Kapaa hosts Kamehameha-Hawaii in a rare non-league matchup in October. Michael Lasquero | SL

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As far as Kamehameha-Hawaii first-year football coach Shaun Perry is concerned, opportunities like this are few and far between. Thus the across-the-state road trip that his team will undertake on its bye week.

In a rare mid-October non-league matchup of state-level contenders in Division II, Kamehameha-Hawaii (7-2 overall, 6-0 league) will play 12th-ranked Kapaa (4-1, 4-0) at Vidinha Stadium in Lihue Saturday.

Since a 1-2 start to the season, Kamehameha-Hawaii has reeled off six consecutive victories to open the Big Island Interscholastic Federation schedule. Its only losses were lopsided ones at the hands of D1 opponents in Iolani (47-10) and Hilo (54-10).  However, it has outscored its six league opponents by a combined margin of 297-26 and holds a one-game lead over second-place Hawaii Prep atop the BIIF D2 standings.

Kapaa sits in first place of the Kauai Interscholastic Federation and carries a four-game win streak. It has allowed just eight total points in its four league games and has an average margin of victory of more than 24 points during that stretch.

Back in mid-August, Kapaa took an off-island trip of its own, when it visited Sue D. Cooley Stadium for a non-league game against three-time defending D2 state champion Lahainaluna. The Lunas came away with a 21-18 win over the Warriors in the rematch of last year's state title game — which Lahainaluna won by an even narrower margin (34-32).

Kapaa has reached the D2 state final in three of the last four seasons, only to finish second each time.

We caught up with Perry and Kapaa sixth-year coach Philip Rapozo a few days before their teams face off on the Garden Isle.

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

Shaun Perry, Kamehameha-Hawaii coach: "I can use the word anxious, because we've been going at it for a while. We kind of feel like we're a pretty good team and we're getting better, but we're anxious to get to some other opponents and get to the BIIF championship game, so we're feeling anxious but in a positive way."

Philip Rapozo, Kapaa coach: "I think hungry. We're trying to get back to winning the KIF title again and try and get back, hopefully, into the (state) playoffs."

What does this week's non-league game provide at this juncture of the season?

Perry: "This game is like a preseason game that we get to play midseason, so there's no downsides, it's all positives for us. We get to travel, we get to see how the team responds to traveling — sleeping in a gym, going on a plane, having walk-throughs on a different campus — because we're hoping to be in the state tournament as the BIIF D2 state representative and this game might have some seeding implications potentially. We've gotten a lot of reps so we're not green in our preseason game like we were against Iolani or Hilo, but these guys (Kapaa) are good — this is a state champion D2 contender — so for us we're just really lucky, really happy to have the opportunity."

Rapozo: "I think it just gives us someone different during the season, which we haven't had since I've been around anyway, I've been in the program for 12 years and we've never done this before midseason or a non-league game so it gives us something different to look at and that extra game."

Which game this season has proved to be most beneficial for your team, regardless of the result?

Perry: "I'm going to go with the Iolani game, the very first preseason game. We had a good amount of guys that ended up not being eligible, so kids stepped up, but the players had to see that they're accountable, that they're accountable to each other and when you can't play that game and other people gotta do it and it shows. The score wasn't indicative of the growth that we had early on."

Rapozo: "I think the last one against Kauai High. We went into the half tied at zero and then we found a way to get it done, so that always helps."

Who has provided the leadership on your team? Who has been an unsung hero?

Perry: "Leadership, I've asked all the seniors to be leaders. There's 14 of them they all have a role to play as far as leadership goes and I look to them to help with that. Are they perfect every time? No, but they know that they need to step up. Some of those guys are (LB) Wilde Germano, (OL/DL) Luke Kaniho, (WR) Izayah Chartrand-Penera, guys that lead in their own way; some with words, some with actions, some with both. Unsung hero, besides the 14 seniors, the young guys that have stepped up to contribute, I couldn't be more proud of. We have sophomores and freshmen on this team that are contribute for a while, guys like Micah Mahiai, who plays running back and defensive line for us. He's a sophomore and he does what we ask, when we ask and he's a good kid, too. That's an unsung hero."

Rapozo: "I would go with our quarterback Kahanu Davis. I think his hard work on and off the field and just his mentality this season — he's a senior, he's been through everything already — and I can see how hungry he is to lead this team, I can see it in his eyes and his play and I think he's done a great job of leading. I think the unsung hero has to be (LB) Nikki Kamelamela. He's matured big time and he's just playing really great ball and being a great leader, something that I didn't expect out of him because of his personality. You know, he's a funny guy but he's turned it up a notch and he's proved that he can be a great leader."

What are your thoughts on this week's opponent and what it presents?

Perry: "Kapaa is a really good team and they're a state D2 contender, so what it presents is one of those challenges that our team cannot get on-island. Now, they're very similar to us in a sense that they do what they gotta do and their schedule is what it is, but they just grind away week after week so it seems to me like a really good matchup for us and it's good for us looking forward because we can learn a lot about ourselves. It presents a good challenge for the players and to opportunity to learn about ourselves at this point of the regular season."

Rapozo: "I think they're a really good team. I think they're probably one of the tougher teams in Division II. They look well-coached, they have some talent, size, so it's gonna be a challenge for us."

Fill in the blank. We will win Saturday's game if ___________.

Perry: "I'm going to give you the cliche coach's answer: If we score more points than them. But if we take care of the ball, we play within ourselves and we bounce back, because they're gonna make plays and we need to be able to make a few more plays than they do. Our players need to be able to ride out some of those waves of adversity that they're gonna be hit with and I mean that figuratively and literally because those kids are big and they're tough."

Rapozo: "We play good in all three phases: special teams, offense and defense. I think we gotta win the turnover battle, of course, you know, protect the ball and take away the ball at the same time, so I think if we can do that. I think special teams is actually really big for us. If we can win that, that will give us a great chance of winning of the game."

Kickoff between the teams — both nicknamed Warriors — is slated for 3 p.m. Saturday.