Na Alii takes on the Sabers Friday at War Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. ScoringLive photo illustration

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August was quite the interesting month for the Kekaulike football team.

Na Alii started off the month with a bang by snapping a 41-game losing streak that spanned five seasons with their 30-0 win over McKinley. The victory — which took place at Farrington's Edward ‘Skippa' Diaz Stadium on the opening night of the season — was the program's first since Sept. 5, 2014 and just its fifth in the last 10 years.

However, Kekaulike (1-2 overall, 0-1 league) has dropped its last two games since — albeit against a pair of powerhouses. Its first defeat came at the hands of one of Japan's perennial top teams in Kwansei Gakuin, 37-20, in a home game on Aug. 17. The following week it was three-time defending D2 state champion Lahainaluna that pulled away, 46-12.

Na Alii were on bye last week and will look to get back into the win column Friday night when it takes on Maui High (1-1, 0-1) in one of three Maui Interscholastic League games over the weekend.

The Sabers will be playing their third game in a span of 14 days after sitting idle for the first three weeks of the season. They opened the year with a 20-19 non-league win over Kauai at Lihue's Vidinha Stadium, but were outmatched six days later in a 31-8 defeat at the hands of Kamehameha-Maui to start league play.

We caught up with Kekaulike fourth-year coach Tyson Valle and Maui second-year coach Rodney Figueroa in the days leading up to their first-round game Friday night.

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

Tyson Valle, Kekaulike coach: "I would say leadership. Basically with our team we've seen a lot more leadership this year, driven by our seniors and I think that's a big factor of what we've been trying to put together for the past few years with the offseason training. Guys have definitely stepped up as leaders of the team and held the team accountable day in and day out and making sure everybody is doing their jobs and getting it done."

Rodney Figueroa, Maui coach: "Young, is what comes to mind. We have a lot of first-year juniors and sophomores that will be starting in key positions. Even though they are a young group, the potential for this team is very good."

What have your learned about your team through the first month of the season?

Valle: "I think the biggest thing that we learned about our team is definitely we have a lot of opportunities, but if these guys put their heads to it and commit to what we're doing with the program, we'll see more results faster. That's what we've seen with this Na Alii program, whether its in the community, these guys always rise to the occasion and they have a basic understanding of what we need to do to get the job done."

Figueroa: "It's just two games. We haven't played that much and during that time you gotta try and figure out practice because you don't want to lose these kids being that it's a long wait between games and waiting until we battle someone else."

What does your team hang its hat on? Has that identity been established yet?

Valle: "I think the team is hanging their hat on the defense this year. We have a lot more guys buying into what we're doing defensively and also offensively as well, but the defense is definitely a strong suit for us as far as owning their responsibilities. We even have to try not to have guys not play defense because they take pride in it and in any aspect of football, I think that's very, very important."

Figueroa: "No, we're trying to find an identity. We've been throwing the ball more than we've been running so we're trying to get the run game back in gear and working out the kinks. We just played our first two games — we played on Kauai and then we came back home to play Kamehameha-Maui — and we just gotta get some wrinkles straightened out and we should be getting this offensive and defensive sides of the ball going."

Who has been a pleasant surprise amongst your players so far this season?

Valle: "This season, I would have to say we have a lot of players that are surprising us, but one guy that's really pushing and standing out is (5-foot-11, 230-pound senior offensive lineman/defensive lineman/running back) Kali Kuhaulua. He's actually been one of our toughest runners in the backfield and he basically came out of nowhere. He played a lot of defense for us last year, but this year with his powerful presence in the backfield, it does a lot for our offense and allows other opportunities to open up."

Figueroa: "I think it is (6-foot-6, 250-pound senior defensive end/tight end) Sione Lolohea. He's one of the top rugby guys in the state, he went with the national team to Canada during the summer and he's come back in great shape and he's playing both sides of the ball. He's playing defense end and playing tight end, he can play at the slot at 6-feet-6 and he's a good punter. He came back in shape so he looks better than what I think last year."

What's your take on this week's opponent and what it presents?

Valle: "This week's opponent, Maui High, is definitely a big team. We've got to play smart when we play these guys, especially with their defense up front — those boys are big boys — so coming in we've got to make sure we seal our blocks offensively and then defensively for us, they've got a great running back in Naia Nakamoto, so we've got to make sure everybody does their job and wraps up and if we do our jobs and everybody wraps up, I think we'll be okay."

Figueroa: "King K presents a challenge. They have been building. Coach Tyson has been starting from the ground and building the program and right now they look good. They won a game and they want to keep the ball rolling. They scored 12 points against Lahainaluna and I think it was tied (at 6) at one point, so they're going in the right direction and they're building a belief that they can compete with the D1 and D2 teams in the MIL and they play through. I told the boys that it's another game this weekend that we gotta be prepared for."

What will be the key matchup Friday night?

Valley: "I think the key for Friday night, especially against Maui High, is definitely stopping Naia Nakamoto. I think if we can stop him and get all hats on top of him, I think we'll be okay. I think defensively we should be all right and offensively we have a lot of weapons to put some points on the board so these guys are excited."

Figueroa: "The key matchup to me is gonna be in the trenches. I like to watch the line and if we can move the line and get the running game going, we should be okay and if our defensive line can matchup with their offensive line and win the battle in the trenches, we should be all right. I think that's where it starts."

Maui swept the season series against Na Alii by scores of 41-20 and 41-13 last year.

Kickoff between Na Alii and the Sabers is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Wailuku's War Memorial Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on radio by ESPN Maui (900 AM/102.5 FM) with pre-game at 6:50 p.m.

In other MIL games this weekend, Molokai (1-2 overall, 1-0 league) will visit Lanai (1-0, 1-0) at 11 a.m. Saturday in an 8-man contest and No. 11 Lahainaluna (3-1, 2-0) will host Kamehameha-Maui (2-1, 1-1) at Sue D. Cooley Stadium at 7 o'clock that evening.