Q&A
Raiders will host Marauders in 55th Father Bray




Week two of the prep football schedule is headlined by a trio of marquee Open Division games between ILH and OIA teams, including a doubleheader at Aloha Stadium Friday night, but Saturday's slate also features an intriguing matchup at the D1 level.

In a meeting of 1-0 teams, No. 13 Iolani will play host to No. 15 Waipahu Saturday afternoon in the 55th Annual Father Bray Memorial Football Classic.

The game will count in the ILH standings for the Raiders but will not in the OIA standings for the Marauders.

Iolani is coming off a 63-0 rout of Kalani Saturday at Kaiser Stadium. Quarterback Jonah Chong was a perfect 8-for-8 passing for 136 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-point first quarter. Running back Kaua Nishigaya ran for a couple of TDs and the defense held the D2-Falcons to just 106 yards of total offense.

While the Raiders ran away with their opening, the Marauders rallied their way to a 34-13 upset of then-No. 9 Waianae. Quarterback Cody Marques threw for 218 yards and three touchdowns on 10-of-15 passing and running back Alfred Failauga amassed 147 rushing yards and a TD on 29 carries.

After falling behind early in the second quarter, the Marauders pulled even at halftime and took the lead on a 69-yard Failauga TD run in the third quarter. They sealed the deal with 20 fourth-quarter points to record their first win over the Seariders since 2008, despite suiting up only 27 players.

We caught up with the coaches of both teams a few days before they face off.


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

Bryson Carvalho, Waipahu coach: "Determined. At home our players are determined to be the best sons they can be, do their share and more, love and care for their parents. In school they are determined to making sure their grades are a priority and be a leader by example in class and in school. In the community they are determined to representing where they are from with dignity and pride, making sure the youth in the community know the Marauder Way by their actions, and as a teammate, they are determined to doing their part to be the best brother they can be. As a team we are determined to making Waipahu a constant contender in Hawaii high school football."

Wendell Look, Iolani coach: "Excited. I think this new format has — and I don't think it's just us — I think it's everybody in the league is excited to start playing in this new format. I think they are looking forward to playing new people, new teams and I think that it's good for Hawaii high school football."


SL: What did opening week teach you about your team?

Carvalho: "Their will, I think. I think the scrimmages that we had kind of served a purpose and again, I reminded the guys that it wasn't really about winning a scrimmage, (but) it was just really to see the character of our team. If we're going up against an opposing team that is tough, I wanted to see how our kids would respond. I wanted to see, if we were to be down a touchdown or two, how would our kids respond? I think they kind of learned a lot from the three scrimmages, especially the ones that are playing, you know, the twenty-seven that are playing, they really stepped up and it's something that they knew about for the whole summer, so it was no surprise, but still when you actually step on the field with a team like Waianae across from you with our numbers, I'm just proud of them that they stayed focused and did their job."

Look: "That we need to play. Some teams, you know, are seasoned and when you're coming into the season that they're a veteran group. This is a mix, but so I think collectively, I think the more we play, I think the better we will get, so that's kind of generic, but it speaks to our team."


SL: Did anything take you by surprise last week?

Carvalho: "Pleasantly surprised, yes, and it's not that I didn't have confidence in them, it's how well they played. Waianae is no pushover team, they're an amazing football team, an amazing football program, so I think how well they played, I think, yeah, that kind of took me by surprise, especially going in with guys that some of them weren't our traditional starters and having to step up, that was very impressive for me."

Look: "Yeah, I mean individually we looked at certain kids and some kids surprised us, you know, the young ones especially. I think just seeing them play in a real game situation, we were able to evaluate ourselves a little bit better. There's something there and again, it just has to give it time to grow and mature and so as coaches we gotta do a great job of nurturing them and helping them along."


SL: Did you guys manage to come away from week one fairly healthy?

Carvalho: "Yes, we did. We have a few guys banged up a little bit, but more or less we're going in with the same amount of guys this week."

Look: "Yes. That was the number one plus. We had eight guys out for various reasons and so this week we hopefully will be full strength. On paper I think we have forty-eight or forty-nine (players), so hopefully we're close to that this week."


SL: Are there still position battles to be determined?

Carvalho: "Yeah. I think one of the things that last week Friday did was it was a wake-up call even for guys that were out for that game. The twenty-seven that were eligible, they want to start, they want to play, so definitely, I think, yeah, positions are up for grabs."

Look: "Every week there's position battles. We tell them every week is a new week and we evaluate after every game, after every practice so no one is safe. That's always been our thing is that no one is safe and you gotta go out there and work hard and prove yourself every day and every week and we're fortunate this year that we have a little bit of depth, especially with the eight guys coming back, because we had some starters in that group, so I think competition just makes you better and to be able to have that competition every day is gonna hopefully speed up the process of us growing up."


SL: What are your thoughts on this week's opponent and what they present?

Carvalho: "Nothing but respect for their entire program. I think coach Look does an incredible job every year. We know we're going up against a team that is very, very disciplined, very well coached, technically sound and we just gotta be able to execute in every aspect to be able to be successful."

Look: "Well, I mean, if I read the media (reports) right they played with twenty-eight guys versus a very physical Waianae team — who we scrimmaged — and beat them in the fourth quarter with twenty-eight guys, so that says a lot about their character and their makeup to be able to win a game in the fourth quarter says a lot about them. Physically, they got some big bodies over there and then skill-wise that running back (Alfred Failauga) is a hard, tough runner so we've got our work cut out."


SL: What will be a key matchup within the game Saturday afternoon?

Carvalho: "I think our secondary against their spread, run-and-shoot style, air-it-out offense. I think that'll be interesting to see because of the situation that we're in with a lot of key guys not playing, but we're also hoping that our front takes care of what they need to and hopefully we get a little bit of pressure on their quarterback and force him to make some bad reads, that's the goal anyway, to force them to make some mistakes."

Look: "I think for us everything starts up front, so can we manage their people up front, both offensively and defensively? You know, physically we're not going to overpower anybody, especially a team like Waipahu, so it's just being able to manage them and trying to control the tempo of the game."


Kickoff between the Marauders and Raiders is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday at Kozuki Stadium.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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