KAPAAU — It’s a new era for Kohala football.
Coming off a 2-7-1 season in 2022, first-year head coach Earl Hoshida has brought in a new mindset and gameplan for his young team. But there are challenges that come with it.
Kohala will field 17 sophomores in 2023 — one of the youngest groups on the island. With an abundance of youth and only 30 players on the roster, Hoshida is electing to have multiple players play both sides of the ball.
“We’re conditioning a lot,” he said regarding the roster challenges. “I’m looking forward to the process of building this team up.”
“We don’t compare numbers, because both teams have 11 on the field,” running back Isaiah Antonio added. “And from there, it’s whoever plays the hardest — so we don’t like to use that as an excuse.”
With a week to go before the Cowboys’ season kicks off, Hoshida has helped usher the mindset of his players despite some of the disadvantages the group has. Multiple players during Wednesday’s practice lauded their new coach’s ability to bring the group together in terms of having a positive outlook on the season, as well as preaching the importance of paying attention to detail.
“(He helps us understand) the little things that make us better because we’re the youngest team on the island,” sophomore safety Tirus Perez said of Hoshida. “We only have a certain number of guys, so every little bit helps.”
“He has a lot of discipline,” Antonio added. “He pushes us everyday, and it’s all about the whole team.”
“With his mindset and discipline, I can tell we’re gonna have a solid season already,” senior wide receiver Kahaka Catrett noted.
On top of rigorous conditioning and instilling a positive mentality into the team, Hoshida wants Kohala to play differently than in years past. Last season, the Cowboys offense was a weak point in the team, scoring just 13.1 points per game.
Noting that his group has multiple top athletes, he wants to use the team’s speed as an advantage against opponents throughout the season — crediting newly-added offensive coordinator Corey Chu as one of the main architects of the offense.
“Since we don’t have a lot of size, we want to use our speed,” he said. “They’re fast and put in a lot of work (in early-season practices).
“We also want to run the ball quite a bit.”
Hoshida remains undecided on choosing a starting quarterback, saying the competition is between Antonio and Jordan Manantan.
On the other side of the ball, the Cowboys are much stronger with speedy playmakers all over the field. Perez noted that the unit’s connectivity is a major strength to the team.
“Our communication on defense is pretty solid,” he said. “I feel like coming into this year, we’re getting better.”
While Kohala has its work cut out for it in 2023, the coaching staff and players believe it possesses one stark advantage over other schools: heart.
“We always gotta play with our hearts out because we’re a smaller team,” Perez said. “Everyone’s gotta pick each other up and move forward in the season.”
“We don’t have a lot of size, but we have a lot of heart,” Catrett said.
“They are confident,” Hoshida added. “Our goal is to win every day — from practices to games.”
The Cowboys will begin their season against Kamehameha on Friday, Aug. 18 on the road.