HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Hawaii high school football season is upon us.

A full slate of games is scheduled for this weekend, including on the Big Island.

The Big Island Interscholastic season begins this Friday as Hilo hosts Baldwin at Wong Stadium.

The Vikings are coming off of a 5-3 season under now second-year head coach Kaniala Estrada.

Estrada trying to re-build a program that has seen success in the past — winning the Division 1 state title in 2017 and 2019.

According to Coach, it starts in the preseason.

“You know, I realized that having preseason games to see what we have, where we are, work different kids in different positions, different different opportunities will make us better.” Estrada told Hawaii News Now.

On the other sideline is a team that has also had their ups and downs as the Baldwin Bears are set to begin year four under head coach Cody Nakamura.

Nakamura has turned the Bears program around, going 5-3 in 2024 after going winless in his first two seasons at the helm.

“I think just the expectations are a little bit different,” Nakamura said. “Last season was our 3rd year, so we, definitely wanted to change what we’ve been doing, the first two years, we had zero wins, so usually by year three is when the things that we’re implementing at practice and during the game start to work.”

The two squads will officially open their 2025 seasons this Friday at Hilo’s Wong Stadium.

You can catch all the action on KFVE and on the Hawaii News Now website.

Coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. Hawaii time on Friday August 8th.

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