Rainbows’ kicking
game is sky-high

Shrout's booming punts rank
third in the nation and coverages
have been top-notch

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

Chad Shrout has made Doug Semones' life on the football field special again.

Last year, the University of Hawaii assistant coach lost Shrout the night before the Boston College opener because the punter's mother was seriously ill.

At the time, Semones had no idea how crucial that mainland departure would be for special teams. But, oh, how it was.

Freshman walk-on kicker Eric Hannum went from being nobody to somebody in just 24 hours. With a national television audience looking on, Hannum thought the football was about the size of a peanut on his first punt. It traveled 29 yards.

Unfortunately for Shrout, his mother did not recover from her heart attack, forcing the second-year player to remain home with his little brother in Lancaster, Calif., last fall.

His departure caused Hannum, who was more of a place-kicker by trade than punter, to grow up in a hurry. He punted 77 times for an average of 39.9 yards a kick.

On the down side, he had two kicks blocked and watched helplessly as Hawaii's opponents returned three punts for scores.

The Rainbows yielded an average of 13.5 yards a return in 1996, and were ranked last in the Western Athletic Conference and No. 109 of 111 teams in net punting (30.7 yards). It was enough to make a special teams coach sick.

"Losing Chad was huge for us, but it was nothing compared to what he went through on a personal level," Semones said. "We were glad to have him come back in the spring. You can already see how much he means to us."

Shrout emerged from Saturday night's loss to Wyoming as the No. 3 kicker in the country, averaging 48.2 yards on 20 punts. Not only that, Shrout's height and distance have left the Rainbows ranked second in the league to Wyoming and No. 13 nationally in net punting, averaging 42.8 yards a kick.

Compared to last year, the Rainbows are averaging 12.1 more yards in net punting. If you kick the ball eight times, that's nearly the length of a football field.

"Chad makes a huge difference when you can thunder the football like that," Semones said. "He makes his teammates look better and he makes us look better as coaches. The kids know he's special and they know he's going to give us the chance to back up our opponents near their end zone."

Shrout has certainly done that. Not only has he sent kicks high into the Aloha Stadium night for 60 yards and more, but he also knocked down four punts inside the 10-yard-line against Minnesota and still another that went out on the 1 vs. Northridge.

He already has been named WAC player of the week and promises to remain focused throughout the season. As a freshman, he averaged a modest 38.6 yards on 51 attempts. His long was a career-best 78 yards in the thin Rocky Mountain air of Laramie, Wyo., but consistency eluded him.

"Motivation is the reason I'm averaging about nine more yards a kick," Shrout said. "I came back here wanting to be a better kicker than I was during my freshman year.

"I wanted to be a leader on this team and help us win any way possible. Punting is a powerful part of the game that's very important when it comes to field position. Our net punting is really good for the team.

"We're covering real well. You want to make them drive the long field. On every kick, that's the thing I try to focus on, to make them go as far as possible to score."

Hawaii also has shown signs of improvement in the area of place-

kicking and kickoff returns. Hannum has connected on 5 of 8 field goals and just missed a 51-yarder against Wyoming by less than a yard.

"When I hit it, I thought it was good," Hannum said. "It had the distance, but it started to hook slightly to the left. All three of my misses are because I hooked it too much. I've got to start aiming for the right upright to keep it in."

Hannum is tied for No. 13 in the nation with an average of 1.67 field goals a game. Charles Tharp is ranked No. 24 in kickoff returns with a 26.5-yard average.

"All the coaches deserve credit for the turnaround on special teams," said Semones, who still coordinates the different phases of place-kicking and punting.

"It's been a team effort, literally, from the players and coaches. And there's no question that we're a better football team for it."

---

Notebook

UH Rainbow Warrior
Football Schedule

http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu