Warriors get wet workout

Here’s a not-so-dirty secret: The University of Hawaii football players are tough mudders.

In the rain and mud, the Rainbow Warriors splashed their way through drills and scrimmage-like sessions in Monday’s 100-minute practice on the grass field.

“It took us back to when we were kids,” linebacker/co-captain Lance Williams said of the 12th of 29 practices ahead of the Sept. 3 opener against Colorado. “Back then, we weren’t thinking about the rain. We were just having fun.”

This is the bridge week between last Friday’s end of Summer Session II and the Aug. 24 start of fall semester. To work around meetings and weight-lifting sessions, Monday’s practice was scheduled to start at 12:50 p.m. That morning, coach Norm Chow learned the forecast called for heavy rain in Manoa.

“I called the (assistant) coaches up and asked them what they wanted to do,” Chow said. “They said, ‘Hey, Coach, you always say it doesn’t matter, so let’s just play.’ ”

The Warriors had one of their most efficient practices of training camp. In the 11-on-11 session, center Asotui Eli did not have a bad snap. Quarterback Max Wittek was 7-for-11, including a scoring pass to slotback Dylan Collie. Right wideout Quinton Pedroza made a leaping catch.

Of the adverse conditions, Wittek said: “It’s an element of the game you have to be ready for. It’s good to get used to it. Any time you can practice with that wet ball, it’s going to be good for us quarterbacks. In this conference, the Mountain West, it could rain, snow. You have to be ready.”

Offensive coordinator Don Bailey said Monday’s practice was “a good test. We still moved the ball. We were efficient. We missed some passes, but we made some plays. That’s what it’s all about. It’s still about the concentration level, and not letting the weather be an excuse for anything we’re doing.”

Williams recalled the hanabata days of playing in Kuhio Park Terrace’s recreation area.

“When it was raining, it was, like, ‘Let’s go out and play tackle football,’ ” Williams recalled. “We’d dive in the mud. It was great.”

Inside linebacker Julian Gener said: “It wasn’t a whole tsunami coming in. It was just raining. It’s good when we practice in the rain. It makes the job harder for the receivers. They’ve got to catch a ball that’s slippery. The ball gets heavy for the quarterback. It creates a lot of problems that will help us prepare for future games.”

Chow said there is no predicting the weather.

“We’re trying to be flexible because our season will be flexible,” Chow said. “We’ll play at night. We’ll play in the afternoon. We’ll play in the evening. Our mantra is: ‘We don’t care about all that. We just want to play.’”