Thirty-one is a good number. Fifteen is certainly not, not in football. More than a year ago, Laurie Koustik had a complex issue to deal with. The 11-man football team at Kohala, where she is the athletic director, was wobbly again. Forty-one student-athletes had signed up for football in the spring. By summer, there was scarcely a football player in the weight room.

By July, the decision was hard, but simple. No football for the Cowboys in 2013. Not with just 15 committed players.

Everything changed with the birth of 8-man football in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation this year. Kohala now has 31 committed players on its roster. They are charter members of the league’s 8-man movement, along with Ka‘u and Pahoa.

At Seabury Hall, a school that had never fielded a team on the gridiron, then-AD Steve Colflesh collected equipment and gear, and in 2010, the Spartans hit the field for exhibition games against Maui Interscholastic League schools. Over a two-year period, the small school in upcountry Olinda began to prosper under Colflesh, a former high school football coach (11-man) in California.

Other small schools also developed programs. Hana, Molokai and St. Anthony got excited about the chance to play football. For Hana and Molokai, this is new. For St. Anthony, it meant reinvigorating a program that had struggled to field an 11-man team for years.

Seabury Hall won the first two official MIL 8-man football championships. Colflesh has since retired, but the wheels keep turning. The Spartans’ dedication and focus — Seabury Hall is a school known more for track, cross country and soccer — is proof that the 8-man game opens doors wide for any determined small school.

So the question is, could the sport thrive on Oahu? There are 29 institutions in the ILH. Seven of them are football members, and one of them, Division II Pac-Five, is comprised of 19 small schools.

The Wolfpack practice at Mid-Pacific Institute in Manoa. A few of those 19 Pac-Five schools are miles away in Central or Leeward Oahu. Hanalani, located in Mililani, had some interest in 8-man for a time, but it never materialized. The school that spawned record-breaking quarterback P.J. Minaya and elite pass catcher Darin Kamealoha in 2008 and ’09 has just two varsity players at Pac-Five now.

"Currently, there’s no discussions," athletic director Keoni Haole said of 8-man football.

Minaya and Kamealoha would commute to practice and face the brutal traffic logjam at Mapunapuna, so they’d miss half of practice anyway. Haole says players are transported by the school now immediately after school.

There are other small private schools that could one day play 8-man football. Along the Leeward Coast, there’s Island Pacific and Lanakila Baptist. On Red Hill, there’s Christian Academy. But since the recession peaked in 2009, enrollment at most schools has declined precipitously. Survival is the name of the game and luxuries like football are out of the question.

At Kohala, Koustik estimates that refurbishing football equipment that had been sitting for two years will have a total cost of $2,500. An anonymous $5,000 donation has provided 15 new sets of helmets and shoulder pads.

Haole doesn’t see 8-man football at his school in the near future.

"I assume it would be my whole budget. We’re not in a possibility to even think that far," he said. "One day, hopefully."

Anuenue is one of the smallest members of the OIA. The vast majority of the public-school league has enough enrollment to support 11-man football, though there have been some struggles at smaller schools like Waialua. Anuenue played its first league game of the season against Kaimuki with just 16 players after injuries took a toll in preseason.

Former coach Kealoha Wengler was there when the program began in 2006.

"When I was coaching, we did play one year with 16, but you can’t have freshmen. They have to be 16 legit players," he said, recalling a win over Pearl City.

After that game, two of Anuenue’s two-way starters returned from injury to bolster the roster. Even in good years, though, numbers never matched what the bigger programs had, and yet, his teams always competed. In 2013, with declining enrollment at the high school level and a good amount of athletes at the middle school, Wengler considered the possibilities.

"When it was first introduced to me, I thought, ‘No way. I’d rather take a snap with 10 people than go 8-man.’ But we realized we were playing teams with fresh legs," Wengler said. "I really wanted to push for 8-man."

Anuenue’s ironmen put up massive rushing statistics over the years, but they often doubled up and played every down on defense and special teams, too.

"No matter how much conditioning you do, by the third quarter, you’re cramping, vomiting, dehydration. Then it’s not safe to go with light numbers," Wengler said. "There’s a lot of stuff that goes on, behind the scenes. They make the commitment and they come out a lot stronger as people, but if we had 8-man, we would be a lot more equal on the field."

When Wengler says "we," he means it in spirit, not body. Last year, he moved his family to the Big Island, where he can afford a home and avoid a commute like the one from his previous residence in Ewa to Anuenue, in Palolo Valley. He’s a counselor at Kamehameha-Hawaii, where son Manu is a defensive lineman.

Until the decision to relocate, he was on staff at Anuenue, where administration was open to a possible move to 8-man.

"Our biggest cost would’ve been airfare to fly to the Big Island and Maui to play (exhibition) games. Our principal, Charles Naumu, was willing to support it," Wengler said. "All it takes is one Oahu team that does it and gets out there. Then other teams will follow."

The OIA, with its 23 football-playing members, has always been pressed to make do with meager athletic budgets. Losing teams to 8-man football would mean fewer games and revenue, football coordinator Harold Tanaka said.

The MIL is expanding 8-man from four to six teams this season. Kihei Charter and Lanai have joined in. Lanai is especially jazzed. The local football field was refurbished for the Pop Warner program last year, allowing that team to host games and play a full schedule for the first time.

Maybe 8-man football is embraced in rural areas because communities see the need, not just the oddity, of seeing just 16 players on a smaller field. Wengler had hoped to see some creative thinking and acceptance of the game on Oahu.

"Guys looking for a college scholarship, they’ll go to a Division I program. Eight-man would allow us to compete with teams at our level. Radford and Kaiser, they don’t belong in D-II with us (Anuenue), Waialua, Kalani, the smaller schools," he said. "It’s not so much the players who don’t want it. It’s the coaches. The logistics of fields and coaches who are available."

Wengler offered a proposal to the league at one point, using the league’s "Blue Division" in girls volleyball as a model.

"Schools with big numbers like Mililani or Campbell could field an 8-man team with kids who get cut. That would be our own division," he said.

The beginning of 8-man football on Oahu starts with education, Wengler said.

"There has to be a breakout session at one of the coaches’ meetings so they can see it’s legit. Coaches, what they’re teaching is what they’ve learned. They’d have to go to clinics and learn, get knowledge," he said.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Kanawai Noa
Punahou receiver

The Buffanblu senior scored the game’s first three touchdowns in a 55-7 win over Saint Louis and finished with 242 yards* on seven catches.

HONOR ROLL

» Kawika Keama-Jacobe, Moanalua: Threw for 574 yards* and three TDs in a loss to Farrington.

» Karson Cruz, Moanalua: 10 receptions for 310 yards* and two TDs against Farrington.

» Kesi Ah-Hoy, Kahuku: Rushed for 115 yards and three TDs against McKinley.

» Ace Faumui, Kalani: Rushed for 108 yards and four TDs in a win over Anuenue.

» Thomas Pule, Waialua: Kicked a 15-yard field goal with 11 seconds left to beat Kalaheo 10-7.

» Kale Kamehailua, Nanakuli: Passed for 271 yards and two TDs, and rushed for 74 yards and another TD against Roosevelt.

» Dominic Maneafaiga, Pearl City: Rushed for 148 yards and scored four TDs in a win over Kaimuki.

» Kainoa Ferreira, Pac-Five: Passed for 273 yards and four TDs against St. Francis.

» Tsubasa Brennan, Pac-Five: 11 catches for 144 yards against St. Francis.

» Keoni-Kordell Makekau, ‘Iolani: Caught nine passes for 154 yards and a TD, and kicked three field goals against Damien.

» Randy Neverson, Leilehua: Passed for a touchdown, rushed for a TD and caught a TD pass in a win over Waianae.

» Ephraim Tuiloa, Punahou: Passed for 441 yards* against Saint Louis.

» Wayne Taulapapa, Punahou: Rushed for 161 yards against Saint Louis.

» Ranan Mamiya, Farrington: Ran for three TDs in a win over Moanalua.

POLLS FOOTBALL TOP 10
The Top 10 football teams as voted on by coaches and media from around the state. First-place votes in parentheses. Ten points for first-place votes, nine for second, eight for third, etc.

» Also receiving votes: Waianae 13, Iolani 13, Maui 13, Kapolei 8, Moanalua 3, Kaiser 1, Kapaa 1.

VOLLEYBALL TOP 10
The Top 10 volleyball teams as voted on by coaches and media from around the state. First-place votes in parentheses. Ten points for first-place votes, nine for second, eight for third, etc.

» Also receiving votes: University 13, Farrington 8, St. Francis 7, Hawaii Baptist 6, Kaiser 5, King Kekaulike 4, Kalaheo 2, Waiakea 1, Kailua 1, Le Jardin 1.