WARRIORS FOOTBALL
MIKE BURLEY / MBURLEY@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii linebacker Blaze Soares pointed out assignments during practice yesterday.
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Blaze is ready to make plays
The junior linebacker out of Castle picks off a pass on the first play of fall practice's first 7-on-7 drills
After two days of techniques, plays, running and more running, Hawaii's offense and defense finally got together for the first 7-on-7 drills of fall practice yesterday.
Linebacker Blaze Soares, who hopes to finally go through an entire preseason without injury, wasted no time giving the defense the early advantage.
The 6-foot-1, 240-pound junior out of Castle High intercepted quarterback Inoke Funaki on the very first play.
"It's always a good thing, offense vs. defense, see who gets bragging rights for the day," Soares said. "They work us, we work them. The only way is up, so right now we're starting off at the bottom and we've got to climb the ladder to get where we were."
It felt exceptionally good for Soares, who spent the end of the first two days of practice doing rolls up and down the grass practice field as punishment for an offseason team rules violation.
Soares refused comment about it, but was relieved of having to do the grass drills again yesterday.
His focus remains staying healthy throughout the three-week-long camp.
Soares had problems with a shoulder all of last season, which started early in fall camp. Despite feeling "great" now, he won't know how the shoulder will hold up until he puts the pads on.
"I can't wait to start getting in the pads and see how my shoulder is," he said. "I feel ready."
For now, he and the rest of his teammates, are wearing "shells" in order to protect against injuries before they put the full pads on. It's a much smaller pad designed to protect players against shoulder injuries.
"It's interesting," Soares said. "Something new."
Soares has had to change his mind-set somewhat, figuring out how to tone down his ferocity while still going at full speed every play.
"I don't want to be known as the kid that always gets hurt, which I've been known for," Soares said. "I want to change that. Back then, I was just reckless trying to kill everybody in sight. This year I'm just trying to be more smart with the choices I make."
He missed the first four games last year, but still finished with seven sacks and was involved in a forced fumble late in the game at San Jose State to help the Warriors win in overtime.
His playmaking skills showed up yesterday on the leaping interception that drew plenty of cheers from the guys in green.
Funaki, who completed six of his eight remaining passes, joked he was only trying to relax his teammates with the interception.
"I had to break the ice you know, help everybody feel comfortable by throwing the first pick," Funaki said. "(Blaze) said he was going to beat me up if I didn't throw him a pick."