Last summer, Iolani School football coach Wendell Look taught Fred Salanoa the intricacies of the Raiders' dynamic offense, then Salanoa went out and executed it as quarterback for a Hawai'i team of former college standouts that played an exhibition game in Japan.

This week, Salanoa — the head coach at Radford — has been busy trying to figure out how to stop the sophisticated plays Look taught him as the Hawai'i team's offensive coordinator. Salanoa's Rams (9-2) face Look's Raiders (8-4) in tomorrow's Division II state championship game.

"A lot of sleepless nights," Salanoa said about this week's preparation. "You've got to think about every little thing."

Iolani's prolific no-huddle attack certainly presents a multitude of concerns. Quarterback Kiran Kepo'o has four receivers plus running back Mike Hirokawa to throw to, and Hirokawa is a threat running the ball (1,103 yards, 10 touchdowns).

The receivers efficiently run layered routes short and long, and Kepo'o spreads the passes almost evenly among Travis Nishioka (46 catches, 956 yards, 13 TDs), Kekai Kealoha (39, 616, 7 TDs), Blayne Yama (36, 359, 1 TD) and Hirokawa (24, 437, 7 TDs).

Radford has two solid defensive ends in Russell Wantowski and Vasa Kuresa who can apply a pass rush, plus a 6-foot, 300-pound defensive tackle in Esekia Makakona and a physical linebacker in Bronson Leafa (5-10, 220) to help against the run.

The pressure will be on defensive backs Trevor Maldon, Travis Daniels, Mana Kauhola and Derriel Bantolina to track the Raiders' speedy receivers.

"The main thing is we gotta be disciplined on defense," Salanoa said. "They run a lot of different plays and their guys are real shifty, so it's going to come down to tackling. We have to stay with our assignments, wrap them up and make the tackles."

The Rams can cause problems for Iolani's defense as well, even with starting quarterback Ryan Burciaga lost for the season with a broken collarbone.

Justin Lord moved from receiver to take Burciaga's place and led Radford to a 37-27 semifinal victory over Kamehameha-Maui last week. Lord completed 10 of 17 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for one TD while guiding an offense that produced 295 yards and five touchdowns.

The Rams also have a steady, productive tailback in Alex Daniels, who has rushed for 926 yards and 13 touchdowns behind a physical offensive line.

"They have good size, and their skill players are excellent," Look said.

Iolani's size disadvantage always is a concern, since they have only five players over 200 pounds, including Kepo'o (6-2, 220) and linebacker Jon Takamura (6-2, 210).

But the omnipresent Takamura is one of the state's best linebackers, and Salanoa knows the Raiders play much bigger than their listed weights.

"The No. 1 reason we scrimmage Iolani every year is to prove a point to our guys that size doesn't make a difference," Salanoa said. "Iolani's not big, but they win with execution."

Salanoa, a former Radford quarterback, was 2 years old the last time the Rams finished the season with a championship victory, at the 1981 Prep Bowl. His brother Thor, a linebacker on that team, is now a varsity assistant coach.

"If you walk into (the Radford's) Alegre Gym, they have something from that game (in the display case) and my name is on there as the mascot," Salanoa said. "There's a lot of tradition with Radford football, and we talk about it a lot. It would be great for our alumni and for our school to win another championship, and it would be great for our players, because they've worked really, really hard."

EXTRA POINTS: There are more connections between the two programs, which have played only one official game against each other in the 47 seasons since Radford first fielded a varsity team. Look and Rams athletic director Kelly Sur were college roommates at Boise State. Also, Iolani co-athletic director Eddie Maruyama was Radford's athletic director before Sur. ... Iolani fans should park on the makai side of Aloha Stadium (near Gate 5) and sit in sections L, M, N, P or Q. Radford fans should park on the mauka side of the Stadium (near Gate 8) and sit in sections LL, MM, NN, PP and QQ. ... Honorary game captains for Iolani are former nose guard Junior Tufono, former linebacker Albert Tufono, former safety Ken Yonamine and former offensive lineman Shaun Ushijima, who all played on the Raiders' Prep Bowl co-championship team of 1980. Honorary game captains for Radford are former linebackers Thor Salanoa and Eric Lalau, both of whom played on the Rams' 1981 Prep Bowl championship team.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.