DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM The Hawaii football team opened spring drills on the dew-covered grass practice field at UH this morning.

Warriors spring to life

Hawaii's football team opens spring practice
today with a lot of questions to answer

No trip to Maui for Warriors

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By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

Spring football practice began today for Hawaii, and as usual, it was as much about who wasn't suited up -- or even in school yet -- as it was about who was going through the drills.

Quarterback Tim Chang, only a sophomore, did his graduate assistant impersonation, as he is recovering from surgery to his throwing wrist. Defensive end Travis Laboy is also recovering from surgery, so he is not practicing, but did attend practice.

"I'll be here every day," said Chang, who hopes to throw May 1.

While junior-college transfers Jason Whieldon (quarterback), John West (running back) and Marco Chavez (linebacker) are in camp, several others, as well as the freshmen won't be here until fall camp.

Earlier this week, linebacker Chris Brown and defensive end La'anui Correa ran pass routes while freshman All-American return man Chad Owens launched punts instead of catching them.

Relax, coach June Jones isn't planning any changes quite that radical. It's just a mild case of the singers wishing they were comedians and the comedians wishing they were singers.

Ten minutes before one of their semi-organized workouts and two days before the start of spring practice, the Warriors were merely getting in their last goof-around licks on a sunny Cooke Field afternoon.

"It gets serious pretty soon," said Brown, after running a post route guaranteed to not give starting wideout Justin Colbert sleepless nights. "Well, kind of, anyway."

Spring practice began this morning, and the Warriors' coaching staff hopes to answer several questions -- or at least come up with some very good clues -- before it ends April 14.

>> Who will replace departed safeties Nate Jackson and Jacob Espiau, two of the big-play producers and spiritual leaders of last year's 9-3 team?

>> Can several receiver candidates -- playbook savvy but relatively untested in games -- step into the patterns vacated by Craig Stutzmann and Channon Harris and come close to third-team All-American Ashley Lelie's production?

>> Who will end up with starting spots in Mike Cavanaugh's game of musical offensive linemen?

>> With Tim Chang sidelined with a wrist surgery, who is the No. 2 -- and possibly, if Chang doesn't come back 100 percent -- No. 1 quarterback?

Jones knows he can't get all the answers in a month. But he is confident the Warriors have the players to fill the openings. He and his staff just need to figure out who they are.

At safety, special teams dynamo Sean Butts saw considerable action last year. With his height (6-foot-3) and speed, he proved he could make plays, but wasn't always in the right place. He and freshman Leonard Peters will get the first chance to replace Jackson and Espiau.

Matt Manuma, David Gilmore and Chad Kapanui are right behind them, along with Lono Manners, a converted running back.

"There are some gifted athletes lined up there," Jones said. "They were all leaders in high school, and they can step up and be leaders here. They will have to replace the guys who are gone."

At receiver, there will be a lot of focus on Neal Gossett. The junior from Waipahu High School gets the first chance to replace Lelie. While comparisons are inevitable, they are also unfair; Gossett is not as big or as fast as Lelie, but the coaches expect him to be very dependable.

"The times he's played, he's made some big plays," receivers coach Ron Lee said.

But that wasn't often. Lelie, Harris, Stutzmann, Colbert and Tafiti Uso played most of the downs last year, leaving little live action for apprentices like Gossett, Owens, Clifton Herbert, Mark Tate and Britton Komine.

Those are just a few of the candidates at the three open receiver spots. Others include Nate Ilaoa, Frank Rivers and Mike Akiu, all freshmen who redshirted last fall.

On the offensive line, Wayne Hunter moves in at left tackle after playing on the defensive line last year, and right tackle Uriah Moenoa tries center. Lui Fuata moves in from left tackle to left guard, and promising Ryan Santos gets his chance at right tackle. Honors candidate Vince Manuwai is the only one who remains in place, at right guard.

Chang's absence from passing drills this spring gives senior Shawn Withy-Allen, junior college transfer Jason Whieldon and freshman Jeff Rhode more chances to show what they can do and how quickly they can learn.

"Our offense is a repetition deal for quarterbacks. The more snaps you get, the better you will do," Jones said. "Because the numbers are down, each one of these guys, Jason, Shawn and Jeff, will get a lot of snaps. Everyone will have the opportunity and they'll get better because of it."

As usual, contact will be at a minimum to avoid injuries, Jones said.

"We'll hone in on fundamentals. We're not into a lot of physical contact. We don't want to get anyone hurt," Jones said. "We'll have a couple of scrimmages, I'm sure, but other than that, the contact will be limited."

Jones said he's happy to have football to coach rather than questions to answer about rumors of him leaving and contract negotiations that include control of Aloha Stadium.

"Oh yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to getting on the field with the guys," he said. "The legislature as far as I'm concerned knows how to deal with (the stadium issue), so whatever they choose to do, they can live with it."

Spring depth chart

Offense

SE	18	Justin Colbert (5-7, 160, Sr.)
	87	Kanale George (6-1, 199, So.)
SB	82	Chad Owens (5-8, 175, So.)
	84	Britton Komine (5-9, 184, So.)
LT	70	Wayne Hunter (6-6, 278, Jr.)
	79	Charlie Dutra (6-6, 315, Sr.)
	66	Brandon Eaton (6-2, 292, Fr.)
LG	53	Lui Fuata (6-2, 313, Sr.)
	77	Shayne Kajioka (6-3, 323, Sr.)
C	69	Uriah Moenoa (6-4, 331, So.)
	59	Derek Faavi (6-0, 261, Fr.)
	72	Kealii Aguiar (6-1, 299, Sr.)
RG	65	Vince Manuwai (6-2, 285, Sr.)
	75	Chad Kahale (6-1, 313, So.)
RT	71	Ryan Santos (6-5, 335, So.)
	67	Phil Kauffman (6-1, 269, So.)
	76	Jonathan Ekno (6-5, 306, So.)
SB	38	Gerald Welch (5-7, 201, So.)
	4	Nate Ilaoa (5-9, 190, Fr.)
	21	Clifton Herbert (5-7, 162, Jr.)
SE	88	Neal Gossett (5-10, 172, Jr.)
	83	Mike Akiu (5-7, 151, Fr.)
	82	Omar Bennett (5-11, 178, Jr.)
QB	7	Shawn Withy-Allen (6-4, 220, Sr.)
	12	Jeff Rhode (6-5, 233, Fr.)
	8	Jason Whieldon (6-0, 187, Jr.)
RB	1	Mike Bass (5-6, 158, So.)
	24	Thero Mitchell (5-10, 215, Sr.)

Defense

LE	58	La'anui Correa (6-4, 267, Sr.)
	93	Houston Ala (6-1, 251, Jr.)
LT	99	Lui Fuga (6-1, 302, Sr.)
	78	Mike Holt (6-5, 298, Jr.)
RT	92	Lance Samuseva (5-11, 285, Jr.)
	96	Hiram Travis (6-3, 257, Jr.)
RE	11	Kevin Jackson (6-5, 244, Jr.)
	95	Colin Wills (6-1, 252, Jr.)
LB	44	Matt Wright (6-1, 222, Sr.)
	46	Keani Alapa (6-0, 222, Jr.)
LB	54	Chris Brown (6-2, 258, Sr.)
	42	Donny Faaliliu (5-11, 242, Sr.)
LB	10	Pisa Tinoisamoa (6-0, 217, Sr.)
	29	Kilinahe Noa (5-11, 214, So.) OR
	48	Isaiah Alameda (6-1, 212, So.)
CB	37	Abe Elimimian (5-10, 180, So.)
	17	Kelvin Millhouse (6-1, 198, Jr.)
SS	19	Leonard Peters (6-1, 163, Fr.)
	35	David Gilmore (6-0, 188, Jr.)
FS	23	Sean Butts (6-3, 193, Sr.)
	9	Matt Manuma (6-1, 200, So.)
CB	33	Hyrum Peters (5-8, 190, Jr.)
	25	Josiah Cravalho (5-9, 186, So.)

Specialists

P	49	Mat McBriar (6-1, 202, Jr.)
	27	Greg Kleidon (6-0, 182, Sr.)
PK	47	Justin Ayat (5-11, 203, So.)
LS	53	Lui Fuata (6-2, 313, Sr.)
	45	T.J. Moe (5-11, 222, Fr.)
PR	82	Chad Owens (5-8, 175, So.)
	21	Clifton Herbert (5-7, 162, Jr.)
KR	82	Chad Owens (5-8, 175, So.)
	18	Justin Colbert (5-7, 160, Jr.)
H	7	Shawn Withy-Allen (6-4, 220, Sr.)
	49	Mat McBriar (6-1, 202, Jr.)

BACK TO TOP

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No trip to Maui
for Warriors

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By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

Hawaii football coach June Jones and Maui Mayor Kimo Apana decided yesterday not to end spring practice on the Valley Isle next month.

Jones and Apana worked the past several weeks to try to stage the final spring practice -- a day of events called the "Spring Challenge," scheduled for April 14 -- on Maui. But the unavailability of War Memorial Stadium, which is undergoing reconstruction, made that difficult.

"We decided to put it on hold for this spring," Jones said. "We might do it there next spring or have a scrimmage there in the fall."

Jones said the football program needed to break even financially on the venture, and he wasn't sure that could be done at this point.

Jones said he isn't sure where the spring finale will be held.

"We're talking about a couple different things. It will probably be on this island, maybe off-campus," Jones said. "I'll have to check the NCAA rules. I'm not sure what they allow us."

UH has held spring games off-island in the past and played its season-opening game last year at War Memorial Stadium. It was the first time UH played a regular-season game on a neighbor island.

"The issue is that without War Memorial Stadium, we don't have a facility large enough to accommodate the UH," Apana said. "But we will work together for something hopefully later in the year or next year."