Brock Hedani and the Iolani Raiders to meet Chase Kaseli and the Waipahu Marauders in the nightcap of Friday's ILH-OIA doubleheader at Aloha Stadium. ScoringLive photo illustration

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Despite being without the state's all-time leading rusher in star running back Alfred Failauga last week, Waipahu cruised to a 29-point home win.

In Failauga's absence, sophomore Austin Pola filled in. The 6-foot, 175-pound sophomore went from his safety position in the defensive backfield to the other side of the ball, in the offensive backfield. Pola turned in a Failauga-like game with 218 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries in the win over visiting Radford Friday night.

The much-needed victory snapped a two-game losing streak for Waipahu, which will try for its first back-to-back win of the season when it takes on No. 12 Iolani in the nightcap of an OIA-ILH doubleheader at Aloha Stadium Friday.

The Marauders (2-3 overall, 2-1 league) sit in third place in the OIA Division I standings — behind No. 10 Moanalua and No. 13 Leilehua — while the Raiders (4-1, 2-1) trail eighth-ranked and first-place Damien by one-half game in the ILH race.

Iolani has won its last three games since a one-point loss at Moanalua in the second week of the season. Since then, it has posted in-division wins over Aiea and Kailua, sandwiched around a non-league victory over Kaimuki in the Father Bray Classic.

In the Raiders' 27-point win at Kailua last Friday, running back Brock Hedani accounted for four touchdowns with a couple of 1-yard runs and scoring receptions of 19 and 10 yards. It was the 200th coaching victory in for Iolani's 28th-year coach Wendell Look.

We caught up with Look and his counterpart this Friday, Waipahu's Bryson Carvalho, a few days before their teams face-off in Halawa.

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

Bryson Carvalho, Waipahu coach: "Challenged. After a great end to a season a year ago, expectations were high coming in — and they still are. However, a week ago we found ourselves a 1-3 football team. Our will has been challenged. We were on the ropes, ‘catching cracks' and now it's time we respond to the challenge."

Wendell Look, Iolani coach: "I think focused. I think I say that because they know that every game counts and they cannot let up and have let downs, they gotta come ready to play every week. I mean, this division is tough, every week is a battle and they know that."

How near or far is your team from reaching its full potential?

Carvalho: "We are very far away from playing at our full potential. We've been playing very undisciplined football, we commit tons of penalties and do not execute consistently on either side of the football. Our expectations are extremely high, but it has to be if you want to be able to compete in big games and more importantly, in life. I do feel that we can play at our full potential; we'll need to this week to be successful."

Look: "We're never near where we should be. That's part of the mindset we try to establish in them is that they should never be satisfied with what they're doing and rest on past results. They should always be striving to get better and they're seeking perfection is what we always talk about."

Which game this season, regardless of result, has proved to be most beneficial for your team?

Carvalho: "The Damien game. They're a great team. We felt we could've played better. When you play undisciplined football against a good team, that'll be the result. We learned a lot from that. We had over 200 yards in penalties and two scores called back — all through selfish penalties. We've gotten better from that night, for sure."

Look: "I don't know if it was a game. We went to camp in Pahoa and I think that kind of set the tone for the team's attitude and outlook on how we needed to approach the season. It rained every single day, the field was a swamp, but we had to practice — that's what we went up there for is to practice and have camp — so they had to endure that and they had to overcome whatever uncomfortable situation they were put in and I think that was, regardless of how efficient our practices were, I think the fact that they went out there every day and tried to do the best they could in the elements kind of set the mindset and mentality for this season, that there's gonna be bumps in the road and you gotta figure a way over ‘em, through ‘em around ‘em, but you gotta be resilient and you gotta face adversity in a positive way and I thought coming out of camp they did a really good job and I was very pleased with the results of our camp."

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

Carvalho: "Two players really. Chase Kaseli leads our team in interceptions. He's been a diehard Marauder. He had two older brothers that went through the program and now it's his senior year. We all knew we had big shoes to fill with our safeties graduating last year and Chase has really stepped up for our defense and team. The other is Austin Pola. A sophomore and another safety, but a running back as well. He had a big game for us last week with Alfred out and it was great to see what the future holds for him."

Look: "I think always our offensive line is the one that gets tested the most. They're undersized, they're kind of the forgotten group — everybody wants to be a defensive lineman or a linebacker or another glamorous position — but these guys have been put in a situation that they're gonna be the underdog every week and they gotta fight and claw and battle every single game and so our run game, our pass protection has been pretty decent and that's just a credit to them."

What are your thoughts on this week's opponent and what will be the key matchup within the game?

Carvalho: "Iolani is always a great team and will always come to play hard. I think the key will be in the trenches. We'll need to win the battle on both sides of the ball to be successful."

Look: "Waipahu has always got great athletes out there. They're tough, physical kids, I think coach (Carvalho) has established the culture that he wants there and the kids have bought in and the results have shown. They play hard-nosed football out there and they're very athletic, along with having some physical specimens that just kind of blows your mind that we're gonna have to play them. I think they've got one of the top running backs in the state. Alfred has established himself as a premier running back for years and his records and stats are there to back it up, so obviously I think anybody that's gonna play Waipahu is gonna focus on stopping him and trying to just kind of contain him and not let him run for 400 (yards) on you, which he is very capable of."

Fill in the blank. We will win Friday night's game if ________.

Carvalho: "First, play disciplined football. Eliminate the penalties. Second, we'll need to win the battle in the trenches. Their defense likes to move guys around and make things a little confusing, so we'll need to make sure we have all of our schemes well planned out and their offense likes to play fast and spread the ball all over the field. We'll need to stop the run and force their quarterback into making tough throws."

Look: "If we can contain Alfred and not give up big plays on defense and offensively if we take care of the ball and make good decisions."

The teams split two meetings last season. Iolani pulled away for a 55-14 win at Kozuki Stadium two weeks into the 2018 schedule, but Waipahu rallied to a 20-19 win at the Masa Yonamine Athletic Complex in the semifinals of the First Hawaiian Bank State Championsips before going on to claim the school's first state title two weeks later.

Kickoff between the Marauders and Raiders is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday and will follow a Division-II game between PAC-5 and No. 15 Roosevelt at 4:45 p.m.