It was the night before Christmas in 2008 when the University of Hawaii football received an unpleasant surprise.

At the end of the Rainbow Warriors’ second possession of the Hawaii Bowl, Notre Dame’s Sergio Brown blocked Tim Grasso’s punt.

It would be the last time a UH punt was rejected, a span of 3,614 days.

Entering Saturday’s senior night against UNLV, the Warriors have not had one of their punts blocked in 125 consecutive games, trailing only Auburn’s NCAA-leading blockless streak of 127 contests. The Warriors attempted 638 punts during the 10-season period.

“That’s one of the most important units out there,” said Michael Ghobrial, who coaches the specialists. “You don’t want to give the opponent good field position. For us to practice our protection every day is something we want to keep going as a streak.”

During the streak, the Warriors have used four punters (Stan Gaudion, Rigo Sanchez, Scott Harding and Alex Dunnachie) and three long-snappers (Noah Borden, Brodie Nakama and Luke Ingram). The Warriors have used punters with swing-away, roll-out and sky techniques. They have used back-line protection of one to three blockers.

This season, the Warriors spend a few sessions of each practice on special teams, with the longest focus on punt protection.

“Every day, we go through all the looks,” Ghobrial said. Opponents have attacked from the edge and middle, and off loops, stunts and double moves. One opponent aligned 10 defenders across the line of scrimmage.

“Our guys have been dialed in since spring ball,” Ghobrial said. “It’s been a lot of repetition. They’ve been able to create muscle memory. And mentally, they understand what we’re doing and what we’re trying to accomplish. It’s been good.”

This season, the Warriors align three blockers — Dakota Torres, Blessman Ta‘ala and Emil Graves — as a shield in front of Gaudion, the punter.

“We come out every single day during practice and go through every drill as if it were the last situation in a game,” Graves said. “We perfect the moment.”

Each shield blocker offers different skills. Graves is an offensive lineman. Ta‘ala, a defensive lineman, is one of the strongest Warriors. Torres, a slotback who had joined UH as a tight end, can block and then pursue a returner.

“I feel I’m reliable and durable enough to take a few shots and make some tackles,” Torres said.

Gaudion said he is safe behind the shield, which is mobile enough to move the block when he rolls out of the punting pocket.

“They’re the best protection in the world,” said Gaudion, who has punted 35 times without incident this season. “There’s the ‘Great Waianae Shield’ in Dakota Torres. (Ta‘ala is) the ‘Great Wall of Samoa.’ Emil Graves is the ‘Great Wall of Emil Graves.’ They look after me. I don’t worry about (being blocked).”

Torres said speed is the key. “It helps that Noah (Borden) is consistent with the snaps,” Torres said. “The punters have been good with their out times. It helps that they don’t take super long to punt.”