The Baldwin Bears don’t play football in the OIA Red West, but are as familiar with the Leilehua Mules as anyone.

The two football teams have met three years in a row in the state tournament. When the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division I State Championships kick off on Friday, the Mules and Bears will square off yet again.

Baldwin coach A.J. Roloos found the quirky scheduling uncanny, to say the least.

"We were hoping to face somebody new, but what’s done is done. It’s actually good because we actually know each other," Roloos said. "They know what we do and we know what they do."

Roloos and his counterparts gathered yesterday morning at the hospitality room of Aloha Stadium for the annual tournament press conference. Baldwin (9-1, 8-0 Maui Interscholastic League) is a dark-horse contender, a team that has been fortified by its defense. Still, the Bears were not in the Star-Advertiser Top 10 for much of the season.

"This defense is not as good as the one in ’07, but they’re athletic and they’re big," Leilehua coach Nolan Tokuda said, drawing a comparison to Baldwin’s 2007 team, which featured defensive player of the year Kaluka Maiava at linebacker.

Leilehua (7-3, 7-2 Oahu Interscholastic Association) has been on statewide TV a few times, which could help the Bears. The Mules have traveled for this first-round matchup to the Valley Isle three years in a row.

The Leilehua-Baldwin winner will face the second seed, Saint Louis (9-1, 7-0 Interscholastic League of Honolulu), in a semifinal at Aloha Stadium on Nov. 19.

The other first-round D-I matchup will pit Kealakehe and Waianae. With Kahuku’s departure from the postseason due to an OIA ruling on an ineligible player, Waianae is alive and well in the state-title picture despite losing a third-place game to Leilehua on Saturday.

Kealakehe and Waianae have met in recent years in the postseason on the Big Island. Kealakehe (10-1, 8-0 Big Island Interscholastic Federation) has not traveled off island this fall, but Waianae (4-7, 4-5 OIA) has struggled at home lately. The Seariders are 1-3 at Raymond Torii Field, but no BIIF team has won a D-I state-tournament game to date.

The Kealakehe-Waianae winner will play Mililani in a semifinal. Waianae has split two games with Mililani this season.

The D-II chase will also begin Friday with OIA White champion Kaimuki on the road to play Kamehameha-Hawaii.

Warriors coach David Baldwin was comfortable with the media attention in his first go-round in the state tourney.

"Kaimuki is good. Deep. Talented. They play hard," he said. "They’ve got size and athleticism and they get to the ball and pursue with a lot of passion."

Bulldogs coach Clint Onigama’s team won the OIA White title on Friday with a 48-12 win over Kalaheo. Kaimuki (10-1, 10-0) entered the Top 10 last week for the first time this year at No. 10.

"Execution-wise, we’re approaching where we want to be," the second-year head coach said. "They’re a big team. They’ve got athletes. They remind me of, maybe Pearl City in some ways. McKinley, in that they’ve got good size on the line."

Kauai (7-1, 5-1 KIF) will host Kalaheo in the other D-II opener on Saturday afternoon. The Red Raiders have adapted to a wishbone offense to maximize talent at running back. Coach Derek Borrero has concerns about his foe this week.

"They’re tough kids with 25, 27 kids who can go both ways, and that’s very impressive," he said of Kalaheo.

Kalaheo coach Chris Mellor hopes his team gets back to a winning formula during the road trip to Lihue. Kalaheo (6-4, 6-4) hasn’t seen a wishbone offense in ages.

"It’s been a long time. They remind me a little of the Oklahoma Sooners, Nebraska in the 1980s," Mellor said. "We want to be back against ‘Iolani here in two weeks. That’s our goal."