Maui's Solomone Tongi tries to avoid a Hilo tackler during a 2017 Division I state semifinal game. Pete Caldwell | SL

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Hilo's Guyson Ogata takes a tumble in the Vikings' season opener against Campbell. CJ Caraang | SL

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Fast forward a year later, Maui and Hilo will find themselves on opposite sidelines once again.

The ninth-ranked Vikings begin their quest to defend its Division I state title as it opens up the 20th Annual First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Football State Championships against the Maui Interscholastic League champion Sabers Friday night at Keaau High.

Hilo won last year's semifinal game against Maui, 26-7, en route to winning its first-ever football state championship.

Both coaches have an idea of what to expect from each other despite the personnel changes.

"A physical game," Hilo coach Kaeo Drummondo said of what to expect from the Sabers. "I expect it to be similar to last year where they bring a physical brand of football and being ready to play."

"They're tough, they're going to come after it," Maui defensive coordinator Rodney Figueroa said. "They're the defending champs and want to keep that title. They're well-coached and prepared."

Hilo's only loss of the season came at the hands of No. 5 Campbell back on Aug. 4. The Vikings brought 29 players, but the 54-14 result gave the players and staff a great learning opportunity heading back to the Big Island.

Hilo's Guyson Ogata takes a tumble in the Vikings' season opener against Campbell. CJ Caraang | SL    Purchase image

"Typically in the preseason we schedule tough, physical, athletic teams. We came in and played these guys, it was a rough 48 minutes, but for the players that played, they took a lot from that game," Drummondo said of the preseason game.

Since that loss, the Vikings ran the table in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation and won eight-straight games including one by forfeit to clinch another league title.

For Hilo, Drummondo commented that the defensive front is one of the position groups that has made the biggest strides throughout the season.

"The front we have Kayden Alameda, Kaoha Wilson, Malu Wong, Joshua Niro, Najeah Brown and Tysen Kaniaupio. We're rotating six players in. Coming into the year, none of them started last year. Most of them played JV and came in as a question mark. But they have improved steadily throughout the year and we're happy with the way they're playing right now."

Drummondo feels his most experienced position group on the defense is his secondary.

"This is the experienced group. The core four started in their sophomore years. Elijah Apao is at corner and plays some safety, Kainalu Lewis plays safety and linebacker. Kalen White plays linebacker and safety, Kahiau Walker plays safety for us. Kahiau is a senior and the rest are juniors. Coming in this would be the experienced group and would have to buoy everyone until the younger guys came around," Drummondo said of his secondary.

Other playmakers on defense that Drummondo is happy with their progress are call ups Klyson Kaiwi and Kapana Kanae-Kane.

"Klyson (Kaiwi) was new into the program and has developed and taken control of the corner position and has played fairly well. Another player we brought up in the middle of the year at free safety, Kapana has helped out in the secondary. We're excited for those two younger guys getting experience," Drummondo said.

After losing All-Hawaii running back Kahale Huddleston to graduation last season, Kaleo Ramos has stepped up nicely to fill the running back position and has rushed for 591 yards and five scores this season.

"For our offense it's nice to have a down-hill runner, that's what Kaleo has offered us. He's a hard-nose runner and its helped us balance out the offense," Drummondo said.

Quarterback Kyan Miyasato continues to make strides and thrown for 1,307 yards, 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions so far this season. Both Miyasato and Ramos were not available for the Campbell game.

"Kyan has progressed well. A lot of it was getting reps and timing with his receivers. Another part is getting comfortable with his offensive line, understanding the protections and making the calls and whatnot. It's been a nice steady progression and helped calm the offense down," Drummondo said.

Kyler Aguiar is a dynamic athlete that can get into space. In their opener against Campbell, he ripped off a 75 yard touchdown run and finished the game with 126 rushing yards. He leads the Vikings in receiving with 504 yards and seven touchdowns. He also has 224 rushing yards and three scores behind Ramos.

"For us it's about scheming different ways to get him the ball and get him in space and make plays for us," Drummondo said.

Maui has seen their fare share of highs and lows this season. There was a September stretch where the Sabers won three-straight, but when October rolled around it lost the next three-straight games.

"We started the season good, but hit bumps, injuries, things happened. We hit adversity and had to fight our way out of it. We had to keep fighting," Figueroa said.

"They came through, offensive guys came to the defensive side. Some guys played both ways. They wanted to win so bad, so they were willing to sacrifice to go both ways."

Faced with an all-or-nothing matchup to clinch the league's lone state tournament berth, Maui pulled off the win against Baldwin, 29-20 on Nov. 2. That game itself epitomized what the Sabers dealt with throughout the season.

"They knew it would be a big game against Baldwin. We fell behind, but the kids kept fighting and they kept going and believed in it in the third and fourth quarter," Figueroa said.

Naia Nakamoto leads the MIL in rushing with 1,353 yards and 16 touchdowns. He rushed for 126 yards and the Sabers' only score, which was a 67-yard run, in last year's state tournament game.

"Naia (Nakamoto) is a heck of a runner, you have to contain him and team tackle him," Drummondo said after seeing Nakamoto up close last year.

"He's a tough kid," Figueroa said of Nakamoto. "He loves to run the ball. He goes hard everyday in practice and loves running. It took time for him gel with the offensive line. They hit that point where he was making those big runs and had big games."

The Sabers go with junior Brex Delray as their signal caller and he has thrown for 696 yards, six touchdowns and nine interceptions up to this point in the season. Taelen Bates, also a junior and transfer from Baldwin, shared some quarterbacking duties in the season.

"We run a spread. Brex is a sophomore quarterback. He takes command, he may make mistakes, but what I like is he'll comeback and correct himself. He's taking charge of the offense and getting better and better each game," Figueroa said.

"Taelen sat out last year. He is coming through, he might be the better passer but it's a matter of learning the system and getting the reads down."

On the defensive side of the ball, Figueroa commented that there wasn't really a position group or players that stood out the most, but it took a team effort for all 11 players to get on the same page.

"Defense this year is young, we had two returnees: Atu Falekaono and Sione Lolohea so we had to rebuild from them with a lot of new guys. It took time to gel for the defense to come together. Once the defense came together, we were picking things up. We persevered through that rocky three-game losing streak by backing up the offense," Figueroa said.

"Defensively, they're big again and they eat up those inside gaps. You have to generate some offense. You have to get players in space," added Drummondo.

Kickoff is slated at 7 pm at Keaau High School.