KAPA‘AU — Kohala football made big strides in 2025.

KAPA‘AU — Kohala football made big strides in 2025.

The Cowboys finished with a 5-5 overall record, their best in a decade. The black and gold were more competitive against the bigger schools on the island, and even routed programs such as Waiakea, Pahoa and Ka‘u by multiple scores. At the conclusion of the season, Kohala’s program seemed to be trending in the right direction.

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But last year is last year, and it’s a whole different season for the Cowboys in 2026. While 2025 Kohala relied heavily on its veterans, the Cowboys lost 15 seniors to graduation, such as key contributors Tiras Perez, Sheldon Anchetta-ah Puck and Jordan Manantan. Naturally, this many departures would hurt any program from a top-end talent and leadership standpoint.

Now, Kohala has 21 players and just one senior: Ben Cabral, who is expected to be contributing on both sides of the ball — like many of the other Cowboys due to the small roster.

“I gotta step up a lot,” Cabral said of being the lone fourth-year player on the team. “Playing some spots I’ve never played before.

“I’ve never played on a team this small, so we gotta rely on each other even more.”

Traditionally being a team that lacks true size, the black and gold heavily rely on their speed and athleticism to make up for it, as several players have been track athletes in previous years. With this, conditioning has been a staple of the Cowboys’ offseason training camp.

The Cowboys will continue that philosophy into the season, and will look to be a more-run heavy squad. With the conference opener a week away, Kohala is still figuring out what players work best for certain positions while also teaching the freshmen — a balance that fourth-year head coach Earl Hoshida finds challenging, but fulfilling.

“It’s a struggle, but we manage,” Hoshida added. “Our goal as a coaching staff is to make them believe in the process and believe what we’re teaching them.”

Another player, sophomore Aidyn Pasco, has acknowledged the physical challenges of playing both sides, but has started to embrace the bumps and bruises as the season inches closer.

“It’s challenging, because last season I was a backup at just one position, and now I’m going into a bunch of new positions,” said Pasco, who will play middle linebacker, slot receiver and half back. “But it’s good because you get the experience of playing both sides of the ball and learn new positions.”

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Quarterback is one of the main positions still being evaluated for the Cowboys, as the starting job is a battle between junior Kaua Reyes — who saw action at the position last season — and sophomore Kyle Caniedo. The decision will likely be made in the next week, after Kohala scrimmages Kamehameha-Hawaii’s junior varsity team this weekend.

Both competitors expressed excitement of the challenges ahead of the new season, despite some of the disadvantages the team might have being smaller.

“We’re excited,” Reyes said. “Hopefully, we can beat some of the bigger teams this year.”

“Getting over fear will be a big factor for us,” Caniedo added. “Because a lot of our players are young and it’s their first year playing. But so far, we’re one big friend group and have good communication.”

Whoever is named the backup signal caller between the pair will likely be shifted to the X-receiver as their primary offensive position. The primary running back will be junior Aiden Padilla, but he is currently recovering from injury — expected to be ready Week 1 against HPA on Sept. 5.

While final decisions on starting roles are still in flux, junior tight end and linebacker Nash Ishimine believes communication is already a strong point of the team.

“Our chemistry is amazing,” he said. “Everyone knows everyone; we’re all really close with each other. Us being close helps us work together and learn plays a lot easier.”

While the Cowboys would certainly like to finish the year with a strong record and continue trending upward, creating memories, friendships and getting a little bit better each day are more important.

“We’d like a winning season, but we’d like to see improvements from start to finish,” Cabral said. “I also want to leave an impact on my teammates, being a senior.

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“That, to me, would be a successful season.”

See the paper all season for more Kohala football coverage.