The University of Hawaii football team is down in numbers, but the members insist they are not down for the count.
For Tuesday’s practice, the Rainbow Warriors had seven offensive linemen available from the active roster, and 18 players in the green jerseys worn by those in thedefensive rotation. “We only need five (offensive linemen),” offensive coordinator Don Bailey said.
“We only need 11 guys (on offense). We’ll take whatever 11 are willing and able andready to go.”
With right guard Dejon Allen receiving treatment for a leg issue and freshman Eperone Moananu playing on defense, the Warriors mixed and matched the offensiveline during scrimmage-like drills.
Center Asotui Eli and left tackle Ben Clarke spelled guards Elijah Tupai and John Wa‘a.
“Tui and Ben were helping us whenever they saw us dying,” Wa‘a said, smiling.
Clarke, who has not missed a start in 48 career games, wore a medical boot for the first nine weeks of the season. But with his foot improved, he scrapped the bootlast week, and now participates fully in practices.
“My foot is feeling good,” Clarke said. “It’s fun to be out here. It sucked to be in the training room. I’m happy to be out here practicing with my team.”
Mason has scrambled to assemble a defensive rotation. Safety Gaetano DeMattei was cleared to practice after recovering from a knee procedure. The Warriors arehopeful inside linebacker Jerrol Garcia-Williams and free safety Marrell Jackson, both of whom missed the Fresno State game last weekend, will be available to play onSaturday against San Jose State.
But cornerback/safety Dejaun Butler is expected to miss the final two games because of a knee problem.
Mason said there were 24 defensive players suited up against Fresno State.
“I looked at the end of practice (on Tuesday), and we were right around 18 guys in green,” Mason said. “You’re usually three deep at every position. That’s 33 guys.That’s how many you travel with. Shoot, we’re all beat up.”
Interim head coach Chris Naeole said: “We’ll find out which guys are up, and we’ll play with what we’ve got. That’s all you can do. We’ll try to get guys healthy forSaturday. That’s the m.o.”
Middle linebacker Julian Gener has played despite several ailments.
“You have to play through everything,” Gener said. “You’ve got to go with the flow. Honestly, during the football season, nobody is 100 percent. Everybody always hassomething going on. You can’t be crying about injuries when you know everybody has something. It’s tough to be injury-free in football.”
