Classic conditions are prevailing upon the Punahou campus.

Coach Kale Ane is optimistic about his squad, but as always, completely disconnected from the hype machine that prep football in the social-media era can be. Ane understands, though, that life as the defending champion in a state that is obsessed and/or addicted to football — brings attention, period.

His staff is loaded with experience and talent ranging from former Damien head coach Dean Nakagawa to former Kahuku head coach Reggie Torres. The name Punahou lures talent from all over, including the North Shore, but some of the talent departs as well. Defensive lineman/fullback Pena Fitisemanu left to finish his prep career back home at Kahuku.

But there’s so much potential, even with the graduation of key seniors. For Ane and his staff, the key words are: work in progress. Regardless of a preseason No. 1 ranking.

"We’re still a work in progress. I’m pretty happy with our first group. We’re trying to develop our backups. We’re very young and there’s a lot of things we can improve on. The main thing is the kids are working hard and learning their assignments," Ane said.

Larry Tuileta helped usher in a balanced offensive attack last year, then went to the air for 1,089 yards and 12 touchdown passes in wins over Kamehameha, Farrington and Mililani to close out the title run.

Stepping in for Tuileta, now a freshman at USC, is Ephraim Tuliloa, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound junior. In five games last year, the left-hander passed for 203 yards and two touchdowns (18-for-25).

"Ephraim is big, athletic. He got to play a little bit last year. We’re trying to force-feed him a lot of things and get him comfortable by setting up the running game and take the pressure off him. The defense has done a good job," Ane said.

Tuliloa doesn’t feel like he’s won the starting job yet, but he has poise in the midst of Punahou’s up-tempo offense.

"Hopefully. Our teammates are open and responding together," he said. "The coaches do a good job at practice making sure we’re comfortable with everything. Whatever the coaches call, we roll with it. I’m not going to lie. The (pressure) is there, but we’ll stick together as a team and work together day by day."

A scrimmage with Farrington on Saturday was a nice step forward, Ane said.

"Our three quarterbacks did pretty good. We’re pleased with that. Farrington’s tough and physical. They’ve got a big defensive front. They didn’t blitz as much, but our coverages and the safeties are a little different from theirs, so it’s good to see someone else," he said.

The Buffanblu’s experiments with offset-I, pistol formations was fun to watch. What began as a tight set gradually opened up wide in the backfield while still maintaining the same principles. Wayne Taulapapa benefited quite well. As a sophomore, he rushed for 1,006 yards (6.2 per attempt) and 14 touchdowns in 11 games.

"Wayne is looking good. He’s the real deal. He works hard and he’s earned everything he gets. When you have somebody like that, the line tends to block harder as well," Ane said.

There are new faces on the offensive line following the graduation of all-state tackle Davis Miyashiro-Saipa’ia, Kainoa McCauley and Jared Caputy. Semisi Uluave (6-5, 310) returns for his senior season as one of the top offensive linemen in the islands. It is a unit that is asked to go into pass pro or power rushing at any time, with the ability to run the option when asked.

If the O-line progresses, that’s the X factor Punahou has offensively, something few other teams can do as effectively: dominate with the passing and running games. Kanawai Noa, a two-time All-State wide receiver, is healthy and explosive. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound senior hauled in 51 spirals for 1,092 yards and 10 touchdowns last season — despite an injured hand late in the year — and is on track again in preseason after beating Farrington’s coverage for an 82-yard touchdown.

"Well, shoot, it’s Kanawai Noa. If you throw it up, he’ll get it. It’s always good for a quarterback to have a receiver he can fully trust," Tuliloa said.

One question is whether Punahou’s secondary targets will match the production of last year’s veteran crew. Gone are Luke Morris, Dylan Combs, Trent Sitar and tight end Dakota Torres. As a group, they combined for 42 receptions, 1,382 yards and 13 touchdowns. Keala Martinson had an impressive touchdown catch from Tuliloa on a fade route against Farrington. Seniors Slater Hobbs and Micah Ma’a project as key parts of the receivers unit.

"Our guys (in the past) were consistent and clutch," Ane said. "We expect a lot of people to be aware of where Kanawai is, so we need to develop the other guys and the quarterback needs to develop chemistry with them as well. That’s part of the progress. It’s hard not to go to Kanawai because he’s so consistent. He’s a huge plus and that sets up everything else."

Defensively, it’s tough to feel sorry for a unit that returns towering Canton Kaumatule (6-7, 290). But several key contributors graduated, including playmakers Joseph Augafa and Tua Tuinei. Losing Fitisemanu could be another key. Farrington was most effective lining up in the I and gashing between the tackles, though Punahou played reserves extensively.

The unit will fare better when lineman Joseph Saula (6-0, 270) is on the field full-time. Also back are linebackers Ronley Lakalaka, Saitui Moea’i and Kalama Chung. As the defense solidifies, the Buffanblu have the luxury of riding their ground attack to keep potentially potent offenses like Saint Louis and Kamehameha on the sideline.

Punahou is solid on special teams again. Alexander Trifonovitch and John Toner are in a battle for place-kicker duties.

NO. 1 PUNAHOU

Coach: Kale Ane, 109-53 (15th season)
Last year: 11-0
Best year: 2013, 11-0 under Kale Ane
Worst year: 1983, 1-10 under Mike Pavich All-State players returning: Ronley Lakalaka, Kanawai Noa (first team), Semisi Uluave (2012 first team), Wayne Taulapapa, Boyd Chung (second team), Joseph Saula, Saitui Moeai (third team).
All-State players lost: Larry Tuileta, Davis Miyashiro-Saipaia (first team); Joseph Augafa, Charles McDonald (third team).

See Hawaiiprepworld.com for complete list of All-State first teamers