The Leilehua coach represented the Mules in style, sporting hair dyed green and a bright green and yellow shirt while watching the Bears defeat the Governors 26-14 at War Memorial Stadium.

The Mules will face Baldwin, the Maui Interscholastic League champion, this Saturday at Aloha Stadium in the semifinal round of the First Hawaiian Bank Championship. Leilehua defeated Waianae 12-3 last weekend in the 'Oahu Interscholastic Association Red Division championship game to earn a first-round bye.

Tokuda said he wasn't looking forward to taking on Baldwin or Farrington.

''Both teams look solid,'' he said to The Maui News. ''We faced Farrington earlier in the playoffs and they held us to seven and looking at Baldwin, they do some things defensively with that speed that could really present problems for us as well.

''Offensively, you look at a veteran quarterback like Jordan (Helle), looking at the decision making E he's really taught well by the coaches. I look forward to seeing him further his career as a quarterback at the next level.''

Tokuda gave credit to the Bears' offensive line for allowing Helle so much time.

''They're able to hold off the defensive line of Farrington and they gave us a hard time,'' he said.

Leilehua averaged 229.3 yards of offense during the regular season, but it was its defense that carried the team, allowing an average of 204.3 yards per game — third-best in the OIA.

''We hung our hat on our defense all year long,'' Tokuda said. ''They've carried us — their back must be sore just carrying the team all season long, so hopefully we'll be able to come out and support the defense.''

The Mules will have had a two-week break by the time they face the Bears, and Tokuda feels the extra week off has its benefits, including some quality time off the field.

''I think it helps us in the sense that we have a chance to regroup and get some bodies rested up,'' he said. ''We actually had an intrasquad scrimmage (on Friday). I don't think any team does that but for us, we treat it like a game and the kids had an opportunity to play against each other. E

''(Friday), we actually had a free breakfast from the community and we went down to watch our Pop Warner kids play in their last regular-season game, so it's just a nice way for our kids to E take a step away from football and give back to the community that's been supporting us all season.''

No Neighbor Island team has reached a D-I title game, but that means little to Tokuda when he looks at what lies ahead.

''You talk about a 'Maui team,' but they're actually a ranked Division I team — they could definitely survive and do really well on Oahu,'' he said. ''Baldwin looks very good right now.''