A chief from a large tribe once said, less is more.

That chief, or executive director of the Oahu Interscholastic Association, is now-retired Dwight Toyama, a man who once gave one of his own kidneys to save someone. He was not interested in expanding the field for the state football tournament, preferring contraction to induce higher quality. Even if it meant sending fewer teams from his own league.

In 2017, the OIA decided to contract in its own way. Instead of sending 10 football teams again to the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Football State Championships, the league opted to send just four. The OIA filled three of the four slots in the Open Division, now in its second season as a pilot program. The league also sent just one entrant to the Division II bracket instead of two. Division I, which included four OIA teams in ’16, had none this fall.

Something surprising, though perhaps not to Toyama, happened when the OIA reduced its imprint on the ecosystem. The tournament flourished. A food chain that didn’t include a previously dynastic ‘Iolani team (lost in the D-II semifinals) or a generally overqualified, large-enrollment, Oahu public-school program in D-I created pure photosynthesis.

Scorched earth? More like a garden of Eden.

>> Six games came down to the final possession, including two of the three championship games at Aloha Stadium. A record-setting seven-overtime 75-69 win by Lahainaluna over Konawaena in D-II. The 31-28 win by Saint Louis over Kahuku on a miraculous TD pass with 37 seconds to play. Hilo capturing the Big Island Interscholastic Federation’s first state title, rallying past Damien 35-19 in the D-I final.

The reduced brackets — four teams and three games in each, no quarterfinal rounds — produced better quality.

“I really liked the format of four (instead of six) teams,” Konawaena coach Brad Uemoto said. “There’s a good amount of rest and preparation between games, and I feel that allows for better games.”

>> A raucous crowd of 22,436 at the stadium — there was no free, live telecast — saw more football than expected because of the length of the seven-OT contest that began the day. The big spotlight and high-wire vibe, plus the parity level of a smaller field, made it one of the best state football tourneys since its inception in ’03.

“All the schools loved playing in front of that crowd,” HHSAA Executive Director Chris Chun said. “Win or lose, you should’ve seen their faces after.”

Hilo coach Kaeo Drummondo agreed.

“I loved the tripleheader and the atmosphere that it created for the players,” he said. “That excitement and electricity is what makes Hawaii high school football what it is.”

A long day and longer night

>> Times and lines. Though the 2 p.m. kickoff for the first of the three games on Saturday seemed early enough, traffic that wrapped around the area, all the way onto Kahuapaani Street, tormented early-arriving fans.

One fan on Twitter suggested that earlier entrance would ease congestion.

“If you run three games, cancel the Swap Meet,” “Ryoto” wrote. “Start the first game earlier. Cancel the trophy ceremonies.”

The seven-OT thriller — extra periods lasted 67 minutes — pushed back the next two games. The final contest between Saint Louis and Kahuku didn’t kick off until 9:58 p.m. Precisely three hours later, at 12:58 a.m., Chevan Cordeiro’s near-miraculous TD toss to Jonah Panoke gave Saint Louis the lead. At 1:04 a.m., the game finally ended.

“We need to figure something out. I want all the kids to play in front of 20,000-plus with a big-game feel,” Chun said. “This was a better feel than playing D-II and D-I separate (from the Open Division final) like last year, but it shouldn’t end after midnight.”

>> Change the overtime rule. The NCAA requires teams to attempt 2-point conversions starting with the third OT. Garret Tihada of Lahainaluna and Uemoto, whose teams played in the seven-OT game, favor the college rule. So does Drummondo.

>> Implement instant replay. Spectators can see replays on the big screen at Aloha Stadium, but the National Federation of High Schools does not recommend use of instant replay.

>> Fuller participation? Lose six OIA entries, and the math says the HHSAA could’ve lost a truckload of gate revenue.

“Hawaiian Airlines came back and they were an awesome partner along with First Hawaiian Bank,” Chun said.

With or without the OIA’s full participation, the state football tourney seems to be in a sweet spot. Year two of the pilot program was a fan pleaser for the most part. Of course, the print-edition deadline for this publication was blown to shreds, but the tripleheader was nothing short of epic.

“We will use this momentum and make the third year of three divisions better,” Chun said. “There were a lot of OIA athletic directors and coaches there in person last night.”

See what spectators and fans think of the state-tournament’s exciting, long – 11- hour plus — tripleheader at HawaiiPrepWorld.com.