Bubbah Aina-Chaves and the undefeated Saints will pay a visit to Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium to face off with Sky Ogata and the Rough Riders, winners of six straight. ScoringLive photo illustration

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Big game? Same, same.

Despite Friday's much-anticipated showdown looming overhead, it's been business as usual for both the Roosevelt and Saint Francis football teams.

"For us, it's same old, same old," Rough Riders coach Kui Kahooilihala said. "We're taking the same approach, same approach as every week. Nothing's changed."

The situation for the Saints is much the same, according to coach Kip Akana.

"We're preparing like we do every week. We broke down film of the weekend on Monday and we're preparing," Akana said.

The game will not count in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II standings for the Rough Riders (8-1) and will have no bearing on any Interscholastic League of Honolulu postseason implications for the Saints (8-0), who have already locked up the league's lone berth in the six-team D2 state tournament.

Still — provided Roosevelt earns one of the OIA's two spots in states — it could provide of a preview of a couple of state tournament teams.

Saint Francis, one of just four remaining undefeated teams across the state, has outscored its opposition by a margin of 297 to 52 and moved this week into the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Power Rankings for the first time this season at No. 15.

Akana said the nine-game regular season has provided a lot of opportunity for improvement.

"The camaraderie of the boys has been big. This has been one of our longer seasons. We usually play six games and we're done. We've played eight games, (but) this will be our ninth game and I think the kids have had more time to jell and work with one another, and for the most part, I think that's something that has been the difference, is just the time and amount of games they're playing together," Akana said.

The Saints have been stingy on defense, limiting opponents to 6.5 points and fewer than 141 yards per game. Offensively, they average 37.1 points and more than 381 yards per game. While the numbers point to a staggering balance between the run (191.3 yards per game) and the pass (190.3), Akana said the emphasis is definitely on pounding the rock.

"We make no secret about it that we're a run-first team with the o-linemen that we have and the running back (Jonan Aina-Chaves) that we have," Akana said.

Aina-Chaves, a 5-foot-8, 170-pound junior, ranks second in D2 with 1,094 rushing yards and first in rushing touchdowns with 13. However, he did not play in 26-6 win over PAC-5 on Sept. 15 and also saw limited playing time in games against Pearl City and Kaimuki due to an injury.

"With (Aina-Chaves) going down for a few games, it forced us to expand on our offense and work on things we might not have had to and it's been a pleasant surprise," Akana said.

Aina-Chaves and company will be opposed by a Roosevelt defense that is allowing just under 153 yards per game, including 60.3 rushing.

In the trenches is where the game will be determined, Kahooilihala says.

"We got some good skills and Saint Francis, of course, they got good skill guys, too, but I think for us, we need to have our guys up front come to play. They need to come and be ready because those guys, Saint Francis, I mean, you guys seen their lines, you seen their rosters — they got big guys up front — so that's the key for us, is having these guys give push and battle up front and if we can get movement up front, I think we'll be all right," Kahooilihala said.

Akana also pointed to the line of scrimmage as a potential deciding factor.

"It would probably be our o-linemen against their d-linemen and their o-linemen against our defensive front. I believe most of the games are won and lost there, but they've got some good-sized kids there and they're physical, so it should be a good one," Akana said.

Kahooilihala said part of the difficulty in game-planning for Saint Francis is preparing for an offense with many moving parts.

"It's going to be real tough because these guys, they come out in different formations I think almost every down, so scouting-wise, it does make it difficult for the kids, but they just gotta be ready coming and just take it one down at a time," he said.

The Rough Riders have reeled off six consecutive wins since the lone blemish on their record: a 13-10 loss to Kaimuki on Aug. 17.

"It's just been about working together. The kids are getting it, they're playing with each other, playing as a team and everybody has a job, everybody knows what they need to do and they're just coming in and putting in work," Kahooilihala said. "We tell these kids that it's a process from the start of the season. We have this framework that we put together and inside that framework it's a process and then within that process it's all about responsibility, accountability and the kids understand that."

Quarterback Sky Ogata is coming off a pair of gaudy statistical performances. The 5-foot-8, 160-pound junior threw for 205 yards and three touchdowns on 17-of-28 passing and rushed for 97 yards and another score in a 39-6 win over McKinley on Sept. 28. He followed that up with a six-TD effort in last Friday's 49-14 road victory at Pearl City. Ogata rushed for 195 yards and four TDs on just nine carries and passed for another 107 yards and two more scores.

"Roosevelt has an experienced coaching staff. Coach Kui has been doing this for a long time and he's doing a good job with them. They've got athletes in the skill positions and they've got some big boys. I'm not sure how this one is going to play out," said Akana, who noted that there is still much room for improvement.

"The team is pretty confident. We've put together a few good games. They're a confident bunch but they know, as well as the coaches know, that we're nowhere near our potential and if we expect to go deep in the state tournament, we're going to have to put it together soon," Akana said.

Kickoff between the Rough Riders and Saints is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium.