Moses Hooton is 5 feet 8 and 176 pounds, far from being the largest guy on a football field. But no one played bigger than the Kohala defensive lineman.
Moses Hooton is 5 feet 8 and 176 pounds, far from being the largest guy on a football field. But no one played bigger than the Kohala defensive lineman.
He was a disruptive force with a nose for the ball, and sparked the Cowboys to a 42-14 win over Pahoa in a BIIF eight-man game on Saturday at the Daggers field.
Hooton had a whale of a game with two sacks, two tackles for loss, and a fumble strip that led to a defensive touchdown. Stylez Alvarez scooped up the ball and scored on an 80-yard return.
“Pahoa is tough and they came to play,” Kohala coach Reggie Tolentino said.
Pretty much everyone in the stands knew what the Cowboys (3-0 BIIF, 3-1 overall) and Daggers (0-2, 0-2) wanted to do, at least on offense.
Pahoa has a deadly combination in quarterback Lava Benn and wide receiver Joaquin Ridgway (5-11, 160), who also plays much bigger than his size and has home-run hitting speed.
Anytime he touches the ball he’s a big-time touchdown threat. In the first quarter, Benn tossed a simple flare out to Ridgway.
Those plays generally gain 5 yards after the second-level linebackers or secondary closes in. But Ridgway turned on the jets, and took it to the house for a 52-yard score.
That was pretty much it as far as highlights for the Daggers, who struggled in run-and-pass blocking, and backside coverage, which means someone didn’t stay home.
Pahoa rushed for negative 9 yards on 28 carries, and was stuck in a down-and-distance hole on almost every possession. (It didn’t help that the home team also had a few shotgun snapping issues.)
That allowed the Cowboys to tee off on obvious passing downs, which explains Benn’s numbers: 8 of 25 for 114 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Four drops also did no favors for Benn.
Alvarez had that pick. And the other Kohala defensive guys pitched gems, too. Zerex Abellera had two tackles for loss and a sack. Railen Ching had two sacks, and Steven Medeiros had a sack.
“Our ends (Hooton and Abellera) played well,” Tolentino said. “We wanted our corners to watch their quick slants, and told our ends to come in with their hands up (to knock down passes).”
Meanwhile, Kohala’s blueprint is fairly straightforward: Run the ball and control the clock. But if something is stuffed, then throw a curveball.
Pahoa had solid outside contain on the QB keeper off-tackle runs by Isaiah Villacorte-Caravalho, Joey Salvador and Alvarez.
The Cowboys finished with 155 yards on 40 carries, a 3.9-yard per attempt average. Not bad, but not exactly dominant either.
Villacorte-Caravalho led the way with 83 yards on 14 carries, and Alvarez was next with 52 yards on 11 attempts.
Part of the problem was that the Cowboys kept firing off the ball too fast on their zone runs. Their timing and cohesion were a tad off. Some of the quicker Daggers, like Justin Castro, sneaked through seams to make tackles.
Castro (5-11, 170) is listed as a junior linebacker. But in the Category of Small Plays Big, he held his own at right end, and was also effective in coverage, getting a pick.
With Tropical Storm Niala scheduled to dump a downpour, the Cowboys practiced going under center, and started running a few counter plays, which proved costly when the Daggers broke down in coverage.
Niala was patient and didn’t shower the defenseless fans with no umbrellas. There was only a brief drizzle near the end of the game.
In the second quarter, Salvador was in a low-percentage pass play on third-and-12 from the Pahoa 42.
From the presnap, the Daggers figured Salvador was going to fire a go route down the left sideline, and rolled their coverage that way. Everyone in a visiting black uniform was glued with a Dagger.
Salvador saw everyone was buried, tucked the ball, and cut across the field. The backside coverage on the right was empty and he raced in for a 42-yard score.
Something similar happened later in the second quarter when Medeiros was a lineman-eligible receiver, and caught a 43-yard scoring strike.
The Daggers brought an avalanche of pressure, but no one noticed the big-bodied Medeiros (5-10, 225) sneaking out. Salvador threw him a beauty, and Medeiros rumbled in for a 21-8 halftime lead.
Salvador was 2 of 4 for 63 yard with two TDs and an interception. Villacorte-Caravalho went 3 of 4 for 71 yards with a touchdown.
They kept the Daggers off-balanced just enough when Kohala was dared to throw the ball while facing a stacked tackle box.
Still, it was Kohala’s defense that dictated terms, making life uncomfortable for Benn and miserable for the Dagger ground attack.
With that type of ferocious security blanket, three turnovers in the third quarter were no big deal for the Cowboys, who finished with five giveaways; the Daggers had three turnovers.
It was the game’s last turnover that really put a charge into the Cowboy faithful. Hooton went on another rampage, and forced a fumble. Then Alvarez scored.
Pahoa coach Chris Midel said it best.
“Number 44 (Hooton) was all over the field,” Midel said.
Kohala 7 14 14 7 — 42
Pahoa 8 0 0 6 — 14
First quarter
Koh — Isaiah Villacorte-Caravalho 23 run (Louis Arraujo kick)
Pah — Joaquin Ridgway 52 pass from Lava Benn (Damien Bartolome-Mercado pass from Benn)
Second quarter
Koh — Joey Salvador 42 run (Arraujo kick)
Koh — Steven Medeiros 43 pass from Salvador (Arraujo kick)
Third quarter
Koh — Villacorte-Caravalho 20 pass from Salvador (Arraujo kick)
Koh — Peyton Oda 20 pass from Villacorte-Caravalho (Arraujo kick)
Fourth quarter
Koh — Stylez Alvarez 80 fumble return (Arraujo kick)
Pah — Bartolome-Mercado 3 run (run failed)