Kailua RB Jarrin Young is amongst the leading rushers in Division I with 697 yards on the season. ScoringLive file photo

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When a third seed plays a sixth seed, the odds should favor the higher seed.

But when East third seed Kailua hosts West sixth seed Aiea, 7 p.m. Saturday, this might be the most evenly matched contest of the four opening round games of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red tournament. The game will be televised live on OC16.

In other opening round games Friday, East fifth seed Castle will visit West fourth seed Mililani, West fifth seed Kapolei will travel to East fourth seed Moanalua and East sixth seed will traverse to West third seed Waianae. The Castle-Mililani game will be aired on OC 16.

West top seed Leilehua and runner-up Campbell, and East top seed Farrington and runner-up Kahuku, draw first-round byes and will host quarterfinal game next weekend.

"You get what you get in the playoffs and everyone here becomes a challenge," Kailua coach Gary Rosolowich said in an e-mail response. "Some teams are at their worst in the playoffs and some teams are at their best - you never know how our opponent, or your team for that matter, is going to adjust to the do or die environment. One thing is for certain: Aiea has been consistently improving all season. They're well coached and I am certain they will be ready."

The Surfriders had a bye last weekend and Rosolowich watched Aiea nearly stun Campbell, which rallied in the closing minutes to pull off a 22-18 win. Na Alii's strength is their defense. It is anchored by LB Douglas Tautua, the team's leading scorer with 18 points, two of his TDs from fumble recoveries against the Sabers. Joining him in the mayhem are LB Jholy Mauai and DE Max Maafala-Maiava.

The 22 points the defense allowed to Campbell was the most Aiea's defense was responsible for in a single game; Saint Louis scored 22, but two came from a safety.

"For the Surfriders to be successful, we have to break that consistency and put points on the board, which will pressure their offense and make our defense's job easier," Rosolowich wrote.

Consistency is what Aiea coach Wendell Say said his offense needs to keep his defense at full strength.

"We have to be able to move the chains a little bit," Say said. "We can't have our defense on the field a long time like we did against Campbell."

But Na Alii will be without RB Cheston Ioapo, the team's leading rusher with 397 yards (5.4 per carry), who is out with a concussion.

Meanwhile, Kailua is armed with one of the better passers in the state in Kahaku Iaea, who is seventh with 1,158 passing yards. But the Surfriders have backed off a bit of the pass their last two games, highlighting and equally effective run with RB Jarrin Young, the fourth-leading D1 rusher with 689 yards.

"We decided to run the ball a little more a couple a games ago to reduce the the pressure on our receivers and give defenses a little less ability to focus on our passing game," Rosolowich explained. "The result was a lot more productive than anticipated and we have continued taking advantage of that productivity. Our goal is to till utilize the full set of skills that Kahaku brings to the table and we our working on that constantly."

Kailua will be without receiver Kila Zuttermeister and tight end Kaipo Oamilda-Scholtz. Both will be at the Arizona Senior Fall Classic baseball showcase this weekend.

The winner of this game plays at No. 5 Campbell in the quarterfinals.

Castle at Mililani, 7 p.m. Friday (OC 16)

The Knights are looking for consistency on offense, much like Aiea. They will need to against a Trojans team that combined for 67 points the past two games, 33 against Leilehua.

It appears Mililani, at least offensively, is getting into gear after a slow start. QB Jarin Morikawa leads D1 passers with 1,985 yards. WR Deshawn Duncan-Benson has a good chance of hauling in some passes. He leads all D1 receivers, by a wide margin, with 65 receptions for 804 yards. Kaimi Wilson has 49 catches. They combine for 67 percent of the Trojans' receptions.

The winner plays No. 1 Farrington in the quarterfinals.

Kapolei at No. 10 Moanalua, 6 p.m. Friday

The Hurricanes have been hampered by injuries - down to their fifth quarterback at one juncture - and limp into the playoffs against Moanalua, which beat teams it should've and lost close ones to Kahuku (14-7), Farrington (28-24) and Kailua (7-3).

Na Menehune QB Dillon Turk is among the state's top passers with 1,321 yards and he distributes the ball among four receivers who have at least 230 yards receiving.

Kapolei QB Trey Kamachi-Allen is among those who will be taking part in the Arizona Fall Senior Classic this weekend.

The winner plays at No. 3 Leilehua in the quarterfinals.

Kaiser at Waianae, 6 p.m. Friday

Both teams won their last regular season games to earn playoff spots. The Cougars beat winless Roosevelt to be the East's sixth seed. Had the Seariders lost to Radford, their fate would've been decided on a coin toss. Yet the victory against the Rams propelled the Seariders to the West's third seed.

The Seariders have too many weapons and sophomore QB Kekoa Kaluhiokalani is improving weekly.

The winner goes to No. 2 Kahuku in the quarterfinals.