Konawaena football coach Aaron Nagata owns a photography business in Kealakekua. For him, there is only one picture-perfect image he's thinking about for Friday: a victory over Campbell.

Nagata said taking photos is a "hobby turned business."

On Friday, he hopes his Wildcats can take care of business against visiting Campbell, the No. 4 seed, in the first round of the First Hawaiian Bank Division II State Football Championships.

"Every place we go to we run into people in the community who are backing us up," Nagata said. "For the football team, it's a community thing that we try to bring everybody in and enjoy it all. It's a talked-about thing more so this year. The BIIF was won by Kealakehe (in DI) and Konawaena, both West Hawai'i schools. We're hoping the pride comes back to West Hawai'i."

Nagata, in his second year as Wildcats coach, also pointed out Konawaena was a Big Island Interscholastic Federation powerhouse roughly 20 years ago.

"You hear about Konawaena back in the 80s," he said.

SABERS PASS-HAPPY

Campbell football coach Amosa Amosa, in his first season, found the sure-fire way to make his receivers happy: install the run-and-shoot offense.

The Sabers are led by Lalo Respicio, who leads the state with a 185.8 passer efficiency rating and 31 touchdown passes. Receivers Arthur Aiwohi, Daniel Masifilo and Samson Anguay all rank in the top 6 in yards receiving in Division II.

"With the offense we have, a lot of our players are having fun because you're talking about the conversion of a running attack to a pass-happy offense," Amosa said. "Our receivers are very elated now as play-makers on offense."

Respicio has completed 155 of 251 passes for 2,630 yards, which ranks third in the state. He has thrown only six interceptions for Campbell, the O'ahu Interscholastic Association White champion.

Aiwohi ranks third in D-II with 844 yards receiving, Masifilo is fifth with 687 yards and Anguay is sixth with 628 yards for Campbell (10-1), ranked No. 10 in The Advertiser's Top 10 poll. The trio also is ranked Nos. 2 through 4 in D-II in yards per reception. Anguay has caught 31 passes with an average of 20.3 yards per reception; Masifilo is at 36 receptions/19.1 average; and Aiwohi is at 49 receptions/17.2 average.

"We know we have our work cut out," Nagata said. "They have a passing attack and we're looking forward to it. Our boys are excited and looking forward to this Friday's game."

Nagata pointed out Konawaena, the BIIF champion, has already faced run-and-shoot teams — Kealakehe, Waiakea and Kohala — this season.

WILDCATS BALANCED

The Wildcats run a "balanced attack," according to Nagata.

"We want to open up the field to get our opposing defense guessing what the next play is going to be," he added. "We don't want to be predictable."

Konawaena (10-2) hopes to get a boost with the return of starting quarterback Thomas Deniz, who separated his throwing shoulder Nov. 1 against Hawai'i Prep. Deniz had completed 65 of 156 passes for 1,005 yards and eight touchdowns prior to the injury.

"He's a fierce competitor who wants to be back at the start of our upcoming game against Campbell," Nagata said.

If Deniz can't go, Sam Unger will continue to fill in at quarterback, according to Nagata.

Unger, who is fourth in D-II with 72 points scored, also plays slotback. If Unger starts at slot, "we'll try to get him the ball as much as possible," Nagata said.

Nagata also said a couple of offensive linemen should return from injury Friday.

"Our offensive line is one of our strengths," he said. "We have a couple of our starting seniors back on our offensive line in Kellan Waitley and Daven Haalilio."

GETTING DEFENSIVE

Amosa, the former offensive coordinator at 'Aiea, said the Sabers will be aggressive on defense with multiple blitz packages and man-to-man coverage in the secondary.

"Although I'm a very offensive-minded kind of guy, it's been our defense that set the tone for us this year," he said. "Coach Viavia Manuma (the defensive coordinator) has done a tremendous job running our blitzing, attacking kind of defense. With the type of personnel we have, it fits in perfect for what he has."

Linebacker/strong safety Isaac Torres leads the Sabers in tackles; free safety Kevin Faller is "pound-for-pound one of the hardest hitters we've got," according to Amosa; and defensive tackle Christian Keli'i is being recruited by the University of Colorado.

Konawaena's Nagata said simply: "Defensively, we need to get 11 guys to the ball. They have good offensive skill persons that we're really going to have to wrap up and contain."

The Wildcats' top defenders are linebackers Mikey Suber and Tyler Deniz, defensive ends Kawika Karrati and Kaulana Volkoff, and safety Daniel Royce.

The Campbell/Konawaena winner plays No. 1 seed 'Iolani, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion, in the semifinals Nov. 28 at Roosevelt.