The winner of Saturday's opening round game will meet top-seeded Lahainaluna on Nov. 23. Michael Lasquero | SL

Purchase image 1 of 1

In preparation for the state tournament, the Roosevelt football team went back to the drawing board over the past three weeks.

After a heartbreaking 27-24 loss to Kaimuki in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II title game on Oct. 26, the Rough Riders (9-2) rolled up their sleeves and got back to work.

"It was a great game that either side could have won, but some of our kids were upset with the outcome, so most definitely that has made them hungrier," said fourth-year Roosevelt coach Kui Kahooilihala, whose team will play Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion and No. 4 seed Kamehameha-Hawaii (10-3) in an opening round game of the First Hawaiian Bank State Championships Saturday night.  

"We did want to win, but the loss made the kids hungry and they're even hungrier this week. They don't want that taste of losing, so we've gotten back on track with what we need to do in practices this week and it's been really intense on both sides, offense and defense," Kahooilihala said. "We tell them that they have to come to practice and look for work because we got plenty more things that we need to fix and we need to take care of what we can take care of, so that's what the kids are focusing in on for this game ahead."

Both of the Rough Riders losses this season have come against Kaimuki, by a combined five points.

In the OIA title game, Roosevelt out-gained the Bulldogs in total yards, but were hampered by three turnovers (two interceptions and a fumble). They allowed 10 tackles for losses, including six sacks in the loss, which came down to a game-winning field goal for Kaimuki on the final play of the game.

"A lot of it was mental mistakes, not taking care of the little things like catching balls, ball security, you know all those little things and then defensively getting stops, making tackles — those things we had to work on and our approach going into this week's game with Kamehameha-Hawaii it's the same thing," Kahooilihala said. "We're not going to overdo things, we don't want to overthink what we're doing to do. We just want to stick to our game plan and not try and change too much for the kids, just go over there and take care of business and just stick with our process of what we're trying to do."

After a change in offensive philosophy from a run-first, veer-option attack to a pass-first, spread look, the Rough Riders have put up some gaudy numbers this season. They are averaging 36.6 points and 358.3 yards per game, including 238.5 through the air.

Senior quarterback Sky Ogata, the reigning league offensive player of the year, has passed for 2,527 yards and 22 touchdowns with 13 interceptions with a completion rate of 66.7 percent. His favorite targets in the passing game have been a trio of fellow seniors in Chase Akana (34 receptions for 692 yards, 7 TDs), Scott Chung (37-483-6) and Devin Naihe (36-415-1). Myka Kukahiwa, yet another senior standout, has run for a team-high 434 yards and 11 TDs.

As prolific as its offense has been, Roosevelt's defense has paved the way for much of its team success. Opponents are averaging just 9.7 points and 142.7 yards per game, including a minute 24.4 rush yards.

"They're athletic, they're aggressive, they're hungry and they're experienced," Kamehameha-Hawaii first-year coach Shaun Perry said of the Rough Riders.

The Warriors went unbeaten in league play this year, posting a 9-0 BIIF mark en route to their second straight D2 crown. They have been relatively balanced offensively, averaging 191.5 passing yards and 168.6 rushing per game. The defense has held the opposition to just 14.7 points and 173.5 yards per game.

"We've been watching film and they're a great team, they're well-coached and just watching the film that we do have of them you can see that their offense can move the ball — they bring it — but their defense is what stands out to me," Kahooilihala said. "They're aggressive and they like to blitz, they use a lot of different formations on defense with their alignments and schemes and coverages, so it's kind of scary. Our offense is kind of similar to what they run, but their defense is really aggressive."

Perry is banking on his team's three losses in non-league play — to state-tournament qualifiers Iolani, Hilo and Kapaa — to pay off come Saturday.

"You've got to learn as much from a loss as you do from a win, if not more, so we're looking at all of those experiences and trying to draw from those losses to look at what kind of mistakes we made and how we can avoid making those same mistakes again," Perry said.

The Warriors are also hoping a home-field advantage will serve them well.

"(Roosevelt) has a turf field, they've got lights, those are elements that are not going to be too different for them, but we have to take advantage of the little things we do have, like sleeping in our own bed for one thing — that's a big deal and people don't realize how much of a big deal that is — but we are happy to be playing at home for sure," Perry said.

This will be the seventh state tournament appearance for Kamehameha-Hawaii. It is 1-6 all-time in state tournament games, including a 28-27 first-round loss at home to Kaimuki last year.

Roosevelt is also making its second straight state tournament appearance. It beat PAC-5 in the first round last year by a score of 20-7 before a 48-10 loss to eventual-champion Lahainaluna in the semifinal round a week later. It is 1-2 all-time in state tournament games.

Kickoff between the Rough Riders and Warriors is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Paiea Stadium. The winner will take on the top-seeded Lunas on Nov. 23 in a semifinal at Sue D. Cooley Stadium in Lahaina.