University of Hawaii offensive lineman Kody Afusia vowed to play against Oregon State on Saturday at Aloha Stadium.
In Saturday’s 17-16 loss to Washington, Afusia started at center but injured his right (snapping) hand on the Warriors’ second drive.
Afusia wore a heavy wrap on the hand during Tuesday’s practice.
"They said they’ll cast it up, get a club on it, and it’ll be good," Afusia said.
Afusia said his wish is to snap with his right hand. If not, he said, he is comfortable snapping with his left. On Sunday, Afusia said, coach Norm Chow "had me throw the ball left-handed. It wasn’t bad."
Against Oregon State, Afusia said: "I could play center. I could easily play guard."
Afusia, a senior, started 12 games at guard in 2013. He switched to center, his position as a UH freshman, when center Ben Clarke moved to left tackle in the spring.
Afusia said he suffered the injury while trying to get extra jabs on a defender.
Afusia is one of eight co-captains selected by teammates.
Shigematsu shows stamina
Right tackle Sean Shigematsu missed several offseason workouts because of a variety of ailments. But the four-week preseason apparently helped boost Shigematsu’s stamina. He played in 96 of 97 offensive plays against Washington.
"I got the wind knocked out me," Shigematsu said of his missed play. "Nothing crazy. It wasn’t too bad."
Shigematsu credited strength/conditioning coach Gary Beemer, whose program included weekly workouts on Waikiki Beach.
"Coach got us in shape, and he put us in position to do good things," he said.
Left guard John Wa’a played every snap. Wa’a redshirted as a freshman last year. He was named the Warriors’ top scout for offense.
"I hadn’t played since high school," said Wa’a, a 2013 Kahuku High graduate. "I had a lot of butterflies (early), I guess. I was fine after that."
Safeties stepped up
College Sports Madness, an online sports site, named safety Taz Stevenson as its Mountain West Conference player of the week for defense.
Against Washington, nine of Stevenson’s team-high 10 tackles were solo stops.
Stevenson and safety Trayvon Henderson played in all 74 defensive snaps.
"I’m very happy with them," defensive coordinator Kevin Clune said of his starting safeties. "Again, they have to continue to keep stepping forward. This team has to continue to evolve, and we’ve got to keep stepping up as the season goes on."
