Hilo High’s football team huddled around coach Kaeo Drummondo, turned and then sang the school alma mater like the Vikings always do after a practice a day before the game.
Then they went their separate ways.
Next stop: Aloha Stadium and a chance at the second consecutive HHSAA Division I championship.
“Shoot, at the end of the day it’s one game, 48 minutes,” Drummondo said. “The only thing that matters is executing the play that you are doing and the next play.
“I’m sure there are a lot of kids who are sick of hearing me talk, but like I tell them all the time, we’re hard on you guys because we want you to be prepared.”
The BIIF champion and top-seeded Vikings (9-1) say they are ready for their 4:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday against OIA champion Waipahu (9-4), and ready to end a journey that began, for some of them, just after the Super Bowl in February.
“Practices have been hard, deadly,” junior linebacker Kalen White said. “We have been working extra, overtime.”
Both teams enter after overcoming self-inflicted wounds in the semifinals two weeks ago. Hilo, which is playing its third game in a row after a two-week break, beat Maui 38-25 despite six turnovers, while the Marauders survived a whopping 20-plus penalties to edge Iolani 20-19.
That was quite a turnaround from Waipahu’s 55-14 loss to Iolani in August, and the Marauders, who seek their first state title after moving up from Division II, have won four in a row, also avenging an earlier loss to Leilehua.
Drummondo called the Marauders “long and athletic.”
“Up front, they are like Maui, but maybe a little more athletic,” Drummondo said. “They can run a little better, but they are just as physical and can hit you.
“You have to understand that you have to come out and match that intensity.”
The Vikings defense can expect a steady diet of Waipahu running back Alfred Failauga. The 5-foot-11, 183-pound junior surpassed 1,000 yards on the season when he ran a 38 times for 172 yards against Iolani, including a go-ahead 16-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
“We have to shut down the run and force them to pass the ball,” White said.
Junior quarterback Cody Marques has thrown as many interceptions as touchdown passes, but like Hilo’s Kyan Miyasato, he can spread the ball to myriad playmakers. Waipahu has four players who have made at least 20 receptions.
“When you concentrate on the run you have to worry about (split backs) Matthew Fiesta and (Branson Jay Reyes),” Drummondo said. “They are very similar to (Hilo’s Guyson) Ogata.”
One of the bell cows for Waipahu defensively is senior Deacon Kapea, who Drummondo feels is one of the best safeties in the state.
Against Iolani, Drummondo said the Marauders featured a heavy dose of cover 2 defense, which allows safeties like Kapea to come up and make plays.
In a strength vs. strength matchup, Hilo’s passing game – receivers Ogata, Kalae Akui and Fiki Aguiar have become an almost interchangeable three-headed monster of sorts – will try try beat Waipahu’s aggressive safety play.
“Everybody is a big part of the (offense),” Akui said. “We have to get the ball out fast and open them up so (running back) Kaleo (Ramos) can get the ball .”
Hilo is the team going for the repeat, but it would be understandable if big-city Waipahu looked at the Vikings as a little bit of a unknown – or anonymous as one Hilo assistant put it Friday.
Last season, everyone in the state knew who running back Kahale Huddleston was before the calender turned September, so it was little surprise when he helped spearhead a 35-19 win against Damien in the state final.
This season, Hilo is more diverse and perhaps more dangerous, though it’s taken some time for the Vikings to get there.
“Our (offensive) line got better from when we started, Kaleo is running a lot more and Kyan is making better reads,” White said of the offense he has to go up against in practice.
Said Akui: “Our relationships weren’t as sound, but it’s better now.
The week has already turned out better in one respect for Drummondo in comparison to the 2017 final
He was sick as dog last year after going to Oahu for a midweek news conference, but he looked fit and spry Friday, comfortable in the knowledge that his team was prepared.
“We have to get the back-to-back,” Akui said. “No matter what the stats, we have to win.”