PAHOA – Kohala’s Stylez Alvarez took a sweep around the left side of the line, cut to the sideline and was gone.
On a play that looked remarkably similar to Alvarez’s, Peyton Oda busted to the outside after a handoff, cut left and tiptoed down the sidelines for a long touchdown.
Kobie Kaholoaa-Aguilar handled duties when the Cowboys wanted to run up the middle, punishing a would-be Pahoa tackler on a scoring jaunt from midfield.
Why pass when you can run in BIIF eight-man football? Kohala showed its own unique version of quick-strike, big-play offense Saturday as Alvarez scored on three long touchdown runs for the Cowboys, who frustrated the Daggers 48-8 in a penalty-filled game at their field.
“We got that exotic smash-mouth, just like the (NFL’s Tennessee) Titans,” co-offensive coordinator Jay Blanco said.
The Cowboys (1-0), who nearly churned out 400 yards on the ground, also have a thunder and lighting thing going on.
The 145-pound Alvarez broke loose to the end zone on runs of 73, 37 and 80 yards – all to the left side – and the 130-pound Oda found the end zone from 67 yards. Kaholoaa-Aguilar, a bulldozer at 230, scored from 50.
“The left side was open all day,” said Alvarez, who reached 200 yards in the third quarter. “My lineman opened it up every time.”
Relegated to strictly handing off in the first half, Maui Hook threw two touchdown passes – including on the last play of the game as the Cowboys decided against kneeling on the ball.
“We just wanted these kids to have an opportunity because they have been working so hard,” co-offensive coordinator Dominique Acorda.
Besides, Kohala had waited around too long for their first dose of competition to waste any plays.
The Cowboys didn’t so much as get in a scrimmage in the the preseason, and their opener last Thursday was postponed by the threat of hurricanes. They had seven weeks together before they got a chance to start defending their eight-man league title.
“Oh, we were super hungry and ready to play,” Alvarez said.
After years of playing uphill as a perennial rebuilding team in 11-man, the Cowboys are running downhill and show the propensity to reload in eight-man.
The Cowboys lost 15 seniors but they didn’t lose their physical style, holding the Daggers, who were also intent on running the ball, under 100 yards on the ground.
“Kohala has a lot of football talent and guys are coming up now,” Blanco said. “It’s not about guys graduating, it just building a football culture in Kohala.”
The Daggers (0-2) also were beaten by big plays in their opening loss to Ka’u, but for the most part they held up well against the run in that game.
No on Saturday.
“I don’t know what to say about that,” Pahoa coach Chris Midel said. “Too many mistakes.”
Pahoa found a rhythm late on a 73-yard scoring drive that was aided by penalties. Quarterback Justin Castro ran for 20 yards and completed two passes to Mathew Meyer, the last for a touchdown.
But they put the ball on the ground too many times
Pahoa’s most electrifying play was a 62-yard kickoff return by Kaniala Harris that set up the Daggers deep in Kohala territory. But the opportunity was wasted when Kaholoaa-Aguilar recovered a fumble after a botched handoff.