Kealakehe has forfeited its 2008 Division I football championship due to a “;clerical error”; that permitted an ineligible student-athlete to participate.

Big Island Interscholastic Federation president Robert Dircks made the announcement in a press release, noting that the school sent a self-disclosure report to the league about a fifth-year student on the team. BIIF bylaws state that student-athletes have only four consecutive years of eligibility after entry into the ninth grade.

The BIIF also decided that there will be no school named as the title winner for the 2008 season.

Kealakehe coach Gary Clark and athletic director Mike Hernandez were not available for comment.

Top talent gathers

The eighth annual Pacific Island Athletic Alliance Football Combine will be held Saturday morning at Saint Louis School.

The event draws many of the state's top high school players for various drills. Registration begins at 7 a.m. with field events — 40-yard dash, T-drill, L-drill — and bench press, vertical jump and broad jump to follow.

PIAA will also host a combine on June 6 at Kamehameha-Hawaii. For more information, call Doris Sullivan at 226-7077.

Trojans march

Ka'u has hired a familiar face to guide its football program. Greg Rush, who has coached football, baseball and wrestling at the school, is the new head coach after a search by a committee.

“;We liked what Greg said,”; athletic director Keith Morioka said. “;He was talking about bringing in a totally new concept of offense.”;

That offense is the A-11, a spread attack that is growing in popularity on the mainland. The system capitalizes on loopholes in the rule book and emphasizes pre-snap motion by offensive linemen, as well as backs and receivers. The A-11 takes the run-and-shoot offense to a different universe, legally using linemen as passing targets and putting more than one passer on the field.

Morioka recalled a slightly similar scheme run from time to time by former Radford coach John Velasco.

“;They were, between the center and guard, a yard apart. The guard and tackle were a yard and a half apart,”; he said. “;He experimented with that and it was difficult to defend.”;

Ka'u was winless last season.

Pac-West initiation

The Pac-West program that has played intermediate baseball in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu recently will move up to varsity next spring.

Players from the schools — Christian Academy, Hanalani, Hoala, Island Pacific and Lanakila Baptist — will give the ILH a second Division II baseball program. The only D-II baseball team for the past two seasons was Maryknoll, which won the D-II state crown recently.