Campbell, Kapolei And Waipahu Facing New OIA Opponents
For Campbell, Kapolei and Waipahu, a by-product of the new OIA divisions will be the opportunity to play a slate of fresh opponents.
That will be true enough this weekend, as Campbell hosts Moanalua, Kapolei meets Farrington, and Waipahu visits Kahuku in a trio of intriguing matchups. Division II Pearl City, meanwhile, will play a familiar foe in White conference rival Waialua.
A preview of each game is below.
Moanalua at Campbell, 8 p.m. Friday
Among Campbell’s greater chores is to take care of business at home.
Beginning with this game, the Sabers have the luxury of playing three of the next four on their own field, with home dates against Kailua Sept. 5 and Mililani Sept. 19, as well as a road game with Kapolei Sept. 12.
After going 9-4 a year ago, Campbell was to visit Castle in its 2014 opener last weekend.
Moanalua and first-year head coach Jason Cauley are in the middle of a brutal three-week stretch, which also included last weekend’s road game with Waianae and next week’s game with Farrington.
Waipahu at Kahuku, 8:30 p.m. Friday
When preparing to play Kahuku, it’s better to play earlier in the season than later, especially now, as the Red Raiders underwent a coaching change in the off-season and will be adapting to new systems, offensively and defensively.
As such, the timing may be good for Waipahu, which played far better last season than its 2-6 league record showed. Even so, any trip to Kahuku is a challenge in the local football community. As always, Kahuku’s strength will be in the trenches. The Marauders need to control the ball offensively in order to keep Kahuku’s own offense off of the field.
Kapolei versus Farrington, 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Roosevelt High
Perhaps no schedule gives a team a better chance for an early statement in 2014 than this one for Kapolei, which was to play its OIA opener last weekend in Kahuku. Another opportunity awaits with Farrington, one of the state’s most consistent winners. A win over the Governors would be critical to Kapolei’s league title hopes in the newly created OIA Blue. It also could be a springboard to the Hurricanes’ much-anticipated matchup at home versus Mililani the following weekend. Farrington, which went 9-4 overall last year en route to finishing as OIA runner-up, opened its season last weekend against Waipahu.
Pearl City at Waialua, 6:30 p.m. Saturday
If all goes according to plan, Pearl City will be undefeated entering the Chargers’ Sept. 20 game with Radford.
First up, however, they must take care of business versus Waialua and then defeat both Anuenue and Kaimuki, teams that were a combined 1-16 last year, over the next two weeks.
For a team that was the OIA DII runner-up to Kaiser last year, Pearl City’s next three games are “must wins.”
Waialua was one of Division II’s most improved teams a year ago, as the Bulldogs posted three wins after going winless in 2012. Pearl City won last year’s game between the teams, 38-12, at home.
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