Maui High School meets Southeast High School of Southgate, Calif., at 7:30 p.m. tonight at War Memorial Stadium. Tomorrow, defending Division II state champion King Kekaulike hosts Kwansai of Japan at 7:30 p.m., while Baldwin travels to the Big Island to take on Kamehameha-Hawaii' at 6.

The Bears' game is the only one of 11 preseason games involving the six MIL teams that will not be on Maui.

Lahainaluna will play Waiakea of the Big Island on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Lunas' field, while the Trojans, formerly Pac-Three, will wrap up the first weekend with a 7:30 game at War Memorial Stadium against Fort McMurray of Alberta, Canada.

''The kids are very excited,'' Trojans coach Charlie Pico said to The Maui News. ''You know how it goes — they are tired of seeing each other every day in practice and are looking forward to hitting some guys in different colors. Everybody is getting excited.''

Trojans is the official name of the conglomerate team known as Pac-3 for the past four seasons. All but one of the 29 players on the varsity roster — Seabury Hall's Chris Sugidono — attends St. Anthony. Ka'ahumanu Hou is also eligible to send players to the Trojans, but there is no one from the tiny Christian school on either the varsity or junior varsity roster. Seabury Hall has six JV players in the program.

Trojans offensive lineman Josh Carrizosa rolled an ankle last week and is nearly back to 100 percent according to Pico, but will miss the game as a precautionary measure.

A combination of injuries and disciplinary actions will have eight Trojans sidelined Saturday.

Perhaps the marquee game of the first weekend is King Kekaulike's matchup with Kwansai, which won a Japanese national title in the spring.

''This is a bigger experience than I imagined it to be,'' Na Ali'i coach J.W. Kenton said yesterday after watching Kwansai, which has a 79-player roster, work out at King Kekaulike Stadium. ''We have a lot to learn from them. They have such honor and respect. We have pride and honor and respect, but their discipline is incredible. Hopefully a lot of people come out and see what I am talking about with their discipline.''

Kenton said that Kwansai is using the game in preparation for its Sept. 1 regular-season opener.

''They pretty much play football year-round and they have two championships,'' Kenton said. ''They just won the spring championship, but their bread-and-butter championship is in the fall like it is for us. They are using this as a preseason game as well, but I know that both of us want to win.

''This isn't two islands, this isn't two towns, this is two countries, so this is a big deal.''

Kenton said the Kwansai team does not have a lot of large bodies — estimating their average size at 5-foot-9, 175 pounds – but does have plenty of speed.

''I saw them on the practice field and they are not real big – they remind me a lot of }Iolani,'' Kenton said of the team Na Ali'i beat 38-37 on the last play of a state semifinal last season.

The game will be the first for Na Ali'i without a bevy of key players from their team that won a state title, the first ever for a Neighbor Island school. Shannon Kamakaokalani and his 2,000 all-purpose yards and MIL-record 143 points are now at Santa Barbara (Calif.) City College.

Linebacker-receiver Randen Abafo is playing baseball at Yavapai (Ariz.) Community College, and quarterback Shelton Bangasan also graduated.

''We are just trying to see how this team is going to react,'' Kenton said. ''The hardest part of winning a championship is coming back the next year. They have got to get over that, come together and hopefully good things will happen.''

The new quarterback is junior Cory Roy, a starter at defensive back last season and a third-year varsity player. The running back duties will fall into the hands of juniors Edrian Dela Cruz, who ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries last season in relief of Kamakaokalani, and Taylor Rodrigues, who is up from JV.

Fourth-year varsity player Emelio Liu, who missed almost all of last season with a knee injury, will anchor the offensive line at center with his 5-11, 260-pound frame.

On defense, Na Ali'i's largest player, Sonny Ah Kui, will play nose guard at 6-2, 312.

''We are way bigger this year,'' Kenton said. ''Most MIL teams we played last year we were smaller than. This year we have some size.''

Record-setting Baldwin receiver Chase Nakamura — a Division I prospect — will sit out to rest a sore knee after a busy summer of camps in Hawai'i and on the Mainland.

Kyle Ka'aihue-Kaimiola, the 2006 MIL Defensive Player of the Year, offensive lineman Sean Tesoro — also a Division I prospect — and quarterback Jordan Helle have taken some practice time off this fall after busy summers as well, but all should play for the Bears tomorrow.

First-year Baldwin coach A.J. Roloos said that all the moves are simply precautionary to make sure the players will be ready for the Bears' MIL opener Sept. 15 against Maui High. He expects Nakamura to play on Aug. 30 against San Clemente (Calif.).

Roloos said that the Warriors use an offense similar to the one Baldwin runs.

''They run the spread, multiple offense, a lot of option,'' Roloos said. ''This is a pretty good opener for us. This is pretty important because we have to know where we are at before we open the (MIL) season. This should be fun for them.''