By Paul Honda
hrcFantasyLeague@aol.com
Saturday, Nov. 11, 2006

I'm kidding when I say that yesterday's OIA football championship games set the sport back 50 years.

There's no going back, not with 290-pound linemen, 225-pound linebackers and title matchups on FieldTurf™ in a 50,000-seat facility. Still, the operative word, and flavor, is vanilla,

Kahuku's offense? Vanilla. Three pass attempts, no completions, and an 19th league title. (Or is it 18? I forget what I wrote last night.)

Waianae? Vanilla. The Seariders do come out in shotgun bunch sets at times, but the rest is Wing T magic all the way. Normally.

Waipahu? The spread option, which was exotic in the 1980s, but faded out like the wishbone did before that. Of course, given the right coaching and personnel, the spread option still works like gangbusters. Navy. Air Force has its version in the Flexbone. But Waipahu's offense remains simple, a matter of execution, adjustments and precision.

Kaimuki? The I slot works well for the Bulldogs, and they can pass relatively well against most White Conference teams. Waipahu's rugged, physical, fast defense wreaked havoc, though, on Kaimuki's aerial attack. Am I sad? Of course. All of us alums are little sad, but knowing that Waipahu is a very worthy champion softens the blow.

There are some fans who assume that the ILH will walk away with the Division I and II titles. I think Saint Louis, with its versatile offense and sledgehammer defense — and terrific special teams — is a strong favorite to win the state title. They have the talent and brains to slow down Kahuku's ground attack ... if they meet, which I believe will happen in the finals, Kahuku cannot afford to fall behind by more than one score in the second half. The Red Raider passing game is barely existent, which means the O-line is constantly under pressure to excel.

So far, that line has embraced the challenge. We'll see if the Red Raiders can develop enough of a passing game to keep defenses honest.

For fans of hard-hitting, snot-propelling defensive football, yesterday's doubleheader at Aloha Stadium was worthy of preserving on DVR/DVD for life. We all may be spoiled by June Jones' Laboratory on Turf, but somehow, yesterday's OIA games remained compelling. I just wonder how far smashmouth football can go in the state tournament.

We shall soon find out.

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