Prospects Good For Anuenue Repeat Win Friday At Roosevelt

As the 2013 prep football season approaches the midway point, every game is like a playoff game. A preview follows of this weekend’s matchups involving Anuenue, Kalani and Kaiser. (Kaimuki has the week off.)

Anuenue at Roosevelt – 6 p.m. Friday

For an Anuenue offense still looking to get untracked, Roosevelt might be just the right tonic, given its own difficulties in putting up points. Like Na Koa, the Rough Riders have a shutout loss to Kalaheo and were only able to muster six points in its loss to Waialua. Anuenue was shut out in its first three games, but this week offers a more favorable matchup. The Achilles heel to date has been its run defense, which has yielded more than 300 yards on the ground per outing. Offensively, Anuenue is averaging 151 yards per game running the ball, so that may be its best bet – controlling the ball and the clock. A win here would be a great momentum boost for Anuenue, which faces two of the league’s best – Pearl City and Kaiser – over the next two weekends. Anuenue won last year’s game 42-25.

Kaiser at Waialua – 7:30 p.m. Friday

Coming between last weekend’s battle with Radford and next weekend’s showdown with Nanakuli, this road date with Waialua shapes up as a classic “trap game” for Kaiser, which has plans to be in the mix for the OIA White Conference crown to the end. Moreover, this is the best Waialua team – at least on paper – in many seasons, as the Bulldogs showed their athleticism early and often in overwhelming Roosevelt 41-6 in week two of conference play. More impressive perhaps was Waialua taking a good Nanakuli team to the limit in a 22-19 loss. A balanced attack offensively has served the Bulldogs well to date and could serve them well in this game if Waialua can control the ball and keep Kaiser’s explosive offense off the field. Like the Bulldogs, Kaiser also possesses the ability to run or throw on the offensive side of the ball. The key matchup in this one could be Kaiser’s run-defense versus the Waialua ground game. The Cougars are giving up just 61 yards per game on the ground. Kaiser won last year’s game 62-6.

Radford versus Kalani – 7:30 p.m. Friday

Following a thumping by rival Kaiser in its OIA White opener, Kalani’s resounding 40-8 win over Pearl City was a huge boost to its prospects for this season. The Falcons were to play a good Kalaheo team over the weekend and now turn their attention to Radford, which may be the best White team out of the West. After this game, three of Kalani’s remaining four will be against teams – Anuenue, Waialua and Roosevelt – that the Falcons match up well against with only the Sept. 21 date with Nanakuli looking like a toss-up. That makes this game with Radford huge in the big picture for Kalani, and the result could mean the difference between a good season and a great season. With both teams productive in the passing game, the one that runs the ball better could have the upper hand in this one. Radford won last year’s game 30-0.