Hilo running back Tristin Spikes carries the ball against Campbell in an opening round game of the Division I state tournament on November 8, 2013. Brien Ing | SL

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When the First Hawaiian Bank/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Football State Championships get underway with Friday's first-round doubleheader at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium, the nightcap will feature a pair of contrasting programs in Kahuku and Hilo.

The Red Raiders (8-2) are making their 12th state-tournament appearance, but their first since winning it all for a second consecutive year in 2012. They missed out on states last season, unlike the Vikings (10-0), who are making a second consecutive, and fourth overall, tournament appearance.

"There's a lot of respect for this team," third-year Hilo coach David Baldwin said of Kahuku. "Lord have mercy. They're big, they're well coached, they're intense. Being an Oahu guy, I've been a longtime admirer of them and our staff is in admiration of the Kahuku staff."

Baldwin's team has run the table in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation and wrapped up a second straight league title with a 32-0 win over Kealakehe in the championship game. However, a schedule that did not see Vikings play any team outside of the BIIIF — a league that has never won a game in the D1 state tournament — has limited their exposure to the rest of the state. Despite being just one of three unbeaten D1 teams, they have yet to appear in the ScoringLive/OC16 Power Rankings.

As if the odds weren't already stacked in Kahuku's favor, for the first-time in D1 tournament history no first-round games will be played on neighbor islands. Baldwin is taking the good with the bad.

"Hey, you know what? We're coming to the big house, we're getting to play at Aloha Stadium — some of my boys have never even been off the island, much less been to Aloha Stadium — so for many positive reasons, coming here for the first round is a good thing, because Hilo does not get the type of exposure on TV or the ability to get more of our kids recruited — who deserve it — so there's a lot of positive things, (but) with all that said, I think winning your league championship on your island should allow you to host that first round," Baldwin said.

Almost exactly one year ago to the day, Hilo nearly became the first league school to win a state-tournament game. It held a 17-14 lead late in the third quarter, but saw Campbell reel off 28 straight points in a matter of eight minutes and it was all but over. The Vikings finished 2013 10-2 and qualified for their first state tourney since 2003. Still, the loss to the Sabers was a tough pill to swallow.

"We learned a lot about just understanding how to manage the game and that the intensity of the state tournament is something along the lines of any championship run that we're trying to make and remaining consistent for four quarters is something we did not do," Baldwin said. "We had a lead, we were beating Campbell last year. This year we learned how to manage a lead, which we didn't blow any this year and we did against Campbell. We learned if we get out to a fast start, how do we finish it off? How do we put out foot to the pedal and keep it running for four quarters. Plus we also learned the Oahu teams and the Oahu competition is where we want to be, so if we're ever going to get past that hump and turn that corner, we've got to learn from every single moment that we get a chance to play."

Hilo is outscoring the opposition by an average of more than 35 points per game. The Vikings have scored 39 or more points in seven of their 10 games. Tristin Spikes is the feature back aside quarterback Sione Atuekaho in the spread, zone-read offense.

"Tristin Spikes is that heart of that offense and as he goes, we go, because we put so much of a burden on him into understanding that we know who our stallion is, so we're going to try and get our stallion the ball and let him run around and it's proven successful," Baldwin said of his running back and last year's league Offensive Player of the Year. "That's a hard guy to chase, that's a hard guy to bring down. He's resilient. He may not be the oversized back that Kahuku might have, but he's our guy and he's got some shake, some bake and he's got some giddy up in him."

Spikes, who is listed at 5-9 and 195 pounds, has been the workhorse, rushing for more than 1,000 yards on the season.

On the other side of the ball, Baldwin points to middle linebacker Ofa Fahiua as the catalyst.

"He is probably the best linebacker I've ever coached. He's a natural talent, he's a physical talent and he understands the game and he loves finding the ball in an aggressive manner, so he's definitely the heart of our defense," said Baldwin. "That guy has a nose for the ball, he is always around it, he scored the only touchdown in that Kealakehe game that we ended up winning 7-0. He gets the ball in his hands on defense, he ends up being an offense weapon."

Fahiua, who has scored four defensive touchdowns on the year, leads the 4-3 defense that allowed just 7 points per game and never more than 20 in a single game.

"I think our defense has risen to the occasion, we've lost a lot of size from our team last year, but we're in the third year of our system, so our progression as a team has matured," said Baldwin, who previously led Kamehameha-Hawaii to a D2 league title. "Our staff has learned so much from our mistakes from our first two years and trying to correct those things and improve our system to where it's a progression. We seem to be better able and better prepared to face whatever is going to come at us in a game and what we're trying to do in our game plan."

Kahuku first-year coach Lee Leslie saw on tape what Baldwin confirmed.

"They've got a good runner in number 4 (Spikes), their quarterback (Atuekaho) is decent kid and then the middle linebacker, No. 34 (Fahiua) is a good player. that's about as far as I've seen," Leslie said of the Vikings. "They've got a couple of kids who can definitely move around and run and they're aggressive on defense. They like to blitz a lot."

The Red Raiders have been riding their defense all season, which led them to 6-1 record season to finish atop the OIA Division I Red in first. In Friday's league final, the unit held Mililani to a season-low 20 points and 208 yards.

"They fly around," Baldwin said of Kahuku's stingy defense. "That might be one of the best defense I've ever seen and definitely the best defense I'm going to coach against up to this day."

Linebacker Manaia Atuaia has led the team in tackles more often than not, while others like Alohi Gilman, Keala Santiago, Reupena Fitisemanu and Salanoa-Alo Wily have been forced into two-way duty.

"It's always tough to have to decide which side of the ball to put your best athletes and I've been doing it with defense all year long, but if we're going to beat any of those big teams we're going to have to put the big guys on offense, like Salanoa and hopefully Tuli (Wily-Matagi) will be ok," Leslie said of the senior quarterback who had a concussion in the second quarter of Friday's game. "He tested out well on Saturday. We're a good football team, we're just not deep."

Kesi Ah Hoy, a sophomore, leads the team in rushes (98), rushing yards (459) and rushing touchdowns (8).

"I felt like we could put incredible guys on defense and then have these other kids get caught on offense and as it turns out, we rode a sophomore all year long in Kesi, but he's banged up — he's got a shoulder, knee and thigh — so some of those other kids needs to get things accomplished, but it's an ongoing process."

After winning back-to-back championships in 2011 and 2012, Kahuku missed out on the tournament last year. It was just the fourth year in the state-tournament era that it did not qualify. Leslie said his team is happy to make the return trip to states, but doesn't resemble the teams of past.

"I think they're hungry, but we've had some struggles on the offensive line all year and it becomes apparent when we play a really good football team, so our kids are going to have to overachieve in the area of offensive line for us to have a chance," Leslie said. "The kids are still happy to be in there. It's Kahuku, but we're not the team that blows everyone off the ball like the old Kahuku's, so we've got to work harder at it."

Leslie feels the televised doubleheader Friday from Aloha Stadium was the best-case scenario for all parties.

"I think it's a good advantage for us, not having to travel, and it's also good for the Hilo kids to have the opportunity to play on TV and in Aloha Stadium, and give exposure for those kids, which they haven't had, so it's a win-win on both sides."

Leslie and his staff were still reviewing game tape of Hilo when reached by phone Monday afternoon.

"We'll play hard and well be focused on playing the game," Leslie said. "We don't know much about Hilo, but we will give them good, tough game. A, because we want to keep going in the tournament, of course, and B, because we want to see Punahou. Punahou has five of our kids and our kids have wanted to play Punahou all year long, so hopefully we can take care of business with Hilo and get to Punahou in that next round."

Kickoff between the Red Raiders and Vikings is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Farrington (8-2), the third-place team out of the OIA, will play Maui Interscholastic League-champ Maui (7-2) at 4:30 p.m.

The winner will play the top-seeded and defending state champion Buffanblu (7-0) in a 7 p.m. semifinal at Aloha Stadium on Nov. 15.