Running back Daniel Kelley leads the Sabers with 698 yards on the ground with 6 scores. Glen Pascual | Special to SL

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Thirteen years and four coaches later, the Maui Sabers have finally found their way back to the First Hawaiian Bank Division I state football tournament.

The Maui Interscholastic League champion Sabers (7-2) open the tournament 4:30 p.m. Friday against Farrington (8-2), the Oahu Interscholastic Association third-place representative, which is making its 10th tournament appearance, second to Kahuku's 12.

"We're excited," Maui's fourth-year coach David Bui said. "They worked really hard the past few years and they've had this vision and I'm happy to see this vision coming through for them."

The MIL had been represented primarily by Baldwin, which has 12 state appearances, including the past nine in a row snapped by the Sabers. Maui's previous appearance was in 2000, when it last won the MIL. The Sabers showed signs of a turnaround last year, when they went 6-4 for the school's first winning season since 2003 (7-3) under Curtis Lee, the second winningest coach in MIL history (130-69-7) to Lahainaluna's Robert Watson (162-95-6). Since Lee retired after the 2004 season, Bui's three predecessors had combined for a 9-56-1 record.

"This is my fourth year (coaching) and these seniors have been with me from the start," said Bui, a 1995 Hawaii Baptist Academy graduate who played for Pac-Five. "These boys have all bought in, worked hard in the off-season and regular season and it's just come to fruition right now."

The strength of Maui has been its defense, which also has most of its experienced plays with eight seniors. The Sabers' only losses were to D2 champion Lahainaluna. The 14-0 and 21-0 losses were the fewest points the Lunas scored in games this season. Maui allowed 166.3 yards per game on defense.

Among the stalwarts on defense for the Sabers are linebacker Alexander Vainikolo and lineman Atuanaisa Vainikolo. Both seniors have been on the varsity since their freshmen year. Another is LB Onosai Emelio, who also plays running back. The trio are more than just good athletes.

"That's one of the reasons we're here, because of the leadership on the team," Bui said. "These guys lead by example. These guys will keep you in check at practice."

The Sabers will have to deal with Farrington's massive offensive line, which includes 6-foot-2, 420-pound senior Jonathan Leusogo-Leae and an athletic Farao Maileoi, who is at a modest 5-10 and 250 pounds. Behind that line is the experienced QB in Montana Liana (968 yards passing, 8 TDs) and the speedy TB Ranan Mamiya  (1,046 yards rushing, 15 TDs). Although Maui has seen Farrington a lot on TV, it has real-life experience against Mamiya.

"We actually faced him last year when we played Saint Francis," Bui said. "I guess he has some bigger bodies in front of him now, so we just have to play disciplined defense, play assignment football and I think we'll be OK."

The Sabers, though, are young on offense, Bui said. Among their rotation of running backs is sophomore Hanisi Lotulelei, who averages 6.9 yards per carry and is third on the team in rushing. Junior RB Daniel Kelley leads the team with 698 yards rushing (7.3 yards per carry) and Emelio is second with 525 yards (9.7 per rush). Saone Vaohea has the fewest carries among the four with 33, but averages nine yards each time. Maui also has a sophomore wide receiver in Feleti Afemui and a junior QB in Austin Hoe (22 of 62 for 372 yards, 3 TDs). Maui's offensive line also has two sophomores and a freshman.

The youthful line will have its work cut out against Farrington DL Breiden Fehoko, a ScoringLive All-Hawaii selection last year. In back of him are talented linebackers Bryce Tatupu-Leopoldo and Jeremiah Pritchard.

"They're defense is solid," Bui said of Farrington. "We got our hands full, but I haven't seen our boys back down to anybody yet, so I don't expect them to back down to Farrington."

Only twice in the 16-year history of the tournament has the MIL not hosted a first-round game. First was in 2001, when Lahainaluna (in the pre-Division II era) played Kahuku at Aloha Stadium. The second was in 2005, when Baldwin drew the Neighbor Islands' only first-round bye.

"This is our first year, so we're not going to grumble," Bui said. "It would've been nice to play in front of our fans because we've had a good fan base this year, a lot of support. But also, our goal was to finish our season at Aloha Stadium. This is something our boys - especially the outer island boys - they look forward to and always dream of playing on the Aloha Stadium turf, so I'm stoked for them."

As for not traveling, the feeling at Farrington is mixed, depending on the point of view. The adults are breathing a sigh of relief, but the players love to travel, especially if they haven't been off island before.

"I feel great about it," Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. "I don't know how the kids feel because they like to travel. It's just a nice burden off of my shoulders. It's nice to stay home."