HAWAII FOOTBALL
Patton's place up for grabs
UH has a slew of candidates for the empty cornerback spot
Watch out. Trick question coming up.
"We played a lot of guys, but we gave up a thousand yards," Jerry Glanville said. "Which would you rather have?"
The Hawaii defensive coordinator considers the answer a no-brainer. He doesn't mind the real estate traded for experience in the fourth quarter after the Warriors secured three blowout victories earlier this season.
HAWAII AT NEW MEXICO ST.
When: Saturday, 2:05 p.m.
Where: Aggie Memorial Stadium, Las Cruces, N.M.
TV: Pay-per-view live on Oceanic PPV 255, (call 643-2337); PPV replay, Sat., 6 p.m.; Free, KFVE (Ch. 5) Sat., 9:30 p.m., Sun., 10 a.m.
Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM
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It's often been learn by burn for the UH corners, especially the backups. But it helped develop calluses on their psyches.
And now -- with starter Kenny Patton out for probably the rest of the regular season with a broken collarbone -- Glanville has some reference material to use in his replacement search.
"We played six corners (against Fresno State)," Glanville said. "We've got a lot of tape."
A.J. Martinez, Gerard Lewis, Myron
Newberry and Ryan Keomaka have had their moments, good and bad. And Guyton Galdeira is getting practice reps now, too.
C.J. Hawthorne has one side locked down. But the others are all getting a look this week to take Patton's spot.
"We're all ready," said Lewis, who was in on five tackles and a pass breakup against the Bulldogs. "You've got to be ready. One goes down, you have another one ready."
The Warriors will probably play a lot of corners Saturday at New Mexico State. The Aggies are as pass-happy as the Warriors, and the game will be at 4,000-feet above sea level.
Lewis said he isn't too worried about the circumstances.
"Now that we proved we can win on the road everything else is a cakewalk," he said.
Like Lewis, Newberry is a junior-college transfer from Texas. He is also contending for more playing time and perhaps a starting spot.
"I think I had a good practice today," he said. "Everybody's gunning for the position. We have the depth. Anyone can play. We're going to be all right."
Newberry was in on two tackles against the Bulldogs.
He is also the Warriors' punt returner.
"The main thing is just getting the ball back for the offense and seeing what they can do with the ball," said Newberry, who has 34 yards on nine returns.
Inside-out:
Freshman backup inside linebacker Blaze Soares practiced at left outside linebacker yesterday.
"We're talking about in this game doing some different things," said Hawaii coach June Jones, who said Monday he was pleased with the efforts of new starters Micah Lau and Brad Kalilimoku last week, and that they would have a good chance of doing so again this week.
Soares has been out the last two weeks with a hamstring strain. He made the trip to Fresno but did not play.
"Hopefully he gets to play some place," inside linebackers coach Cal Lee said. "He's ready."
Inside linebacker is one of the Warriors' strongest positions, with Adam Leonard and Solomon Elimimian solid starters.
"I'm just looking for an opportunity to get on the field," Soares said. "I feel like (the hamstring) is good to go."
When healthy, Soares has made some nice hits on kickoff coverage.
He's hoping for a bigger role.
"I've learned a lot from Coach Cal (Lee) and Coach Glanville," Soares said. "But it's kind of frustrating because I haven't gotten my shot yet. I just have to wait for the opportunity to arise. Just got to stick with it and wait for my chance."
Tyson Kafentzis, who opened the season as the starter at weakside outside linebacker, practiced yesterday. He's missed nearly all of the last three games with an ankle injury.
Grice-Mullins back:
Slotback Ryan Grice-Mullins returned to full practice duty yesterday, and head coach June Jones declared him ready to play.
Grice-Mullins' sprained ankle clearly wasn't back to 100 percent, but he said he'll be fine on Saturday.
"If the game was now I could go. Adrenaline," Grice-Mullins said. "It's been a long three weeks. I just want to make sure I'm good to go. Once I get back healthy enough I'll be able to pick up where I left off. Maybe not as quick just yet. I'm not worried about that, I'm just worried about getting my confidence back."
Ross Dickerson moved over from right wide receiver to play in Grice-Mullins' right slot position, with Ian Sample (six touchdowns in three starts) taking the wideout spot.
Short yardage:
The Warriors are scheduled to leave for the mainland on a 6:50 p.m. charter flight today. After a stop in Oakland, they arrive in El Paso tomorrow morning. ... Erik Pedersen, a former safety who has been moved to inside linebacker, replaced Patton on the travel roster.