Winless Castle hopes to notch its first victory as it travels to Waipahu for an OIA Division I battle Friday night. ScoringLive photo illustration

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Perhaps no team has had as tumultuous a start to the year as Waipahu.

After the high of a 34-13 win over Open-Division Waianae to kick off the season, the Marauders were brought back down to Earth with a 55-14 defeat at Iolani a week later.

Fast forward nearly two weeks and the rout at the hands of the Raiders turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

"I thought the Iolani game was a wake-up call," said Waipahu coach Bryson Carvalho, whose team rebounded with a 37-19 road win over Radford the following weekend.

The Marauders played with less than 30 players for each of their first two games for a variety of reasons, but Carvalho did not use it as an excuse for the lopsided result.

"I mean, regardless of the situation we were in as a team, that was our worst loss in three years, so I think any time something like that happens to you, it serves as a wake-up call. I'm almost glad it happened because I could sense our guys were overconfident and kind of arrogant and kind of cocky going into that game, so when you're put in your place you're forced to work at it and improve yourself and I think that's where we're at as a team right now," Carvalho said.

After being shutout in the first half against Iolani, the Waipahu offense got off to a hot start against Radford with a 23-point first quarter — although they were aided by a safety late in the period, as well.

The Marauders finished with 472 yards of total offense in a relatively balanced effort. First-year starting quarterback Cody Marques passed for 268 yards and a touchdown and the running back duo of Jayven Reyes and Alfred Failauga ran in two scores apiece against the Rams.

Failauga, who has been the workhorse back the past two seasons, only had to carry the ball 15 times last week, as Reyes — a 5-foot-7, 154-pound junior — picked up 129 rushing yards on 21 attempts.

It's a combination that Carvalho is hoping will keep Failauga's legs fresh deep into the season.

"Him not having to carry everything that is definitely nice when we're able to kind of spread it around. Our slots are pretty good, too. They're real shifty and we kind of use them a lot, so we're slowly starting to add more formations now that we have everybody back, so that's good that we're able to spread the ball out a little more," Carvalho said.

Carvalho also noted his satisfaction with the play of the offensive line, a group that was largely inexperienced entering the year.

"They're coming along really well. I think there's still a lot they've gotta get better at, but in terms of playing together and the communication — especially pre-snap with calling out the blitzes and stunts to make sure everybody is on the same page and picked up up front — they're doing very well and it's been good to see that," Carvalho said.

Others have taken notice of the team's start, including Castle coach John Hao.

"They're a great team," said Hao, whose Knights (0-3 overall, 0-2 league) will face off against the Marauders (2-1, 1-0) in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I game Friday night.

The teams were originally scheduled to play last Friday, but due to Hurricane Lane, it was pushed back a week.

That's just fine by Hao.

"Actually it was a good thing that we had that break last week because we had some key guys injured, but we're very close to actually getting this team moving in the right direction," said Hao, whose team suffered an average of more than 43 points per game through their first three contests.

While the numbers may be somewhat skewed with each of its first three opponents utilizing pass-heavy offenses, Castle has allowed nearly 354 passing yards per game.

Hao is hopeful that issue has been remedied since the Knights last took the field in a 37-19 loss at Leilehua on Aug. 18.

"If you look at every game that we've played so far, every game we lost on the defensive side of the ball — all on long passes — so we were having breakdowns in defensive coverages. They were confused and not saying anything, so one guy thinks they're covering a guy and another guy thinks he's covering the same guy and nobody is saying anything, so the bye gave us a chance to slow things down and clear up the confusion that we had for three straight games, but we'll see how it goes this week because we've had a good two weeks of practice and the coaches and kids feel like we're finally on the same page," Hao said.

That's not to say that Castle hasn't had its issues on the offensive side of the ball either, where it is averaging fewer than 120 total yards — and one rushing yard — per game.

"We've got to clean some things up and we just gotta protect our quarterback and complete some passes," Hao said.

Among those returning from injury for Friday's game is Austyn Acosta, one of three players Hao has used at quarterback this season along with fellow-senior Samuel Judd and junior Kanaipono Kahala-Giron.

Hao said he expects all three guys to play against Waipahu.

"Right now that is still up in the air. We don't have a steady quarterback that is actually doing his part, so we're still trying to find one of those three guys to step up and be a leader," Hao said.

Regardless of who is at the controls Friday, Carvalho is cautious about the Knights offense.

"I think they're a great team and their record definitely doesn't indicate how good they are. They kind of remind me of Iolani, so I've been pulling my hair out for the last two weeks, but they're scrappy. They may not be the biggest team, but they kind of remind me of that Iolani style where they spread the ball around and they're fast and they'll play hard," Carvalho said.

After having to defend the wide-open offenses of Iolani and Radford in back-to-back weeks, the Marauders will face another four-wide attack from Castle. Carvalho is hoping that familiarity will play to his team's favor.

"It helps a little bit, but the other thing that concerns me is their defense has created a lot of turnovers and a lot of scores off of turnovers — and when they don't (score), they put the ball in position for their offense to take over — so they play great defense, as well, so we have our work cut out for us on both sides of the ball," Carvalho said.

Kickoff is scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m. at Waipahu's Masa Yonamine Athletic Complex.