Q&A
Kalani, Radford to square off in key OIA D2 game




Sometimes one just has to roll with the punches and that's just what the Kalani and Radford football teams are doing this week.

The Oahu Interscholastic Associaiton Division II game between the Falcons (1-2 overall, 1-1 league) and Rams (2-0, 2-0) was moved up a day to Friday earlier this week to accommodate a D1 Blue game Saturday between host Aiea and Kailua, which was forced to complete its week 3 game against Kapolei Monday night due to lightning.

The weather also halted Radford's game against Roosevelt Saturday. The Rams, who are ranked third in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric D2 Power Rankings, held a 43-0 lead after the first half, when the coaches of both teams mutually agreed to a stoppage.

Meanwhile, Kalani is coming off a 28-6 win over Kalaheo to snap a season-opening two-game skid. Running back Sean Silas rushed for three touchdowns and the defense recorded seven sacks in the win.

We caught up with the coaches of both teams a few days before they face off.

ScoringLive: Describe your team's current situation in one word.

Greg Taguchi, Kalani coach: "I think improving. If you look over the course of this season, in my eyes we've been improving steadily with each game and each week, from one scrimmage to the next scrimmage and the next game and so on. We're playing better and improving to this point."

Fred Salanoa, Radford coach: "I think it's committed. They're committed to what our goal is for this season. They're committed to hard work, committed to the importance of paying attention to detail and so forth."

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

Taguchi: "I think they work hard and they're striving to get better every day. That's why I think we've been seeing improvement over the weeks. They're a close-knit group and they stick together as a team."

Salanoa: "Just dealing with kids from all different facets of life, I guess what I've learned is they're understanding the importance of togetherness, the importance of handling that brotherhood bond and that's what I've learned from them so far."

SL: Has there been a player or position group that you would consider to be a pleasant surprise?

Taguchi: "It's hard to say. I know our defense is, I think, playing really well right now. They've been stepping it up and keeping us in ball games. i don't know if it's a surprise, but we were hoping that they would keep us in ball games and they're performing really well."

Salanoa: "I would say it's a team effort. There's not one group that stands above the rest. They're collaboratively understanding what we set forth and the goals that we made and they're all working towards it."

SL: How has the schedule change this week affected your team's preparations?

Taguchi: "It's one less day to prepare but since we played last week Friday, it probably has a greater impact on Radford because they played on Saturday and have a shorter week. The weather being the way it is kind of slows down the practices. (Monday) it kind of slowed down practice because of the weather."

Salanoa: "Obviously it's one less day to prepare for a well-coached team. Coach Taguchi does a good job over there at Kalani with his players, so again it's just one less day that we have to prepare for a good Kalani team and unfortunately because of the weather or whatever the situations are, we have to deal with it. That's pretty much it; It's just one less day to prepare for a good team."

SL: With nine teams in the OIA Division II and just four coveted playoff spots, how important is this game toward securing a place in the postseason?

Taguchi: "I don't think it's more important than any other game we play. If you look across there's a lot of parity in our division. All the teams are competing for spots in the playoffs. It's not one game that's more important than the other; I think all the games are important. On any given day people can beat each other. There's lots of parity."

Salanoa: "I think every game is important starting from game one. I think it sets the tone and you never know, with the competitiveness of each team and each school in our division you never know what's going to happen, so I wouldn't single out this game to be more important than any other game that we play week-in and week-out."

SL: What's your take on your opponent this week?

Taguchi: "I think they're one of the top teams in our division right now. It's going to be a difficult task for us. They have size, they have speed, they have some good skill position players; It's going to be a challenge, but for us, I'm telling the kids let's go find out how we are and can be and we're going to find out against the top (team) in the division."

Salanoa: "They're very good. They've got some key players that really stand out on video when you watch them. Even though their quarterback (Seth Tina-Soberano) might be wearing 88, he's very good. They have a good running back in number 8 (Silas) and they've got some receivers that are able to catch the ball and move in space. They've got a pretty good offensive line and on the defensive side they have some key players that can do some good things and pop out on video as well. Number 7 (Sione Vea) is a tall, lanky kid but he can play. He's fast and wreaks havoc on offensive linemen. They have a pretty good middle linebacker in number 5 (Payton Awaya), who is pretty savvy at his position. This is a good team; It's definitely not a team where you can roll out of your bed and think that you can make things happen so we are definitely preparing on our end to make sure our young men are prepared to put a good product on the field on Friday night and do good things."


Kickoff between the Falcons and Rams is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Aiea.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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