KEALAKEKUA — For the first time in more than a decade, football is back in Pahoa, but the Daggers’ comeback season on the gridiron may be cut short by the impending arrival of the lava flow.
KEALAKEKUA — For the first time in more than a decade, football is back in Pahoa, but the Daggers’ comeback season on the gridiron may be cut short by the impending arrival of the lava flow.
For the players and coaches, football is a healthy distraction during a trying time, but even on the football field the threat of the lava is hard to get away from. All the Daggers can do right now is go with the flow.
“We can’t really escape it. There are helicopters flying over the field during practice and a lot of kids are moving out,” head coach Chris Midal said. “I already lost one player who moved out of our district.”
Midal added that nearly a half-dozen players have left the Pahoa girls volleyball team for fear of the lava.
“We got word (Friday) when the flow does cross the highway, students on one side are going to Keaau, and the other will stay at Pahoa — if the school is accessible,” Midal said.
While the flow will most certainly end the Daggers season when it arrives within the next two weeks, Pahoa hopes to play an important game scheduled next week.
“We just really want to make it to our first homecoming game next week against Kohala. That is an important game for everyone,” Midal said. “It shouldn’t reach us by then, but hopefully it does not affect us with the smoke and air quality.”
As expected, it has been a work-in-progress for Pahoa with a roster with very limited football experience. Opponents have outscored the Daggers 215-12, but the squad never gets discouraged, finding excitement in the small victories.
One of those came on Pahoa’s second touchdown of the season in a 56-6 loss against the Konawaena junior varsity team on Friday.
The Daggers got the ball around midfield and pulled off two big gains to get inside Konawaena’s 5-yard line. With the clock running due to the Big Island Interscholastic Federation’s mercy rule, Pahoa had to hurry. The Daggers gave the ball to Ernest Stinnett — the team’s biggest player — who plowed forward into the end zone with no time left on the clock.
“We wanted that so badly. We have been struggling to score,” Midal said. “These boys are all new to the sport. They keep their heads up and always leave their best effort out there on the field.”