Things are looking up at Moanalua.

Moanalua had never beaten Waianae in a varsity football game until almost exactly one year ago to the day.

In Jason Cauley's debut as head coach, Na Menehune marched into Raymond Torii Field and came out with a 30-23 win to upset the then-No. 9 Seariders.

A year later and it's the Seariders who will pay a visit to Salt Lake to open the Oahu Interscholastic Association schedule Friday night. All 14 Division I teams in the OIA are playing crossover games this weekend.

Waianae, a Red-division team, is the underdog this time around. Despite a season-opening 33-13 home loss to fifth-ranked Kamehameha Friday, the Seariders (0-1) moved into the Hawaiian Electric D1 Power Rankings at No. 10. Blue-division member Moanalua, a 62-7 winner over visiting Waiakea Saturday, previously sat at 10th, but moved up two spots to No. 8.

We caught up with the coaches of both teams a few days before they meet on the field.

ScoringLive: Describe your team's current situation in one word.
    
Walter Young, Waianae coach: "Excited. I think we're excited because we played last week's game and (Kamehameha) did a good number on us, so i think we're excited to play the next game."

Jason Cauley, Moanalua coach: "Improving. We're gaining more confidence. We've got a young receiving corps and I know they can play, but they just need to realize that they can play and they're starting to realize that. From last year installing our philosophies and concepts, which were brand new, and now they're starting to come together more and understand it better. We're going to be relying on our defense more this year until our offense starts to show more consistent firepower, but they're showing promise. With each week, they're clicking and improving a little bit more. Although I'm still scared about our d-line size, I'm very confident in what our defense can do. I think if we can hold (Waianae) to 14 points, we can win the game."

SL: What have you learned about your team so far?

Young: "That we need to work a lot on special teams and I learned that these kids are willing to fight until the end."

Cauley: "We're stronger and more aggressive and more experienced than last year and the kids are playing with more confidence."

SL: Is there an individual or position group that you feel needs to come up with a big game Friday?

Young: "The linebackers. Our linebackers need to come out and have a big game. (Moanalua) has got the running back (Michael Feliciano), who just had a huge game; we've got to make sure we contain him. The d-linemen need to contain their blocks and the linebackers need to fly around and make tackles."

Cauley: "Our defensive front and linebackers need to come up big against Waianae. They run the ball hard, they run the ball strong and they run the ball often, so those guys have to be able to stand getting hit in the mouth."

SL: What is your biggest area of concern about your team right now?

Young: "My concern is offensively we need to move the ball better and we need to sustain blocks better so we can sustain drives."

Cauley: "I would still say it's o-line. They're still working on jelling and meshing and moving together. We have good days and we have bad days on the o-line and until they show me some consistency that's where my concern is."

SL: What are your thoughts on your opponent this week?

Young: "They're a very good team, well-coached, so we've got to come out and be disciplined and play the type of football that we know how to play and we'll go from there."

Cauley: "It's Waianae; you know they're going to come out strong, they're going to come out hard. They're scary. It's Waianae and no matter if you face them at home or you face them away, you've got to be ready to get hit in the mouth and come back again. They ran the ball really well last week. They didn't have their best running back, but they still ran the ball well against a good ILH team. I think we saw some things on the film that we hope we can take advantage of. Last week we had a good game running the ball and we hope we can take advantage of that."

Kickoff between the Seariders and Na Menehune is scheduled for 25 minutes after the completion of the 5:30 p.m. JV game.