Kaiser's Fitou Fisiahi carries the ball against Konawaena. Celine Troung | Special to SL

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Makoa Filikitonga carries the ball against Iolani in the 2012 Division II state championship game. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Many anticipated Kaiser and Lahainaluna would meet in the 2013 Division II State Championship game. Instead, only one of these teams will be victorious on Saturday night and will advance to the Championship game next week on November 23 at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium.

Lahainaluna, the number one seed in the Division II First Hawaiian Bank/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Football State Championships and Division II Maui Interscholastic League champion hosts fourth seeded Kaiser, the O'ahu Interscholastic Association White champion in the quarterfinal game at War Memorial Stadium on Saturday at 6 pm.

The Cougars will be leaving on Friday for Maui and Kaiser coach Rich Miano said this is a "business trip."

"As coaches we stressed the importance of appearance and professionalism while they're on the plane, in the hotel, so on. We will allow for some free time to have them bond, but it's a business trip and there is football to be played," said Miano.

Lahainaluna has held on to the number one spot in OC16/ScoringLive's Division II Power Rankings all season, while Kaiser has been ranked number two for most of the season. Looking at the wins from both teams throughout this season, these are two Division I caliber teams going at it in a Division II State Tournament game.

Last week, Kaiser hosted their first ever State Tournament game and emphatically blew out Konawaena, 59-6. Kaiser's secondary had four interceptions and held the Wildcats to 116 yards of total offense. They put up 343-yards of net offense with 147-passing yards and 196-rushing yards on the Wildcats.

"They were very impressive in that game and they dominated. It confirmed what we saw on film and in person, we came to see them play Pearl City. Overall, they don't have too many weaknesses," said Lahainaluna coach Garrett Tihada.

On offense, Kaiser ran the ball effectively and racked up 196-yards against the Wildcats. Thomas Buntenbah-Leong had 7 carries for 65 yards and a touchdown while Fitou Fisiiahi had 10 carries for 42 yards and a touchdown. However, the Cougars face a tough Lunas defense that has held their opponents to 58.4 rushing yards per game.

"It's going to come down to their offensive line and our front seven to see who can control the line of scrimmage," said Tihada on containing Kaiser's running game.

Once Kaiser gets the running game going, the Cougars are able to set up the passing game. Kahoali'i Karratti went 10-of-15 passing for 108 yards and two touchdowns and one interception against the Wildcats. In the game against Konawaena, Parker Higgins was the beneficiary receiver of the play-action and he was Kaiser's leading receiver with 5 receptions for 77-yards and a touchdown.

An overlooked, but important phase of the game is special teams. Kaiser's place kicker Matt Sai went a perfect 8-for-8 on PATs and nailed a 37-yard field goal against Konawaena. Throughout the season, Kaiser's special teams are led by return man Thomas Buntenbah-Leong and he has provided them a spark with big returns and good field position.

"Special teams are a big part of our explosive plays and I'm sure Thomas makes coaches stay up at night to devise a game plan of not kicking to him. It's been a blessing to have him and he is a great athlete," said Miano.

Christian Sele who was injured and had to leave the game in an ambulance was released from the hospital, but won't play in Saturday's game. According to coach, he is doing much better and he will travel with the team and will be reevaluated next week if the Cougars win.

However, both coaches said that their teams should be healthy and ready to go for Saturday's game.

The Lunas, arguably the best team on the Valley Isle this season, have steamrolled through the Maui Interscholastic League going an unblemished 8-0 and 10-0 overall. When asked to describe his team, coach Tihada said that other coaches who played against the Lunas would say that they are a team with good fundamentals and they are very disciplined.

The Lunas drew a first round bye and their last game was on October 26 against Maui High School, where they won convincingly, 42-14.

"We were able to take things slow and get back to basics. It was also a good time for the injured guys to heal," said Tihada.

Their quarterback Makoa Filikitonga is 26-of-68 passing for 415 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions so far this season. The leading receiver for the Lunas is Scott Isaac Medeiros-Tangatailoa who has 8 catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns.

Instead Filikitonga is more effective on the ground and he has 87 rushes for 851-yards and 9 touchdowns and 9.8 yards per carry as the Lunas rely heavily on a Wing-T offense.

Jared Rocha-Isalas has 84 rushes for 844 yards and 11 touchdowns for the season. Rocha-Isalas has been averaging 10 yards per carry. Christian Whitehead has 93 rushes for 673-yards and 11 touchdowns. Stopping the Luna rushing attack could be a daunting task for the Cougars.

"It comes down to discipline and responsibility. This kind of offense is hard to emulate in practice at full speed and Lahainaluna is very, very good at executing their offense. I honestly wish we had more time to prepare for something like this," said Miano.

Defensively the Lunas are solid and have only given up 5.7 points per game this season. Coach Tihada said some players to look out for on defense are defensive end Hercules Mata'afa, linebackers Brandon and Bronson Kaina, defensive lineman Connor Mowat and Penisimana Taufa. Kiko Kohler-Fonohema and Jeffery Ancog are players to watch in the secondary.

The Lunas are hoping to return to O'ahu to play in the Division II State Championship game. Last year they were close to dethroning ‘Iolani, but fell short 36-33 in the final minutes. However, standing in their way is a very good Kaiser team who is equally hungry to make it to next week's Championship game at Aloha Stadium against the winner of the Kaua'i/'Iolani game.

"We have to play a perfect game because this will be the best team we face all year. We can't have turnovers and we have to make our reads and keys and also making our blocks," said Tihada.