Kasey Kikuyama and the Pearl City Chargers travel to Waipahu to face Isaac Yamashita and the Marauders Friday night with first place on the line in the OIA Division II standings. ScoringLive photo illustration

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A couple of top-five teams in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Division II Football Power Rankings will face off Friday night when No. 2 Waipahu plays host to No. 5 Pearl City in a pivotal regular season showdown.

The Chargers (5-1 overall, 5-0) hold a half-game lead on the Marauders (5-0, 4-0) for the top spot in the Oahu Interscholastic Association D2 standings entering the weekend.

The winner of the game — which will culminate homecoming week at Waipahu — will claim sole possession of first place in the eight-team division.

"I want (our guys) to know what they're playing for," Marauders coach Bryson Carvalho said. "It's homecoming week and there's a bunch of stuff on campus. We encouraged them to be students and participate in those activities, but ‘don't lose focus on what's ahead of us,' so that's been the big thing this week."

Senior quarterback Braden Amorozo (1,099 pass yards, 15 total TDs) and sophomore running back Alfred Failauga (498 rush yards, 9 rush TD), last year's OIA D2 Offensive Player of the Year, have paced a Waipahu offense averaging 40 points and 452 yards per game. Alika Ahshing, a senior wide receiver, has caught team-highs of 20 passes for 317 yards and six TDs.  

Keeping Amorozo, Failauga and company on the sideline is priority No. 1 for Pearl City coach Robin Kami.

"The key is going to be slowing down their offense, because they're very good; They're a well-oiled machine," Kami said. "They have a great quarterback, great running back, a good corps of receivers that can run after the catch, so slowing down their offense, I think, will be key."

The Marauders are also expected to see the return of First Team All-Hawaii receiver Isaac Yamashita, who has been sidelined with a shoulder injury since a season-opening 51-14 win over Nanakuli on Aug. 4.

"Getting Isaac back will be a plus for us, obviously, on offense," Carvalho said. "We've got some guys banged up a little bit, but everyone is going to be playing."

Without Yamashita, Waipahu's high-powered offense has hardly skipped a beat, posting a 63-7 win over Waialua two weeks ago before cruising to a 49-0 rout of Kalani Saturday night.

Carvalho cautioned that Friday's game won't be of that nature.

"I definitely think we've got to make sure our kids have the right mindset going in," he said. "They know they're playing Pearl City this week and they know they're in for a big game. Pearl City is a good team and their coaching staff is going to do a great job of coaching them up, so we've got to make sure our kids stay focused and understand that there's not going to be a lot of mental mistakes on their end, so we've got to execute on both sides of the ball to be successful."

The Chargers have relied heavily on their run game to shoulder the load for an offense averaging just over 30 points per game. Their 183.5-rush yards per game is fourth-best in D2 state wide. Seniors Makoa Cooper (450 rush yds, 7 rush TDs) and Andre Carter (364 rush yards, TD) have combined for 111 carries on the year.

Unlike Waipahu's season-to-date, Pearl City has been forced to dig deep for a couple of hard-fought wins. It took overtime to fend off Kalani, 22-16, back on Aug. 12, and just Saturday night, the Chargers barely got by Kaimuki, 17-15.

"I'm not sure it gives us an advantage, but it does give us confidence and momentum that we can finish a game and play four quarters and keep up with a good team," Kami said.

"We took some bumps and bruises from Kaimuki. They were a big and physical team, so we're kind of sore, but the week of practice has gone good, so far."

The Kaimuki game could have very easily gone the other way if not for Zion Tupuola-Fetui's block of the potential game-winning field goal of 25 yards with 16 seconds left.

It's been that kind of a season for Tupuola-Fetui, who has 5 1/2 sacks, a forced fumble and two pass break-ups and on Wednesday was named ScoringLive's Midseason D2 Defensive Player of the Year.

"Their defense has been pretty stout all season, so it'll be interesting to see how we move the ball against their defense. They stop the run really well, led by (Tupuola-Fetui); he's been big on their side," Carvalho said of the Chargers' defense, which is allowing just 8.5 points per game.

While Tupuola-Fetui has drawn lots of attention in the trenches, Kasey Kikuyama has been a stalwart in the defensive secondary. The senior has five interceptions on the year, including a 40-yard pick-6 against Waialua.

"Kasey was a First Team (All-OIA) utility player last year; this year, we've got him playing strong safety out there," Kami said. "He's the coach of the team out on the field. He makes all the calls and he's got experience, so he's doing a great job running the defense and keeping them in line in those things."

The Marauders have been stingy on defense, to say the least. Opponents are averaging just 5.8 points and 134.5 yards of total offense per game, including an absurd minus-2.3 rushing yards.

"They set up their plays on the ground and they have a good run game. This is probably our biggest test this season, so I'm excited to see how we do on both sides of the ball against these guys," Carvalho said. "I think it's going to be a slugfest."

The teams split two meetings last year. Pearl City won, 21-7, in the regular season, but Waipahu avenged the loss with a 13-7 victory in an OIA semifinal-round game that was not decided until the game-winning touchdown was scored with 15.5 seconds remaining.

Kickoff Friday is scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m. at the Masa Yonamine Athletic Complex.