Friday's meeting of first-year varsity coaches Robin Kami and Keala Watson will be a rematch of last year's OIA White JV championship game. ScoringLive photo illustration

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Robin Kami and Keala Watson might be first-year varsity coaches at their respective alma maters —Pearl City and Nanakuli — but they are all too familiar with one another.

Prior to taking over at the varsity level this year, both Kami and Watson headed the junior varsity programs. In the last two season their JV squads have faced off three times. Kami's Chargers won the first two games — both regular-season meetings — but Watson's Golden Hawks won the most recent time in the Oahu Interscholastic Association White Conference title game last year.

The men will be standing on opposing sidelines once again Friday night when Pearl City (4-2 overall, 4-1 OIA White) visits Nanakuli (2-4 overall, 2-3 OIA White) in an OIA White game with playoff implications for both teams on the line.

ScoringLive caught up with the coaches earlier this week to discuss their respective teams, first varsity seasons and their upcoming game.

ScoringLive: Describe your team's current situation in one word.
Robin Kami: "Believing. We're a new staff and it's taken a while for them us to gain their trust, but now now that they're trusting us, they're starting to believe in us and believe in themselves. We knew that in three years they've had three different coaches, so there were a lot of things that we had to do to make them trust us, but in the end I told them don't play for us coaches, play for themselves, their teammates and their school."
Keala Watson: "Must-win. In order to make it to the postseason — which is what we're trying to aim for — we have to win out for the rest of the season."

SL: How near, or far, is your team from playing at its potential?
RK: "We're just taking it one game at a time. We're just trying to be competitive in a strong White division this year."
KW: "I think we're a lot closer than we were when we started. Every game is a chance for us to get better and the more games we play, the better we'll get. We're also trying to develop guys into starting roles to take the pressure off the regular starters. This should be our true test here (against Pearl City), we'll put developing guys in and see what they can do for us."

SL: What have you learned about your team so far this season?
RK: "We've learned a lot about these kids — that they're hard workers and they want to get better every day and every week."
KW: "I've learned that our guys will never quit on us. Our game last Saturday against Kalani was a good testament to that. We were down by more than two touchdowns with about four minutes left in the fourth (quarter). We came back, things didn't go our way, but the mentality was there, and the kids were willing to do whatever it took to win the game."

SL: What has your first season as a varsity head coach been like?
RK: "It's been a challenge, but so far, so good. We've been working hard. Our first two goals were academics and attitude, so right now we're really working hard on that and they're achieving those two goals."
KW: "It's been a big learning opportunity. Me and my staff spent the last two years at JV, but coming into varsity it's a whole new ball game. We have to reteach everything. I guess you can say we're taking our licks and going through the learning process, rebuilding and what have you, but our kids are with us, they support us and we're getting through it."

SL: What is it like coaching at your alma mater?
RK: "Coaching at my alma mater is real good. It's good to see familiar faces. A lot of parents I know well and I know these kids, having watched them play throughout the years and finally get to coach them at the varsity level. I like to give back to this program a lot since I'm an alumni and we just try to do whatever we can do to help the school, the administration, and the community."
KW: "It's like a dream come true. There's no other place in the world that I would want to coach. If I couldn't do it here, I wouldn't do it anywhere. There's a lot of pride that goes into it. Me and rest of my staff are all alumni, so there's a huge sense of pride and community atmosphere that we're trying to build."

SL: What do you make of your opponent this Friday?
RK: "It's going to be tough. Nanakuli has an aggressive defense. Their offense is very explosive and I know that this team doesn't give up until the very end, so it might come down to the last possession or the last play of the game. They play hard and don't give up. Keala Watson is doing a great job over there."
KW: "Pearl City is tough. They've been giving us problems ever since we started. The first year we lost to them, second year lost to them and then we kind of got some redemption in the JV championship. This year, it's the same story with them —they have great athletes and a great coaching staff — they're dangerous. They always seem to have our number when we go up against them."

Kickoff between the Chargers and Golden Hawks is expected to be around 7:30 p.m. Friday at Nanakuli High School.