Pohai Lee's Bears will meet Cody Nakamura's Warriors in a Maui Interscholastic League game at War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku. ScoringLive photo illustration

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Cody Nakamura was a stand out wide receiver in his playing days at Baldwin. One of his coaches there was none other than Pohai Lee, who is now in his first season as head coach of the Bears.

Nakamura is the third-year coach at Kamehameha-Maui, which is ranked ninth in the latest ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Division II Football Power Rankings, and has already clinched the Maui Interscholastic League D2 first-round title.

The two will cross paths once again Saturday night, this time on opposite sidelines as Lee's Bears will meet Nakamura's Warriors in a Maui Interscholastic League game at War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku.

We caught up with the coaches of both teams a few days before their showdown in Central Maui.

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

Cody Nakamura, Kamehameha-Maui coach: "Growing. We're just starting to pick up everything that we're coaching. It's year three so that's usually when your style of coaching starts kicking in or not, so we're just excited to see that it is working as far as the first round goes, but as everyone knows, the MIL is two rounds so we really haven't done anything yet."

Pohai Lee, Baldwin coach: "Improving. It's been a work in progress. Having two tough preseason games, I think that kind of built some character for us for our season. In terms of the character part, we're trying to change the culture and change the attitude and that's improving. We're hoping that they're buying in and I'm hoping that they're starting to see some results from that. The Lahainaluna game was a big test for us. Fortunately we won and we're having some momentum going into this week."

ScoringLive: In retrospect, what do you feel the non-league loss(es) provided for your team?

Nakamura: "I think it was just a growing experience for us being able to go to Aloha Stadium and play there against the reigning state D2 champs (Iolani). I think it was an eye-opening experience for them to see where we need to get to reach our goal and that's D2 state champs, so it was a great growing experience for them."

Lee: "I know traditionally Baldwin tries to schedule the toughest competition they can find. It prepares us for our league and a little down the line, so we'll keep getting better and better. Having a more experienced team, it helps. We have a lot of seniors so that's providing a lot of opportunities for them to get better at what we're doing."

ScoringLive: Is there someone on your team that you feel is being overlooked or perhaps under appreciated?

Nakamura: "I just think our defense is doing great and the leaders of that is our linebacking corps. We have a great linebacking corps and a great linebackers coach. It's kind of coming together over here and I think that's what is holding down our defensive end of our football team."

Lee: "When we came in we stressed defense first and Baldwin has always been known as a hard-nosed, tough, get-to-the-ball defense. That's where we wanted to get our players, but at every position right now we're not where we want to be yet. I couldn't say there's a strength as far as any of our position groups, because we need to improve our techniques and all of our position groups need to get better."

ScoringLive: How near or far is your team from playing at its potential?

Nakamura: "I'd say we're still pretty far. It's still early in the season, we're still learning every single day and mentally and physically we're getting better, but we're still pretty far off from playing at our potential and we're taking it one day at a time."

Lee: "That's a good question. It's kind of early to tell yet, I think. Obviously, I've always said that we've had athleticism on the team, (but) it's just kind of a matter of getting the most out of it and that's progressing along. Reaching our potential we won't really find out until the end of the season. We're just trying to get better every week in what we're doing."

ScoringLive: Both teams have first-year starting quarterbacks. How do you feel yours has progressed thus far and what do you think of your opponent's quarterback?

Nakamura: "Our quarterback (Kainoa Sanchez), I think he's progressing really well. He's still young, he's still a sophomore, so he's definitely showing growth every week and when he does make a mistake he comes back and knows what he did wrong, which is a great sign. He's there mentally, he knows when he's right and he knows when he's wrong, he just has to do it when the ball is hiked and the rush is on him and his decisions needs to come quicker. As far as Baldwin's quarterback (Chayce Akaka), I thought it was a great move by coach Po to put him at quarterback and move his older brother (Taje) to receiver, because now they've got athletes all over the place and that's scary for the defense. He's able to scramble and use his feet and he can throw the ball downfield with his eyes up, so it'll be very interesting for the future."

Lee: "In terms of (Akaka) he's a sophomore so he's young. His strengths are obviously his athleticism. He has a good arm and good feet. He extends plays and makes things happen in that respect as well, but he's still young and mentally he's kind of catching along. We didn't really get to work with him until after baseball season and he was playing basketball in the summer. I wish we had him in the month of June. We'd be further ahead, but we're trying to build a base offense and trying to have him execute. That's the main thing we're looking for. As far as (Sanchez), he's managed the game well for them. I don't see him making too many mistakes. He's an athlete as well, he gets the ball where he needs to and he uses his legs when he needs to so he'll be a challenge for our defense."

ScoringLive: What is your take on this week's opponent?

Nakamura: "We've got a lot of respect for them. Coach Po was one of my coaches there when I played at Baldwin so we go way back. I even saw him a couple times when I was in college and he was coaching at Montana-Western, so we definitely have a lot of history. Again, we have a lot of respect for them and they're probably not too happy about our win against them at the end of last year, so we know they're coming out for blood. They're going to come out hard and want to get revenge, so we have to prepare extra and try to do our best. We've been talking as coaches and that's still a Division I team, so in the big picture it doesn't really mean too much, but we're definitely going to go out, compete and do our best and see what happens."

Lee: "They've clinched the D2 first round, so they're riding a big wave of momentum and I don't see them in terms of having nothing to lose. They're going to go all out against us. We're preparing for that and it's going to be a big challenge. They're much improved from last year. I saw their Iolani game and I think they really move around on defense and they're real physical on their front seven."

Kickoff between the Warriors (2-1 overall, 2-0 league) and Bears (1-2, 1-0) is scheduled for 7 p.m.