Radford quarterback Cody Lui-Yuen gets a pass attempt off amidst a pass rush against Nanakuli. ScoringLive file photo

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An early-season trip to Oregon might be the key to Radford's sojourn to Kauai for an opening-round game of the First Hawaiian Bank Division II state football tournament.

Kickoff is 3 p.m. Saturday at Vidinha Stadium in Lihue.

Despite being Oahu Interscholastic Association White champions, the Rams (10-1) are seeded fifth in the six-team tournament, which has five league champions. The top two seeds - defending champion Iolani and Lahainaluna - drew first-round byes. The Rams and Lunas, the Maui Interscholastic League champions, are both traveling; the Lunas play a semifinal next week at Aloha Stadium.

It's not as if Radford is crossing time zones, but its travel makes for a long day.

The Rams leave Saturday for Lihue about 8:30 a.m. for the 3 p.m. game and have the latest flight back to Honolulu, about 10:30 p.m., Radford coach Fred Salanoa said.

But Salanoa looks at the situation as another challenge, such as when his team went to Oregon and beat the state's fifth-ranked team, Crescent Valley of Corvallis, 21-17.

"The first play of the game, they went 99 yards (on the opening kickoff) and scored a touchdown on us," Salanoa said. "We had a lot of adversity we had to fight when we were over there. This is just another road block in front of us, being that we won the OIA White Division and we're the No. 5 seed in the state tournament and we have to travel. When you think about it, they're putting a lot of obstacles in front of us and hopefully we'll be able to stand up and do it."

Both teams have been relatively successful in their tournament appearances. This is Radford's third appearance and it's 3-2 overall, while this will be Kauai's eighth appearance and it's 5-7. They have won in quarterfinals and semifinals, but each is 0-2 in championship games.

The Rams' big threat is quarterback Cody Lui-Yuen leads Division II passers with 2,484 yards. while throwing for 30 touchdowns. Jameson Pasigan leads the team with 44 reception for 702 yards and 10 TDs. Running back Chris Jackson provides a ground threat with 754 yards rushing and eight TDs.

"We have a pretty quick defense," Kauai coach Cory Aguano said. "We have to see how we match up. Radford has some talented players."

Radford kicker Cayman Conley, who can launch kickoffs for touchbacks, has kicked only two field goals.

The Red Raiders have a double-threat in QB Trey Aguano. He has passed for 808 yards and four TDs with 124 yards rushing and two TDs. His passes are spread out among Kalawaia Judd (15 receptions for 250 yards, 1 TD), Pono Bukoski (10 for 215, 2 TDs) and Chanse Ramirez (12 for 194).

On the ground, RBs Waika Alapai (497 yards, 5 TDs to lead the KIF) and Reggie McFadden (239 yards, 3 TDs) lead the way.

"We ran the ball a lot at the ending of the season; (opponents) stopped the pass, so we started running," Aguano said.

In the kicking game, Kauai's Grant Basquez has made three field goals, his longest from 37.

All stats are from The Garden Island newspaper.

The Red Raiders represented the KIF seven consecutive years in the Division II tournament before that streak was snapped last year by Kapaa. But this is second-year coach Aguano's first appearance.

"The kids are happy that they're back," Aguano said.

Although disappointed his team will have to travel, Salanoa told his player they're fortunate.

"Like I tell them all the time, there are a lot of other teams that have turned in their pads that are watching us, so we should be very grateful for this opportunity," he said.