Castle travels to Nanakuli Friday night as both teams look to rebound after blowout performances last weekend. Leighland Tagawa | SL

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For both Castle and Nanakuli football teams, there was some degree of change in the offseason.

Former Saint Louis coach John Hao, who most recently spent time as offensive coordinator at Kahuku, was hired in January at Castle — its first coaching change in more than 20 years.

That would be just a few years after Nanakuli coach Kili Watson was born. The 2012 Kamehameha graduate took over the role left behind by his older brother, Keala, who stepped down in March.

After quarterbacking Saint Louis to the 1989 Prep Bowl title, Hao went on to play at the University of Hawaii. He later returned to his alma mater as head coach in 2008-09. He went 15-6 in two seasons leading the Crusaders.

For Watson, who played tight end at Kamehameha, is in his first season as a head coach, but served as an assistant at both the JV and varsity levels at Nanakuli since 2013.

Hao and his Knights (2-2 overall, 2-1 league) will make the cross-island trip Friday night when they take on Watson and his Golden Hawks (1-3, 1-2). The teams are separated by one game in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Red Conference standings entering the weekend.

We caught up with the respective coaches a few days before their West side showdown.

ScoringLive: Describe your team's current situation in one word.

John Hao, Castle coach: "Revived. Without a true quarterback it's difficult for the offense to function, yet we did great with (receiver-turned-quarterback Makana (Smith) against Radford and we struggled against Kapolei and Mililani, but I'm a true pocket-passer type of quarterback (guy), so (getting starter Jaylen Uyemura-Lee back) just puts Makana out at wide receiver and gives us more weapons to throw to."

Kili Watson, Nanakuli coach: "Growing. Still growing. For myself as a coach, for my assistant coaches, for the players, the student-athletes, we take away a lot of lessons from the games. We're still trying to learn some lessons and fix some mistakes and I'm just hoping we can peak soon. I can see that we're reaching our peak soon, but we can't wait too long."

ScoringLive: What, or who, do you consider to be the heart of your team?

Hao: "The defense. The numbers, the scoring (we've allowed) doesn't really reflect how good our defense is. It's tough to have a good score at the end of the game when our offense can't even move the ball and score a touchdown, so it makes our defense stay on the field most of the game."

Watson: "Currently, it's got to be our most seasoned and experienced group, which is our back seven on defense — our defensive backs and linebackers — those are all our four-year seniors, so they've definitely been contributing for a lot of the stops that the defense makes. They know what to do, they've been playing with each other, so they've definitely created a mesh with one another and learned how to work with one another."

ScoringLive: Which game this season, win or loss, proved to be most beneficial to your team?

Hao: "This Mililani game proved what type of team we are, what our DNA is, because that's with all of our guys, 21 guys back from not playing the first couple of weeks."

Watson: "It's got to be the Aiea game. The biggest thing from it was it proved to the team and the program that we can do it. I was glad that it happened early in the season so it sets a great example and it shows the boys that if we put in the work, we can compete at the D1 level. It was definitely a great way to start off the (OIA) season. We hoped that we could have rode that victory and used that as a momentum-booster going into the next couple of games."

ScoringLive: Both of you were assistants last season. What has this season been like so far for you as a head coach?

Hao: "For me, it's been very enjoyable to give back to the Kaneohe community and to see Castle have 66 or 67 players on a varsity and almost 70 players on the JV is outstanding. Now it's just a matter of us coaches training them to become better athletes."

Watson: "It's been great actually, despite the win-loss record. It's been great because I've been with the program for a while now and it really does look like we haven't skipped a beat. Our players are still hard working and disciplined and tough and I've got to attribute it to the rest of my staff, the assistant coaches. It was a smooth transition. For me, being my first year, it has its challenges, but I love challenges because that's how you continue to get better."

ScoringLive: What are your thoughts on your opponent this week?

Hao: "It's going to be a good battle. We do get our quarterback (Uyemura-Lee) back — he came back from injury — and that's where we were struggling offensively was at the quarterback position, so it's rejuvenating to have a true pocket passer again, but we'll see if our offense can do their part."

Watson: "Castle, they are a quick team, a very fast team. I'm pretty sure, with coach John over there, they're a disciplined team within their schemes. They have a lot of football IQ going on over there, so it's going to be a smart team and it's definitely going to be a tough match, but if our team continues to work hard it's definitely going to be an exciting game."

ScoringLive: Is there a specific matchup within the game that you feel will be especially important?

Hao: "Well, their offense and defense is similar to ours, so I think both sides of the ball will be a good competition between both teams."

Watson: "Maybe no specific one. What I tried to communicate with our team was winning our one-on-one match-ups. It's really just about everybody across the board contributing and doing their jobs and contributing to the team."

The last time the teams met was Sept. 23 of last season, when Castle posted 542 yards of total offense in a 30-16 home win over Nanakuli.

Kickoff Friday between the Knights and Golden Hawks is scheduled for approximately 7 p.m.