For Makoa Camanse-Stevens, senior night felt like graduation day.

From Pop Warner’s Kailua Mustangs through Kamehameha Schools’ varsity, Camanse-Stevens’ football playground was Aloha Stadium.

But after receiving a thanks-for-your-interest rejection from the University of Hawaii football team, Camanse-Stevens figured he had played his final game on the stadium’s synthetic turf. On that night in November 2012, Camanse-Stevens, draped in lei and emotion, wanted one last memory.

"I was standing on the north side of the end zone as we were exiting out the tunnel to catch the bus back to school," he recalled. "I wanted to take a picture because I thought it would be my last time ever playing in the stadium."

Camanse-Stevens smiled, then said: "I was wrong."

He has been a pleasant surprise this season, his first as a Rainbow Warrior. Camanse-Stevens is averaging 16.6 yards on nine receptions, has completed a 51-yard option pass, and has amassed four special-teams tackles.

"He’s got the physical tools," interim head coach Chris Naeole said of the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Camanse-Stevens. "He doesn’t complain. He has a smile on his face every day. He wants to work. I wish everybody were like that."

Camanse-Stevens is poised to make his second UH start — his first at slotback — in Saturday’s game against San Jose State at Aloha Stadium. "Whether they put me in or not," he said, "it’s a blessing to be here."

With no Division I offers as a Kamehameha senior quarterback, Camanse-Stevens spent two seasons at Arizona Western Junior College. He was a quarterback through the middle of his second season before moving to wideout. The past spring, he returned to Hawaii to focus on academics.

UH defensive backs coach Abraham Eliminian encouraged Camanse-Stevens to join as a walk-on. Eliminian’s plan was for Camanse-Stevens to compete at safety. But Norm Chow, who was head coach at the time, vetoed the suggestion and kept Camanse-Stevens on offense.

"I told the coaches, ‘Wherever you need me, I’ll roll with it and try my best,’" said Camanse-Stevens, whose UH expenses are covered by his parents and a grant from Kamehameha Schools’ college fund.

His teamwork was evident at Kamehameha, when his senior class swept the annual song competition.

"I was a bass," he said. "My senior year, they moved me and my best friend. We were the only two guys sitting by the girls. I think we sounded so bad they wanted us to be so far away. … I feel God blessed me with a lot of talents, but singing is not one of them. I’m OK with that."