Girls flag football shows Hawaii high school potential at prep football showcase

WAIPAHU, Hawaii — Keliana Malama’s personal expectations were not especially high when she ran out of a giant inflatable football helmet and onto the Waipahu High School field on Sunday night.

The rules, the lineup — really, just about everything — were unfamiliar to Malama, an 8^th grader at Kawananakoa Middle School who was one of about 40 players picked to participate in a girls flag football exhibition as part of the 808 Senior PRO Bowl day, a gridiron showcase for under-recruited high school seniors.

[Note: See below for more photos of the 808 Senior PRO Bowl day flag football and OIA versus ILH games.]

Malama got in two practices with some new teammates spread across Oahu over the last two weeks and felt she was behind others in ability and preparation. She knew only that she was not allowed to tackle, and that she had to stay 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage on defense.

But it turned out that the soccer player with an interest in rugby did just fine for Team Mauka, pressuring Team Makai’s quarterbacks relentlessly and pulling their flags for several sacks in Mauka’s 6-0 win.

“I really like it. I like the adrenaline it gives me,” Malama told Spectrum News. “I like how we work as a team, how we move the ball forward, try to stop the ball. I think I would want to keep doing this for high school.”

In many ways, the event — 7-on-7 action in two halves of play totaling 40 minutes — was a preview of the debut of sanctioned Hawaii high school girls flag football that will be played by 44 public schools statewide, plus a handful of private schools, starting in February and culminating in a 12-team HHSAA tournament in April.

A few hundred people took in the game, which followed two traditional football contests —— one between Oahu and Hawaii Island players, and one Maui all-stars against Oahu players.

Team Mauka coach Andrew Ganaban said their practices were held in Ewa Beach and at Roosevelt High to help prepare players to go with Zoom sessions to learn intricacies of the sport.

“The rules for 7-on-7 girls flag is a lot different than what I’m normally used to,” said Ganaban, who will be on Roosevelt High’s flag football staff in the coming season. “So now we’ve got a center that’s eligible (to catch a pass), we’ve got a smaller field, different rules. For a lot of these girls, at the same time, it makes it easier because they don’t have bad habits. A lot of these girls never played football, so teaching them in this new game was a little bit easier for the coaches.”

He said there was an initial shyness for many of the girls, who ranged in age from late elementary to high school, but, “now that they got this first game under their belt, I’m pretty sure the high school season’s going to go well.”

There were some fits and starts with learning the rules; one player’s would-be touchdown throw to a receiver into an end zone was actually out of bounds, as the flag regulation area runs only 80 yards with the 0 to the 10 on the traditional football field comprising the end zone on each end.

The teams went for it on fourth down just about every time and there were quite a few interceptions.

Players were encouraged to wear soft-shell helmets, though some had them and some did not. All players wore a mouthguard; there was occasional contact that was flagged by the six-person officiating crew.

The night was capped by a hard-hitting matchup of OIA and ILH seniors, coached by Kahuku High’s Sterling Carvalho and Saint Louis School’s Tupu Alualu. The ILH squad won 7-0.

The objective for the day was exposure for seniors who were not among the tier invited to play in January’s Polynesian Bowl. Such an event has not been played since before the COVID-19 pandemic, said Ray Maae, the director of the Hawaii Chapter of the National Football Foundation. The games were live-streamed.

“It has been a blessed day, a beautiful day with all the volunteers and the support from the coaches and the teams and the community to make this event, I believe, a success,” Maae said.

The 808 Senior PRO (Player Recruitment Opportunity) day had been in the works since May, Maae said, with the flag football game an important component. The Hawaii Department of Education announced flag football as an officially sanctioned sport in August.

“I think it was excellent,” Maae said. “Coach DJ, Dawny Jones for the WEAH (Wahine Era Athletics Hawaii) organization, her coaches and their staff, the officials from the XL 808 league, hopefully they can be a part of the high school officiating because it’s a new sport. They ran the game well and it was very competitive.”

Receiver Breeana Higa hauled in a pass for Team Mauka. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Xailey Robinson threw a pass for Team Makai as Keliana Malama pursued her. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Team Makai quarterback Xailey Robinson tried to evade Keliana Malama. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Team Makai’s Raezjah Kuhiiki advanced the ball as Team Mauka’s Keliana Malama closed in. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Team Mauka’s Breidi Ann Higa collided with Team Makai’s Xailey Robinson. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Team Makai’s Charyssa Asinsin, bottom left, came down with an interception. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Team Makai’s Kaianna Lee tried to run from Team Mauka’s Alexiarae Medeiros, middle, and Breeanna Higa (3). (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Team Mauka’s Chevelle Kane posed upon her introduction onto the field. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Team Mauka quarterback Breidi Ann Higa launched a deep ball. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Team Mauka players posed with their winner’s trophy. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Team Mauka players signed the shirt of their coach, Andrew Ganaban. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Team Makai players gathered after the game. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Team Mauka hiked the ball. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Saint Louis football coach Tupu Alualu was on hand to coach the ILH all-star squad in Sunday’s nightcap. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Team Makai’s Xailey Robinson scrambled against Team Mauka’s Keliana Malama. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Kamehameha quarterback Pono Kahaulelio competed for the ILH Oahu All-Stars on Sunday night. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Waianae quarterback Hanohano Plunkett was protected by his Oahu OIA All-Star teammates for a pass. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Mililani’s Nakoa Kahana-Travis returned a punt for the Oahu OIA All-Stars. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Mililani’s Nakoa Kahana-Travis took a hard hit from Kamehameha’s Keawe‘ehu Kekaialii. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis) and lost the ball. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.