Quarterbacks Alakai Yuen and Konapiliahi Andres will face off Friday night as Moanalua visits Leilehua for an OIA Division I tournament first-round game at Hugh Yoshida Stadium. ScoringLive photo illustration

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Win or go home.

That's the situation facing the eight teams suiting up in this weekend's opening round of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I football tournament.

Among the three first-round games Friday night, Blue division fifth-seed Moanalua (3-5 overall, 2-5 league) will visit Hugh Yoshida Stadium for a matchup against Red division fourth-seed Leilehua (3-5, 3-4).

Kickoff between Na Menehune and the Mules is set for 7 p.m. The winner will have a date with reigning league and state champion Mililani, the top seed out of the Blue, in next weekend's quarterfinal round.  

Moanalua opened the season by winning two of their first three contests, but have dropped four of their last five since, including a 60-36 loss against the Trojans last week.

Junior quarterback Alakai Yuen (1,889 passing yards, 19 TDs, 8 INTs, 56.9 completion percentage) and senior running back Michael Feliciano (688 rushing yards, 13 rush TDs, 532 receiving yards, 5 rec. TDs) set the tone on offense for Na Menehune, who are averaging 35 points and 374 yards per outing.

"Alakai has had a good week of practice, our offensive line has looked pretty solid so far, but our defense is going to be depleted," Moanalua second-year coach Jason Cauley said.

Middle linebacker Kekaulike Kalua will miss the game while on a baseball trip and another linebacker, Nehemiah Saovao, has been ailing due to an illness.

"I would feel a lot more confident with (Kalua) going in and Nehemiah has been sick," Cauley said. "He was in the hospital so he didn't play against Mililani and if he doesn't practice this week, I'm not going to put him in danger and he won't play, but hopefully he can come back."

Cauley said Moanalua will employ a three-down linemen, one-linebacker, seven-defensive back scheme with safety Kyle Bender moving down to the linebacker position.

"It's the same look that we came out with against Campbell," said Cauley, whose team is allowing an average of 33 points and 386 yards per game defensively. "Just for the simple fact that we don't have any middle linebackers."

Meanwhile, Leilehua coach Nolan Tokuda said sophomore Konapiliahi Andres is expected to start at quarterback after leaving in the second quarter of last week's 22-9 loss at Kaiser with concussion-like symptoms.

"Kona got cleared," said the 11th-year coach of the Mules. "He had a neck injury, but he was cleared (Monday). We were in no-contact, but he stayed in the pocket and threw."

Andres (1,354 passing yards, 15 TDs, 16 INTS, 49.6 completion percentage) has played in all seven games this year (Leilehua won by forfeit over McKinley two weeks ago) while stepping in for injured starter Kaleoaloha Piceno, who suffered a fractured hip at Kailua back in week two that ended his season prematurely."

The Mules has struggled on offense, averaging 16 points and 253 yards per game, while their defense is surrounding 27 points and 273 yards per contest.

They also expect to be without standout defensive back Charles "Moku" Watson (elbow) and two-way lineman Netane Muti (leg), a University of Hawaii-commit.

"Those guys are hobbling with injuries and are not even close to 50, 60 percent, so it's going to be pretty tough," said Tokuda, whose team lost its first three games before winning three of its next four. "Our season went by pretty fast and we haven't even gotten close to playing the type of ball we hoped to play, so it feels kind of sad, but we feel like this is a second-life opportunity. There's a couple of teams whose seniors have already turned in their pads, so it's a blessing for us to have a least five more days together and the opportunity to play at least one more game. We're hoping to play more, but we're taking it one game at a time at this point."

Other first-round games Friday will see Red sixth-seed Waipahu visit Blue third-seed Kailua and Red fifth-seed Castle visit Blue fourth-seed Kapolei. The lone first-round game Saturday features Red third-seed Kaiser hosting Blue fifth-seed Campbell.

The top three teams from OIA tournament will qualify for the six-team Hawaii High School Athletic Association/First Hawaiian Bank Division I State Championships.

ScoringLive staffer Felipe Ojastro contributed to this report.