The Tigers (6-2) will try to halt the advance of No. 2 seed Campbell (5-2) tomorrow and the Marauders (4-3) must derail top-seeded Waianae (7-0) on Friday.
Campbell blew a 20-point lead but still won, 36-20, against Castle last week. Waianae, on the other hand, continued to look unstoppable with a 35-0 trouncing of Blue Conference champion Kaiser in another quarterfinal.
McKinley squeezed out a strange Cornell Rule victory against Farrington and Waipahu had to scrap to take a 14-6 win over White Conference champion Leilehua.
The Sabers would appear to be too much for a Tigers squad that took a beating against Farrington and came up ticking last week.
McKinley is the only lower conference team left in the playoffs. The Tigers finished fourth in the White to get the conference's last available berth in the playoffs.
The Tigers are the first lower conference team to knock out two Red Conference contenders (Roosevelt, Farrington).
Campbell head coach Darren Hernandez knows McKinley is riddled with injuries, but he also believes that a wounded Tiger is a dangerous Tiger.
"I know they never expected to be in this game," he said. "They'll be jacked up and ready."
Hernandez said he particularly worries about the McKinley defense.
"McKinley has a Red Conference type of defense with physical, active linebackers like Solomon Lealao and Solo Moananu," he said.
Lealao, playing courageously with a variety of injuries, not only made 14 tackles but scored the game-tying touchdown last week.
"If we can put points on the board, we'll be OK. But if their defense holds us down, we'll have a hard time," Hernandez said.
Putting points on the board is something the Sabers have done well.
They were second to Waianae in point production during the Red Conference season (113 points in six games). Their ground game is powered by Clifford Russell, who scored two touchdowns and gained 147 yards last week against Castle. Russell averaged 118 yards a game during the regular season.
Their strong-armed quarterback, Kaleopa Kaleopa, has thrown 12 touchdown passes in seven games.
Waipahu lost a 26-15 decision to Waianae on Oct. 12 when the Seariders amassed 325 yards on the ground at Aloha Stadium.
But the Marauders were ahead, 7-6, after one quarter. Had it not been for two crucial mistakes that led to Waianae scores, Waipahu might have won.
"We have to keep our giveaways to a minimum this time and hopefully get some takeaways," Waipahu head coach Sam Delos Reyes said.
Because Waianae's forte is its ground game, Delos Reyes is concerned with offensive possession.
"The more tired we get, the harder it is for us to stop the run. So we need to get our defense off the field."
The two Kaisers - inside linebackers Kaiser Lauti and Kaiser Seumalo - will have their hands full for Waipahu trying to stop the Waianae dive.
Lauti made a critical play in a goal-line stand last week against Leilehua.
On offense, Seumalo, who led the Red Conference in both passing yardage and interceptions, no longer tries to challenge heavy coverage and has considerably reduced his completion-vs.-interception ratio.
"We need to somehow take away the quarterback," Waianae head coach Leo Taaca said. "He's the key to the Waipahu offense."
Taaca said his major concern with Seumalo is his ability to scramble and throw accurately across the field on the run.
But the Waianae secondary has been consistent this year. Ted Mahelona (out with injury), Dauthuille Dizon, and Sheldon Kapua have all played key roles in frustrating opponents' passing games.
Mahelona's first-quarter pickoff set up the first touchdown against Kaiser last week and Dizon ran back another interception 32 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The Kahuku vs. Waianae junior varsity championship game will precede the Waianae vs. Campbell varsity game on Friday.