Dings and dustups, but nothing too serious

By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com

Scuffles and injuries are seemingly natural parts of fall camp, and the Hawaii football team dealt with a little of both yesterday.

MORE COVERAGE

»	Warriors take a break
»	Dowling's a quick study
»	Notebook: Dings and dustups
»	The D-Line: Receivers run the race to the end

Several players sat out with various ailments. Tight hamstrings kept linebacker Adam Leonard, receiver Daniel Lofton and defensive end John Fonoti on the sideline another day.

Guards Lafu Tuioti-Mariner and Raphael Ieru were also out of action, moving junior Ray Hisatake into the first unit. Hisatake had moved from tackle to guard earlier in the week.

"We've got tweaks and stuff," coach Greg McMackin said. "We'll give them Sunday off. We worked them hard this week and we'll get back to working hard next week."

Running back Jake Heun could miss the most time of the group, probably sitting out the rest of fall camp, and possibly beyond, due to a back injury that caused numbness down his right leg. He said the injury first started bothering him shortly after UH's spring game in April.

"It's really frustrating, but I just have to get the rehab," Heun said. "The more rehab the quicker I'll be back."

With the mid-morning sun warming the field yesterday, tempers got a little hot during the team period, prompting McMackin to gather the Warriors for a chat before resuming practice.

"We had to pull them apart a few times, but that's natural," McMackin said. "They're getting ready for battle."

"You're going to have your problems and conflicts. But it's just like a family. You always make up. So we're all cool," said defensive end Cameron Allen-Jones, who was involved in a brief dustup. "No grudges. It's football."

Catch(es) of the day

Sophomore Greg Salas turned two of the day's highlight plays during the 7-on-7 period. On one, the 6-foot-2 receiver outjumped safety Kenny Estes to haul in a deep pass from Inoke Funaki. Later, a Jake Santos throw appeared headed into the hands of safety Dane Porlas, but Salas arrived in time to tear the ball away and bolt downfield.

Junior Ryan Henry also pulled down a deep ball from Greg Alexander.

Salas has been running with the first unit at wide receiver on the left side with Malcolm Lane on the right. They've been backed up by redshirt freshmen Joe Avery and Royce Pollard. Aaron Bain and Mike Washington remain the first slotbacks, followed by Kealoha Pilares and Jon Medeiros.

In the swim

Junior left tackle Aaron Kia said he'll spend some of his free time watching the Olympic swimming competition this week.

"I don't really know much about who's in it," said Kia, when asked if he is a Michael Phelps fan. "But I definitely want to see it."

Why the interest?

Before they started playing football, Kia and his brother, Micah (now a starting offensive lineman at UCLA), were outstanding competitive age-group and high school swimmers at Mililani.

"I was in the 50 and 100 free," said Aaron, who qualified for the state meet as a sophomore. "My brother did the breaststroke."

Scholarships awarded

The academic accomplishments of three players helped them gain scholarships on Friday. The scholarships were awarded to Pollard and defensive backs Ryan Perry and Mana Silva.

"Because of their achievements on and off the field. We gave them to three walk-ons," McMackin said. "I really wanted to make a statement that guys have opportunities to get scholarships, and that academics are really important to us."

Short yardage

Receiver Jovonte Taylor and defensive back Chris Black both observed practice yesterday. Both are awaiting clearance to start working with the team, with Taylor possibly coming out tomorrow. ... Kicker Dan Kelly was impressive in the field-goal period. The ball was moved back 5 yards after each kick until he pumped a 47-yarder through with a lot to spare.

Dave Reardon contributed to this story.