Kiaka Pio and the Leilehua Mules take on Cole Ichikawa and the Iolani Raiders Saturday night at Aloha Stadium. Michael Lasquero | SL

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As far as Leilehua coach Mark Kurisu is concerned, last week's bye was a much-needed one.

The Mules, ranked 10th in this week's ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Football Power Rankings and winners of their last three games, will return to the gridiron this weekend when they take on No. 9 Iolani in a matchup of one-loss contenders in Division I.

The game between the Mules (6-1) and Raiders (7-1) will kickoff at 5 p.m. Saturday at Aloha Stadium. It will be preceded by a D2 game between Pearl City (2-6) and PAC-5 (4-3) at 2 p.m. and followed by an Open Division contest between No. 4 Kahuku (5-2) and No. 2 Punahou (7-1).

Last time Leilehua took the field it resulted in a 41-13 win at Castle on Sept. 20. It has won its last three games since a 24-20 loss to Moanalua over the last weekend in August — a game that was originally scheduled for a week earlier but was pushed back a week due to electrical issues at Na Menehune's home field.

"(Last week) was supposed to be our second bye, but actually it was our first because of what happened with that Moanalua game, so the bye helped us just to let the bodies heal and let us take care of the academics," Kurisu said. "It's finals week, so our guys have got to study, but right now everything is going really well so we're excited."

Despite the 14-day layoff, there's zero concern of rust on Kurisu's part.

"They know where we're at in the season, so just a constant reminder of being appreciative of where we're at, where we get to go forward in a couple weeks, (because) some teams don't have that opportunity, so we're gonna make the most of that opportunity," said Kurisu, who is the team's defensive coordinator.

The Mules have been magnificent on the defensive side of the ball. Opponents have averaged just 10.9 points and 200.1 yards per game against them. They have posted three shutouts on the season, most recently a 41-0 rout of Aiea on Sept. 6. Leilehua opened the season with a 35-0 win at Farrington.

Iolani coach Wendell Look said the Mules' defense present a lot of problems.

"They're big and athletic up front and they're very quick," Look said. "Their athleticism is something that is worrisome. They move around a lot and like to disguise a lot of things so it's a big challenge for us this week."

The Raiders, however, are no slouches on offense. With second-year starter Jonah Chong (991 pass yards, 16 total TDs) at quarterback, the unit is scoring at a rate of 37 points per game despite being without standout wide receiver Carter Kamana (hand) for their last six games.

Iolani has utilized a balanced attack (144.8 rushing YPG/155.3 passing) and a multitude of weapons with Kamana missing extensive time. Receivers Wailoa Manuel (31 receptions, 533 yards, 3 TDs) and Cole Ichikawa (18-263-6), along with running backs Brody Logan Bantolina (82 carries, 494 yards, 10 TDs) and Brock Hedani (81-482-8) have led the way in the collective effort.

"I think everybody was worried when we did lose Carter, but then again that's what we try to emphasize and teach these guys is that, ‘hey, we're gonna face some adversity and it's next guy up; here's your turn,' " said Look, who also noted the recent contributions by Ryan Sunada (12.4 yards per catch) and Noah Gaudi (18.8).

"I think Sunada, Cole have taken on bigger roles, Gaudi has had to step up and then of course, Wailoa has really turned it on not only on the offensive side, but his special teams play, too, and then it helps that the offensive line has helped us establish kind of a run game, so that's really helped take the load and pressure off of Jonah and the passing game," Look said.

Kamana, who caught 85 passes for 961 yards and 8 TDs in 2018, sustained the injury when his hand got stuck in a face mask in the Moanalua game back on Aug. 10 — the Raiders' lone defeat this season.

"It was bad," Look said of the injury. "It's just kind of day-by-day, week-by-week, so we don't know if he's ready yet; He's still a little questionable."

Kurisu isn't confused as to why the Raiders have been able to overcome the loss of Kamana — or whatever else adversity comes their way, for that matter.

"Iolani is Iolani, you get what you see. They're tough kids, smart kids and they kind of remind of what the New England Patriots do, where they're just gonna out-execute you and they're not gonna make silly mistakes," Kurisu said. "Our whole goal is to match that type of focus and discipline where we just execute our game plan and stayed disciplined as we go throughout the game."

After a sometimes-rough start to the season for the Mules offensively, things have seemingly galvanized since Kekoa Turangan (825 pass yards, 15 total TDs) took over quarterbacking duties full-time. The senior has started the last three games and has completed 75.7 percent (40 of 66) of his passes for 714 yards and nine pass TDs to one interception in that stretch.

"I think the most exciting part is that we've gotten better and we've played a bunch of good teams. Defensively, I think we've been steady, but offensively we've been putting some things and seeing some growth and some success, so that's exciting," Kurisu said.

Leilehua is averaging 329 yards per game, including 205.1 passing, and 29.7 points per game.

Turangan's top target has been wide receiver Jayzon Ramos (36 catches, 583 yards, 6 TDs), while Jonathan Vasquez (13-230-4) and Kalei Akagi (16-218-3) have also chipped in. Akagi, who went from quarterback to receiver when Turangan became the starter, leads the team in scoring with seven total TDs on the season.

Look credited the Leilehua coaching staff, including offensive coordinator Andrew Manley, for successfully implementing the mid-season changes.

"This Leilehua team presents some different kind of looks and things that we need to emphasize and look to stop defensively," Look said.

The bye that the Mules are coming off of is another concern for Look.

"I think Mark and his staff are one of the most innovative and creative coaching staffs in the state — that's what makes them what they are — so you're gonna expect them to come up with some unique things to confuse us and put us in bad situations and then I think any time you can give them an extra week to prepare, that only makes them that much more dangerous," Look said.

Defensively, the Raiders are coming off of their best performance of the season in last Friday's 38-0 win over Radford, in which they held the Rams to just 61 yards of total offense.

For the season, opponents are averaging 14.1 points and 301.9 yards per game against Iolani.

"From the very start we kind of knew that our defensive unit, we were gonna have to kind of depend on them to set the tone for us because of the returnees and the experience that they have on that side of the ball, and so far this season they have been pretty consistent, but each week is a different challenge," said Look, whose team is riding a six-game winning streak.

Not that he's keeping track.

"We're playing pretty well. I mean, collectively in all three phases they've been pretty solid, but obviously there's always things that we can get better at. There's always huge room for improvement," said Look, who picked up his 200th career coaching victory earlier this season.

Saturday's game will be the first meeting between the teams since Sept. 8, 2018. Leilehua rallied from a six-point halftime deficit with 24 straight points to open the second half en route to a 31-20 win at Hugh Yoshida Stadium.

Kurisu said there's nothing from that game that his team can draw upon for this weekend's matchup.

"It's a clean slate. You can't worry about what happened in the past because it ain't gonna help you win," Kurisu said.

Look echoed the sentiment of his counterpart.

"Every year is different and I think they're a very different team from last year, but we're a different team too, so I think it's going to be a good matchup," Look said.