Young Warriors proving they’re ready to play

The University of Hawaii football team’s 34-17 victory over San Jose State was partly constructed in a short time.

Nine Rainbow Warriors who contributed to the outcome, including starting quarterback Dru Brown, were not even registered UH-Manoa students five months ago.

“If they’re ready to contribute, they’ll play,” head coach Nick Rolovich said of the youth movement. “That’s what they came here to do. They came here to play.”

Eleven members of the 2016 recruiting class have played this season.

“The 2017 class will have the same opportunity,” Rolovich said. “The same with the 2018 class, and the 2019 class …”

Rolovich said his staff will recruit to compete against the current players. He said he told his team: “Part of my job is to out-recruit you. You’d better keep working.”

Brown, who transferred from College of San Mateo the past summer, threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 54 yards and a score in the Warriors’ first road victory since 2014.

Viane Moala, a 6-foot-7 freshman from American Samoa, blocked a field-goal attempt from 50 yards. Moala worked his way into the rotation at defensive tackle.

“He’s going to be a good player,” defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said of Moala. “He’s young and raw and still learning. The more he plays, the better he’s going to get.”

Ben Scruton, an Australian resident who joined the Warriors in Sydney a week before the season opener, made his first tackle in an American football game.

And Kaimana Padello, who is 6 feet and 205 pounds, ended the game with a sack. Padello, a walk-on from Mililani High, played mostly on special teams this season. He recently ascended to second-team defensive end.

“He’s way undersized but his heart is oversized,” Lempa said. “He plays with a lot of heart and emotion. It’s important to him. He’s on the edge every play. He’s ready to go. If we had a whole team full of Padellos, we’d be in great shape.”

The Warriors, who are 3-3 overall and 2-0 in the Mountain West, will reach the season’s halfway point with Saturday’s game against UNLV. “Time and distance,” Rolovich said of whether to play or redshirt a newcomer who has not appeared in any of the first six games.

Lempa said he struggles on whether to activate freshman safety Kalen Hicks, who played well on the scout team and the weekly Warrior Rumble scrimmage.

“He’s the guy I’m going back and forth with right now,” Lempa said. “We have to figure it out. It’s hub-a-dub-hub-a-dub. We don’t know what to do with him. If somebody goes down, we’ll have to play him.”

Lempa said three freshman contributors — safety Keala Santiago and linebackers Ikem Okeke and Jeremiah Pritchard — will have expanded roles.

“Okeke is doing a nice job on special teams,” Lempa said. “He belongs on the field. We need to get him on the field.”