Football season starts tonight

LIHUE — That time of the year has come once again.

The high school football preseason starts today as Kauai High School’s varsity football team hosts Kalaheo, of the Oahu Interscholastic Association, for an interleague matchup at 7 p.m. tonight at Vidinha Stadium.

The Red Raiders are the defending Kauai Interscholastic Federation champs, but the team heads into the 2018-19 season with new leadership under first-year head coach Jason Apilado.

“When the lights go up and we’re on, hey, it’s game time,” Apilado said Thursday. “I’m focused and a little nervous. Yeah, it’s my debut. But after all is said and done, it’s never about me. As I said before, it’s about these kids and getting them to be successful. We’re going to see firsthand where we’re at tomorrow night and get a pretty good look.”

Apilado said he’ll use this game to evaluate the current squad. But for the team, it’s go-time.

“I’m approaching this game as it’s preseason. Yes, it’s a game, and the boys are fired up and taking it pretty serious because it’s the start of the season,” Apilado said. “But for me, it’s pretty much take a look at everything — assess where our needs are, assessing basically all aspects from special teams, offense and defense, and giving everybody the opportunity. We’re going to try to get everybody into the game and see how they react to live-game situations.

“Yes, we want to come out and be competitive. I’m not going to say that we’re fully ready and at 100 percent, but it’s already here. We’re just going to put our best foot forward and we what our kids can do.”

Kapaa High School will begin its preseason Saturday night. The Warriors will host Lahainaluna, of the Maui Interscholastic League, at 7 p.m. at Vidinha Stadium.

Lahainaluna won the last two Division II state championships.

“It’s been a long time. It feels like forever. The way the season went last year, you just want to get back to work,” Kapaa head coach Philip Rapozo said. “We’re excited to go after somebody else instead of ourselves.”

The Warriors and Lunas, though they didn’t play last season, had quite the history in the few years prior as both teams faced each other several times in preseason and postseason play.

The last time they played was in the 2016 Division II state championship game.

Kapaa lost to Lahainaluna in that 2016 title game. The Warriors, though, did beat the Lunas in the preseason earlier in 2016.

“Two-time state-defending champs, man,” Rapozo said. “They’re the top dogs in Division II. We always want to play good teams in the preseason. Nowadays, you call it non-league rather than preseason. Fortunate to get that game. It’s going to be a challenge for our team, but we’re excited about that.”

Waimea High School will have to wait another week to kickoff its season. The Menehune will travel off-island to play Honokaa, of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, on Aug. 10 at 7 p.m.

Waimea head coach Jason Caldeira said he’s been raring to go since preparations started. But now with the season looming, he aims to take advantage of the extra week.

“It’s always the opposite for me. It’s like, there’s never enough time to get ready,” Caldeira said. “At the beginning of the year, I’m always like, ‘Man, I can’t wait.’ Then the nearer I get to the first game, it’s like, ‘Man, there’s never enough time to get ready.’”

The Menehune coach added with a few seasons under his belt, he now views the preseason differently.

“In my first year, my beginning years, as a coach, I used to see it as, ‘The season is starting now,’” Caldeira said. “I think this year, I’ve been a little bit more patient with myself and my expectations. I just really want to make sure that we’re preparing ourselves right for the KIF (regular season).”