opportunity to play for a championship."

Brad Uemoto, Konawaena coach: "Excited. I think having three weeks between our last game to this game, I think we're just sort of tired of hitting each other and we just want to get back to competing against another team. Our last game was against Kamehameha-Hawaii, so we had a long time to prepare for them and adjust a lot of the things we saw on film that we can do better, so I think we're just excited to sort of go forward and implement the things that we worked on for the past three weeks."

ScoringLive: How near or far is your team from playing to its potential?

Lyons: "Well, I think we have a pretty high potential. I'm not sure what percentage we're at. I guess Friday will let us know where we're at. We're continuing to work on the path toward our season goals, hoping that we're getting better with each game and each practice, but I certainly hope that we'll be ready to play Friday and that we'll give it everything that we've got."

Uemoto: "I think we're right there. I think the past we've sort of started to fizzle down by this time of the year and we sort of geared this season around just continually improving and to be playing our best football at this time, and I think we are. We obviously struggled last game a little bit offensively, but when we look at film there were a lot of things that we could correct and I think that it was almost a good thing at this point in the year because we had a long layoff to correct those things. Eventually, I think we needed those games to get better. We were good early, got some convincing wins, but it's good to have close games and overall I think that built the character of this team to where it's at today."

ScoringLive: Who has been an unsung hero on your squad?

Lyons: "I think that defensively we've played really well. We lost a lot of players to graduation last year and I know there was an assumption that we wouldn't be very good defensively coming off of what was a good defensive team, but our leadership has been better. Justin Kenoi, Jashen Mathieu, Kea Kekuawela are stepping up as leaders and have been unsung in that capacity. They weren't necessarily leaders from last year's team, but are stepping up this year. On the offensive side, we're still very young, but again leadership-wise Israel Bowden has done an incredible job and maybe the most unsung hero is Jeremiah Schubert on the offensive line. He's really coming on in the last few weeks and getting better. I personally believe you're as good as your offensive line and defensive line play and I think that's especially true for us, especially on the offensive side because if we don't have the protection and the blocks that we need, then we can't get it to our skill players. Grayson Cosier has been a steady force on our offensive line — he plays guard, tackle and center, so he's been all over for us — our right tackle, Pono Mortensen, nobody really talks about, but he's just a steady guy. I think both sides of our line are really growing and I think of Kekoa Viernes as a guy who really didn't play much last year, but he's played nose tackle for us. We thought he had a devastating knee injury in the Kona game, in the first half, and he ended up coming back and suiting up again after halftime and playing in the second half. He was sore, but I guess he was hurt, but not injured. He's been a guy that's been steady at nose and really helped us defensively. He's a guy that I don't think anybody would have counted on, or expected much from this year."

Uemoto: "I know last time I said Chauncey Mariani-Louis and Kamehameha-Hawaii did a good job of limiting his production against them. I think Austin (Ewing) might be an obvious choice, but he's starting to step back up to the plate a little bit and he knows he has to make plays. Statistically, his year may not be where he wants it to be, or where we want it to be, but he's done a lot of little things to help us get seven straight wins. He used his legs to get things done against Kamehameha-Hawaii last time and he gives us a different dimension and I think a lot of it is going to hinge on his play this Friday. I know he's a competitor and I know he'll do a good job."

ScoringLive: What did the first meeting against this week's opponent provide for your team?

Lyons: "I think each of these games provides us an opportunity to continue to see and just be able to scout the things that are done and how they do them. We play each other pretty often, so we get to know each other pretty well. I think for us, it showed us — we were on the 9-yard line with two minutes left, down by one and we have a great field goal kicker, but we made a mistake and put the ball on the ground and they recovered it and we end up with a 13-12 game and not having home field advantage — so I think it continues on with us understanding that we have to take care of ourselves and not turn the ball over and be focused and have a good account of situations. Both Hilo and Kona games we felt we would we had in hand and were in position to win at the end. Against Hilo, we were in field goal range with four-and-a-half minutes left, then we get a turnover and they score a touchdown, we get a turnover and they score another touchdown, so the score was not indicative of where the game was. In both games it was our lack of focus and us not taking care of the ball that caused the difference and I think that what it often comes down to for us is that it's very true that if we turn the ball over, we're going to have difficulty winning the game, but if we don't then I think we can beat just about anybody."

Uemoto: "I think when we went into that game, basically it was about home field advantage and obviously it was something that we wanted to lock up and we did. They're a good team and if you look back historically, they always play us better the second time. I think what it gave us with a one-point win was some urgency. I think last year we have a convincing win early in the year and the BIIF championship game was a real nail-biter. It's not that we didn't prepare, but we had such a convincing win that we didn't do everything we could. While doing so much things wrong while getting a while, it enabled us to get what we wanted in home field, but it also gave us some urgency going forward. The past few weeks we put in a lot of time into game plan and the practices have been unbelievable. (Monday) was probably one of our best days of the year. The energy has been high, we've been padded up every day for two weeks, so I think the kids sense that urgency that this next game is going to be no gimme."

ScoringLive: Outside of that game, which game this season proved to be most beneficial for your team?

Lyons: "I think the Hilo game. The first Kauai game was beneficial in that it helped our guys realize the work we had to put in, but it was early in the season and you're kind of vanilla in what you're doing, but it's still about work and energy. We had high expectations. I feel like we've been very, very close to challenging for a state championship and just fell short, and I think a close loss to Kauai early in the season helped us to continue to focus and then I think the Hilo game was good for us because our guys feel like we were in the game and in a position to win the game, so I think it gives us confidence in that the goals that we had set are still reachable. Lahainaluna won the state championship last year but had a number of losses in their season, so understanding that if we grow and grow and grow, then we're in the BIIF championship game and then, hopefully, states, ahead from there. We're where we want to be. Both games taught us that we have to continue to work hard and we're not expecting miracles — and we don't need miracles — we just gotta take care of ourselves. Those games just highlight just taking care of your own kuleana, so I think those games were beneficial."

Uemoto: "I think it was the Hilo game. At the time Hilo was on a roll, they were undefeated and we had a lot of pressure to stop their running game and Kahale Huddleston. It was a big game for us, it was homecoming, senior night, all these things compiled into one night, so there was a lot of pressure on the kids to perform that night and they responded. We had an excellent game plan defensively and they responded and we did enough offensively. A game of that magnitude and that kind of atmosphere put our kids and our coaches in a good place to prepare for a game like Friday, where there's going to be big pressure and every snap is magnified in terms of doing the right thing, so I think that Hilo game is one we can look at and carbon copy in terms of execution and how we executed that night."

ScoringLive: Is there a specific matchup within Friday's game that you feel will be especially important toward the outcome?

Lyons: "I think again I'll go back to what i believe in football, the offensive line and defensive line. Who wins that battle will be especially important, especially not knowing what the weather will be like. We're anticipating it to be wet, we're anticipating the field to be muddy, and so I think it could come down to a very difficult struggle with both teams moving the ball and field position. I think more and more the line play will play a big role and the matchup at the line of scrimmage is going to be key to the winner of this game, along with turnovers."

Uemoto: "I think it's going to come down to their defensive backs and our wide receivers. We're definitely going to have to work to get open a little bit. They came at us with a bunch of different coverages and different looks last time we played and we gotta be able to get off the press-man (coverage) and be able to get open and give Austin opportunities to throw it to them and for them to make plays. They did a good job of that last time and they also did a good job of clogging up running lanes, so we gotta be able to recognize coverages and when it's zone and when it's man, and how we're going to change our routes and how we're going to execute."

Kickoff between the Warriors and Wildcats is slated for 7 p.m. Friday.