The closing of spring left the Hawaii football team eagerly awaiting the fall.

The Warriors capped spring with their annual scrimmage and all three units left Ching Field encouraged with their progress over the last 15 practices.

The offense scored three touchdowns in the situational scrimmage while the defense came up with three interceptions and two sacks in the finale before about 1,000 fans.

“;It goes to show the competition is up there,”; said safety Richard Torres, who pulled down one of the picks for the defense. “;As long as everybody's making plays it shows we're moving in the right direction.”;

Largely overshadowed much of the time, the Hawaii running game took a turn in the spotlight.

Though hampered by a groin injury for much of the spring, senior Chizzy Dimude turned in a few highlight runs in rushing for 52 yards on four carries and scored the offense's first touchdown.

“;It really feels good. With all the fans out there I was just trying to put on a show for them,”; Dimude said.

“;I didn't know how I was going to do, my groin's been messing with me all spring but I felt I did all right just coming out here and showing what I've got. Our O-line did really good making the holes and we just ran through them.”;

Dimude shared playing time with the first unit with fellow senior Alex Green, who had 18 yards on five carries and a touchdown. Freshman John Lister also turned in a tough 20-yard run.

The backs carried the load on two scoring drives led by freshman quarterback David Graves, the second coming in the overtime drill when Green punched it in from 1 yard out.

“;You don't even know what it's like to get in the huddle and know that I have weapons sitting right next to me,”; said Graves, who completed four of seven passes for 46 yards. “;A.G. and Chizzy are just straight weapons, give them the ball and they're going to get some big time yards this year.”;

Quarterback Brent Rausch scored on a scramble and went 11-for-17 for 92 yards.

Along with Torres, safeties Kawika Borden and Jordan Gomes also came up with interceptions for the defense and defensive tackle Vaughn Meatoga was credited with two sacks.

The secondary was without its top three cornerbacks, but Steve Stepter turned in the hit of the night with a hard shot on slotback Ryan Henry during the 2-minute drill period as the first units matched up against the second units for much of the scrimmage.

“;The thing I'm most proud of is the defensive guys feel good about themselves,”; defensive coordinator Dave Aranda said. “;They hit people, they feel like they can swarm to the ball and they feel like they can compete with anybody. I don't know that we felt that at this time last year. I think if we have that, the other things as coaches we can get done.”;

The scrimmage provided one more dose of hitting before the Warriors enter their summer training program. The coaches will meet with the team next week as they solidify the depth chart and trim the roster to reach the 105 limit for fall camp.

“;It's a confidence booster, I'm not gonna lie,”; Dimude said. “;I just can't wait to get into summer and get bigger, stronger and faster. I know I'm going be healthy and can't wait until fall camp.”;

GAME TIMES ANNOUNCED

UH athletic director Jim Donovan announced that most of the Warriors' home games will start at 5:30 p.m. this season. The exception is the Sept. 2 season opener against USC, which kicks off at 5 p.m.