Some football coaches love to talk about X's and O's, the schemes and game plans.

But try asking Waipahu's Sean Saturnio about key plays, strategic adjustments or how his team won a game, and he'll soon drift off into the Big Picture.

"All these things are just a side note," Saturnio said Friday night, soon after his Marauders won the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's White Conference championship. "They're all just a by-product of what we try to teach these kids every day: the loving of each other, doing things the right way, what they can do for their community ..."

Waipahu (7-2-2) will play at Kamehameha-Hawai'i (8-2) on Friday in the first round of the First Hawaiian Bank Division II state tournament. But for Saturnio and the Marauders, victories don't happen just on Friday nights, on the field or by reading the scoreboard.

"The best part about football is spending time with each other," said senior quarterback Gil Fernandez. "Some of our players don't come from a real good home, so football is a sanctuary every day. We're a family, and (the state tournament) means extended time for the family."

Like any family, the Marauders went through their rough moments in the past year.

They went 1-7 last season, and the low point came when they had to forfeit the homecoming game against Kalani because more than half the team was suspended for disciplinary reasons.

Saturnio took some heat for the decision, and some "fans" deserted the team.

"It felt like our family was going apart," said senior linebacker Jaris Komuro-Rosete. "But (Saturnio) doesn't talk as much about winning games, he talks about winning in life. As a family, we had to keep fighting."

Senior offensive/defensive lineman Rodney Balais said that was tough to do with people quitting all around them.

"Nobody believed we could do it, even some of our own family members never came to our games," Balais said. "But our coaches are just trying to make us grow up to become better people later on, better dads."

Saturnio, who is from Hilo, is in his fifth year at the Waipahu helm. Living in the area and having taught at the intermediate and high schools, he quickly saw football as a way to bring the community together and lift the spirits of the town.

"Growing up in Waipahu, a lot of these kids are already behind the 8-ball," Saturnio said. "There's good news that comes out of Waipahu, but a lot of times it takes a backseat to the bad news. We want to teach them how to give love and accept love. When that happens, then some otherwise ordinary people can do extraordinary things."

The building of respect for one another has led to a selfless attitude where players don't care about individual recognition.

In last Friday's 22-6 victory over Kaimuki, the Marauders pounded out 188 rushing yards, but the carries were spread among seven different runners.

"It feels good because it was a team effort," Fernandez said. "Everybody has as big a role as the next person. It doesn't matter who scores the touchdowns, there's no star players. We all have faith in each other."

Saturnio, who was a walk-on slotback at the University of Hawai'i in the late 1980s, said his own lack of playing time at UH makes him sympathetic to the Marauders sitting on the bench.

"I think if I was an (all-conference) player, my perspective probably would be different," Saturnio said. "When you don't play, you go through adversity. But there's guys on this team who don't get a ton of playing time who still love being a part of what we're doing. They're just as happy when we win, and it has an effect when everybody feels like they belong."

Waipahu has taken a large black flag as its team symbol.

"On the old pirate ships, if they waved a white flag, that meant, 'We surrender,' but if they waved a black flag, that meant 'Never give up,' " Komuro-Rosete said.

But unlike the olden-days pirates, these Marauders want to be known as the good guys.

"We represent our community by the way we play, so we want to play humble," Fernandez said. "We want to change the way people look at our community by being good, humble people."

At Friday's game, Saturnio will be reunited with his former UH coach, Bob Wagner, now the athletic director at Kamehameha-Hawai'i. Wagner said he is as proud of Saturnio as he is of former players who made the NFL.

"He's a great young guy who has made a difference in his school and his community," Wagner said. "Those are the type of guys we need working with our young people."

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.