OAKVILLE – Oakville coach Skyler Davis describes 8-man football as track season in the fall.
With fewer players on the field, it opens up more space and gives him more room for creativity from a schematic standpoint.
At times last season, the Acorns scored seemingly at will. In each of their three wins, they scored 60 or more points, including 94 in a win over Evergreen Lutheran. With a dozen seniors gone from last year’s team, however, Davis will be relying on several new faces to contribute this fall.
“We got a lot of first-year football players that are just very raw,” Davis said. “We’re excited to build them up and coach them up.”
With plenty of new faces, Davis will be relying on a few key returners to lead the way on the field.
Leading the way are the Rodas brothers, Daniel and Gio, and Davis is already planning on getting the ball in their hands early and often.
“The guys coming back are studs,” Davis said of his returning playmakers. “Our job is to get them the ball, get them in the open field to make tackles and let the players win games.”
In addition to leading the offense on the field, Davis says that several upperclassmen have done a remarkable job of bringing the younger guys along in camp.
He called back to his days as a high school basketball player at Olympia, where he played under John Kiley. There, Kiley’s motto was to “take your cool coats off.”
“You take off your cool coat, and you’re all for the team.” Davis described. “These older guys have really done that. They don’t care what’s cool and what’s not, they care what’s best for the team … It’s great having leadership that I wasn’t sure was gonna be there.”
In a league with Naselle, Mossyrock and Winlock, Davis said the challenges are clear. Last season, Oakville lost to all three of those teams by a combined score of 162-52. Davis added that Muckleshoot can also be used as a marker. Last fall, the Kings beat the Acorns 72-12.
Regardless of the final scores this fall, however, Davis is excited to get his team on the field.
“It is about wins and losses, but if we’re in the fourth quarter, still in the game with a chance to win, that’s all you can ask for.”
