Kauai's Reggie McFadden and Pearl City's Kierren McGhee will face off in the opening round of the Division II state championships Saturday. ScoringLive photo illustration

Purchase image 1 of 1

The First Hawaiian Bank/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II Football State Championships kick off early Saturday afternoon with the Chargers traveling to Garden Isle to tangle with the Red Raiders.

Pearl City, the Oahu Interscholastic Association White runner-up, and Kauai Interscholastic Federation-champion Kauai will battle it out at Vidinha Stadium in Lihue. The matchup will feature two first-year head coaches coming up from the junior varsity ranks in Kauai's Tommy Cox and Pearl City's Robin Kami. While the state tournament might be uncharted territory for the two coaches, they both agree that coming up from the JV coaching ranks has its advantages.

"That's big," said Kami. "Anytime you have leadership and trust on the kids it's big. If they don't believe in you and don't trust you, it's not going to work out."

Added Cox on if they are any advantages: "I think it is, as far as knowing the kids, knowing what they expect, and knowing what I expect from them also. Just the speed of the varsity game is totally different, it's a big adjustment but it all worked out."

The Chargers (7-4) are coming off a 41-21 loss to Kaiser Friday night in the OIA White championship game, their second of the year to the Cougars. Pearl City got off to a slow start in 2013 with road losses to Kapolei and Kalani, in which they outscored by a combined 82 to 15. After the two losses, they were able to go on a five-game winning streak and in process win seven out of their next nine games.

"We struggled in the beginning, the first two games," said Kami. "After that we won seven out of eight. "The kids now (are) starting to believe in the program, believe in the system, and believe in everything we're trying to build. It's working out real well; we're playing our best game in the end, and that's when it counts."

A trio of backs headlines the Charger backfield. Reno Abero and Justin Dupio has seen most of the action during the year, but linebacker Blake Cooper has been getting into the mix in recent weeks. Together they have rushed for a total of 898 yards and 15 touchdowns so far in the year.

Junior Jordan Taamu is the guy under center for the Pearl City offense. The first-year started has passed for 1540 yards and 11 touchdowns against nine interceptions. Although that might not be eye-popping numbers, Taamu does a great job in scrambling away from pressure and staying calm to complete a pass to convert on third downs.

Leading the receiving corps are receivers Timothy Rivera and Kierren McGhee. The duo has combined for 970 yards and nine touchdowns. Rivera is more of a guy that can move the chains while McGhee is the big play receiver. That ability was evident when McGhee caught an 82-yard touchdown pass against Kaiser in the White championship game.

Defensively the Chargers are led by safety Kristian Vaana-Kikuyama as well as the aforementioned Cooper. Both Vaana-Kikuyama and Cooper has scored points for the defense on the year. Another guy who gets into the mix is linebacker and special teams ace Jake Bactista. The 5-foot-7, 170-lb senior had the game-winning tackle against Radford when the Rams tried a fake field goal on the point after attempt.

Relatively unknown, the Red Raiders of Kauai (8-0) have got to be the most underrated undefeated heading into the state tournament. With their undefeated record, Kauai will enter the state tournament for the tenth time of its 11-year existence. They might not have dominated their conference like a Lahainaluna or Kaiser, but they are still without a loss heading into week 14 of the prep football season.

By looking at common opponents, the KIF is a league to be reckoned with. Kapaa put together an impressive preseason with an opening week, 46-point win over Nanakuli, while holding top-seeded Lahainaluna to only two offensive touchdowns on the Valley Isle. OIA White champion Kaiser defeated the Golden Hawks by a slightly bigger margin of 50 points, and the Warriors are still the team to have played the Lunas the closest. The Menehunes of Waimea defeated Anuenue by 42 points and only lost to Hawaii Prep on the Big Island by only five points. Big Island interscholastic Federation champion Konawaena needed to rally from early deficits to defeat Ka Makani twice and only managed to outscore them by nine points in two meetings. Putting this into consideration, the fact that Kauai went undefeated and outscored its KIF opponents by 118 points to 25 is highly impressive. The Red Raiders also defeated Cottage Grove (Ore.) in the preseason 41-21. That win is slowly gaining more and more weight as the weeks go on as Cottage Grove have gone 7-0 against their fellow Oregon teams so far.

"It was a battle all year long, tough league this year," said Cox on his teams' season. "Kapa'a was tough but our defense hung in there all year; (they) pretty much carried us throughout the season."

Cox on if its fair to be underestimated: "I think it's fair. We play in a three-team league and nobody gets to see us much. On Kauai, we know how tough the league is and we know what our guys can do. Now is our chance to show everybody (what we can do during) state tournament time. We kind of like playing the underdog role; it picks our guys up and keeps us motivated."

Offensively for the Red Raiders, first-year quarterback Kelson Andrade leads the team with a completion rate of 72 percent. Stats have not been submitted for his entire season totals, but he has passed for 396 yards and four touchdowns in four of Kauai's games this season. He might not posses ideal size at 5-foot-6, but Cox says he has all the tools necessary to run their spread-option offense.

Lining up in the backfield is running back Reggie McFadden who has rushed for 278 yards and three touchdowns in four of the Red Raiders' games. He might not see much touches in the spread offense, but he is capable of picking up good yardage with 4.3 yards per carry average. McFadden is also an ample pass catcher out of the backfield, averaging 14.3 yards per catch in four games.

The receiving corps is mainly made out of Pono Bukoski, Kanoa Iwasaki and Kalawaia Judd. They might not have the gaudy statics of most receiving corps, but Cox is very high on his receivers this year calling them the forte of his offense.

Holding it down on the offensive line is four-year starter Devan Ferreira. The 6-foot-3, 235-lb center can play any position on the line, and is also a captain on the team. Ferreira is also getting college looks from Boise State, Pacific University, as well as the University of Hawaii.

The defensive leaders for the Red Raiders are defensive lineman Keanu HanoHano, three-year starter and middle linebacker James Bukoski, and safety Kaiea Iwasaki. Out of the three, Iwasaki is the most adept at making clutch plays having recorded interceptions in Kauai's final two games in 2012, as well as taking an interception to the house this year against Waimea. Bukoski Defensively Kauai runs a 40-nickel as their base defense which features four down lineman, two "alpha" middle linebackers and five defensive backs.

It might not have the big story line like Kaiser's Lii Karratti taking on his former team, but has plenty of enough talent from both teams to make the game interesting. The winner of Saturday's matchup gets a date with six-time defending champion Iolani on Nov. 16 at Kozuki stadium.