Quarterback Noah Auld and the Surfriders will meet wide receiver Isaiah Freeney and the Seariders at Raymond Torii Field Friday night with a spot in the league semifinals on the line. ScoringLive photo illustration

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In their last games, Kailua and Waianae had varied results.

The Surfriders (7-2), who are the Blue division's third seed in the 12-team Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I football tournament, put a 57-6 shellacking on Waipahu in last weekend's opening round.

Meanwhile, the Seariders (6-2) had a bye after finishing second in the Red division and have not played since a 30-0 loss against fourth-ranked Kahuku to close out the regular season on Oct. 3.

The paths of Kailua and Waianae, who are ranked seventh and sixth, respectively, in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric D1 Power Rankings, will cross Friday night in the a quarterfinal-round game at the Seariders' Raymond Torii Field. The winner is assured at least two more games and a spot in next weekend's league semifinals at Aloha Stadium, while the loser's season is over. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.

"I just preach to the players that every playoff game is a whole ‘nother level, so we've got to kick it up a notch," Surfriders' second-year coach Joseph Wong said. "Playoff football is win or go home and whether you're ranked number one or number 10, on any given Friday or Saturday any team can win."

Kailua, whose only two losses on the year were against Farrington and Mililani, held leads of 19-0 after the first quarter and 50-6 at halftime over Waipahu last week. Quarterback Noah Auld threw for 242 yards and four touchdowns on 10-of-17 passing. The senior and three-year starter has completed 55.9 percent of his passes this year for 1,908 yards with 27 touchdowns against just three interceptions.

"I know they're a tough team," Waianae first-year coach Walter Young said. "Watching them on film you see that they've got some real good athletes and they're playing well together offensively and defensively. I feel we matchup fairly well against anybody, but they're a damn good team so we've got to come out, be disciplined and be ready to play."

The lopsided victory against the Marauders allowed Wong to get some of his starters a little rest time. Kailua has just 40 players on its roster, while Waianae has 68 players listed.

"We don't have a second string; It's one and a half," Wong said. "We were fortunate to have been up by that much where we were able to get some much-needed playing time to our younger guys and we got to get some guys rest. That was nice to get that in because we need everybody healthy against Waianae."

The Surfriders have a number of regular two-way players, including defensive end/tight end Christian Mejia, who has 14 sacks on the year.

"We've got everybody healthy and that's important for us because we don't have 11 guys on offense, 11 guys on defense and that's all they play," Wong said. "Our guys got double-duty, so when someone goes down, it's like we lose three guys, so we've been very fortunate that we've been healthy for most of the year and if we did lose someone then the next man up stepped up and played tremendous for them."

Wong's squad refuses to use its small roster and lack of depth as an excuse.

"The players have this mentality and it starts from the top with me, that it doesn't matter who we play because we believe and we feel that we can compete with anybody," Wong said. "You can only put 11 (players) on the field and we got a pretty good 11 on offense, defense and special teams, so I do believe that and so do the players. You can see it on their faces. They have a no-nonsense attitude on the field and they just play football."

Kailua's defense has been stout all season, especially against the run. Opponents are averaging just under 81 rushing yards per game. Waianae is averaging a state-best 252 rushing yards and 45 points per game. However, it was held to just 48 yards of total offense by Kahuku two weeks ago.

"It showed the kids that we're going to get setbacks and we have to work harder and correct all the little things and mistakes," Young said. "I think it made us stronger, brought them more together and now they know they have to back each other up no matter what to the end."

The loss snapped a six-game win streak for the Seariders, who used the bye week as recovery time. Junior wide receiver Isaiah Freeney, who leads the team in every major receiving category with 16 catches for 373 yards and four TDs, missed the Kahuku game due to injury but will play Friday night.

"It was perfect timing after that tough game against Kahuku; it couldn't have been at a more perfect moment," Young said. "The morale seems to be getting better as the week goes on. I think they're excited. We're coming off a loss, had a bye week and I think they're finally excited to get back into a game."

Young said his team has to avoid a slow start against the Surfriders.

"Kailua's very good on both sides of the ball," Young said. "I think we should be OK, I don't think we'll be rusty at all. If there is any rust, hopefully it comes off early, because we can't afford to come out rusty. We've got to be mentally and physically prepared to play them."