Jayce Bareng and No. 13 Moanalua will play host to Michael Iaulualo and Waipahu Friday night in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I game. ScoringLive photo illustration

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The only two remaining unbeaten teams in the Division I ranks of the Oahu Interscholastic Association will cross paths in Salt Lake this weekend. 

First-place in what is proving to be an ultra-competitive middle tier will be at stake when Waipahu visits No. 13 Moanalua Friday night.

The Marauders (1-0) have just one game under their belt: a 24-16 win over Kailua back on Oct. 22. Na Menehune (3-0 overall, 2-0 league), meanwhile, will be playing their four game in as many weeks. 

"It's been a pretty good start and we've been fortunate to be three-and-oh; that's about as good as you can be," Moanalua coach Vince Nihipali said.

Nihipali's squad opened the season with a 26-6 non-league win over Damien, then followed that up with a come-from-behind 28-25 win over Aiea. It is coming off of a 49-26 win at Castle last Saturday. 

"This team has battled through some rough patches here and there and came out on top every time, so they've definitely shown some resiliency," Nihipali said. 

Moanalua's offense is averaging better than 34 points per game and features an emerging star in wide receiver Jayce Bareng, the lone freshman on the team. The 5-foot-6, 140-pound Saint Louis-transfer caught 10 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown against Aiea. Against Castle, he posted eight receptions for 138 yards and a TD. 

Bareng has 23 catches for 285 yards on the season, an average of 12.4 yards per catch; He also scored on a 60-yard punt return for touchdown against Damien. 

"That kid is special, no doubt," Nihipali said. "He's done a lot of pylon stuff and the fact that he came from Saint Louis, I think helps him, because he knows how to run routes, he knows how to catch ball, he knows how to go up and get it." 

But Nihipali believes it will take a balanced attack to beat the Marauders. 

"I'm a defensive guy and any team that can run the ball gives you a chance. You keep their offense off the field, while you gain some momentum, the boys are gaining confidence and then that opens up the pass game when the defense starts sneaking up a little bit," he said. 

That will be tough to do, Nihipali points out, against Waipahu's pair of behemoth defensive tackles in Elisha Fuiava and Sione Tamasoalii, who weight 342 and 340 pounds, respectively.

"That's six-hundred and eighty pounds of teenage angst," Nihipali joked.

"I think for us offensively we have to be able to run the ball, that's first and foremost, we have to cut down the turnovers and sustain drives and score points — I hate to be cliche about it, but it's really true," he said. 

Offensive line is an area of strength for Na Menehune. They are led by seniors Pila Goo Sun (6-0, 300), Mauga Tauiliili (6-1, 260), Saletai-Aneki Alauni-Toloumu (6-0, 300) and Logan Eteuati (5-11, 270). 

"Our o-line is very aggressive. They play well and they've been getting better every week," Nihipali said. 

On defense, the Menes have held opponents to an average of 19 points and 194 yards per game. 

"The defense has been really good. We've caused, I think, 10 turnovers this year, so they're aggressive, they're hungry, they fly to the ball — this is definitely a game-day defense," Nihipali said. "When the lights are on these guys turn it up to a whole new level. 

They will look to slow down Waipahu running back Michael Iaulualo, who ran for 190 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries against Kailua two weeks ago. The 5-foot-10, 184-pound senior averaged 6.8 yards per carry and also caught a touchdown pass. 

"He can kind of do it all," Marauders coach Bryson Carvalho said of Iaulualo. "At the JV level he played quarterback, running back, outside linebacker — so he's an athlete, for sure — but he's always been a pretty solid running back and he kind of displayed that against Kailua."

Iaulualo's father was a coach on the Waipahu staff, but sadly passed away since the previous football season in 2019. 

"Michael really uses that as his motivation; He really wants to make his parents proud. He's one of very few players playing that has no parents that are alive, so it's very inspirational in that way, but he has a really good head on his shoulders. He's determined, he's one of our team captains and he works really hard," Carvalho said. 

The Marauders piled up 404 yards of total offense against Kailua, while the defense registered four sacks, three fumbles recoveries and an interception. The Surfriders were held to minus-1 yard of total offense in the loss.

"I liked the way our defense played: they flew around, they were real aggressive, had high energy," Carvalho described. "That same energy radiates to the whole team, which is good because it just kind of gets the juices flowing every day and at practice, so I couldn't be happier with that side of the ball."

In addition to his two interior defensive linemen, Carvalho also pointed out the intangible contributions of middle linebacker Romeo Tagata, a 6-foot-1, 227-pound junior. 

"I'm sure (Fuiava and Tamasoalii) are a headache for any (offensive coordinator) because they're hard to move and they kind of mess things up a little bit in the middle, so those guys are real solid to have, but also I think we really rely on our leader, Romeo Tagata. He started a few games in 2019 as a freshman and he's grown tremendously physically and maturity-wise, he's grown so much and he's fitting well into a leadership role," Carvalho explained. "The guys really take after him and they really rally off his leadership, so he's a blessing to have on that side of the ball."

Waipahu is coming off of a bye week and will have another bye next week, before playing three straight weeks to close out the five-game OIA Division I schedule.

With no game to prepare for last week, the Marauders took the opportunity to do some team bonding activities. 

"We're not allowed to have camps still so the kids can't sleep over yet, so that was good just to help develop the brotherhood, develop the aspect of the team where we can just come together," Carvalho said. 

He went on, "The teams I've coached, from the get-go it was just to establish a solid relationship — my whole mindset is, ‘if you love the guy next to you, you'll do anything for him' — so last week was really focused on bringing them together and developing that trust in each other, along with, of course, growing on-the-field wise, but I think if we got anything out of last week, it was really bringing the team together to trust each other and play for each other."

While Waipahu has been building up to Friday's game — its first in 14 days — Moanalua will look to keep its hot streak going. It opened last week's game against Castle with a 74-yard kickoff return for touchdown by Andy Canencia. 

"That's always a big thing because you get the momentum swing right away and if you're on the opposite end of that that's a little deflating," Nihipali said. "That's a little tough to come back from that, but if you're on other end of that it gets your team really excited and you start to believe and you get more confident really quick."

Both coaches agree that there is a lot of parity amongst the six OIA D1 teams. 

"I think we're the most wide-open division in the state, really," Carvalho said. "I mean, every game is a critical game."

Nihipali added, "I don't think there's a real big spread between the teams; I think they're all close. It's a good division."

Kickoff between the Marauders and Na Menehune is scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m.