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To make a splash, kicker Matthew Shipley needed to be splashed.
On the final snap of Saturday’s intrasquad scrimmage, Shipley set up for a field-goal attempt from 42 yards at the University of Hawaii football team’s grass practice field. Teammates screamed and waved their arms as a distraction. Then a graduate assistant sprayed water on Shipley’s face.
“It’s not very comfortable,” Shipley said of the splashing.
Shipley’s key was true to end the 50-play scrimmage.
“First of all, it’s my job,” Shipley said of converting kicks in pressure situations. “I like the atmosphere. It’s something I need. It helps me come game situations. It’s really important that we do that. It helps me out. I can’t be nervous. I have to go out there with confidence and make the kick. That’s what I’m here to do.”
Head coach Timmy Chang praised Shipley’s poise and focus, even while experiencing “some Manoa mist. We had to put some pressure on him. We sprayed him a little bit.”
Shipley is coming off a sophomore season in which he converted 18 of 21 field-goal attempts and all 42 of his point-after kicks. He also averaged 41.5 yards per punt. He is hopeful of adding kickoff duties this coming season.
“I’m trying to do all three,” Shipley said. “We’ll see how I chart and do in spring ball.”
Shipley is embracing a more structured workout schedule under Thomas Sheffield, who was hired as special teams coordinator in January.
“We’re getting charted every single day,” Shipley said. “We have a kick count. We have a script. We never had a script before. We’re following that script every single day. Our practices are filled with kicking the whole entire time. We’re always improving. … Last year, we didn’t have a designated coach to tell us what to do and work on. (Now) we watch film every day with our coach, seeing where corrections need to be made and fixing them.”
The Warriors’ offense impressed during the second scrimmage of spring training. A week ago, the defense dominated, amassing six sacks and not allowing a touchdown. On Saturday, the offense responded with scoring throws to Steven Fiso, Caleb Phillips, Jalen Walthall, Dior Scott and Dedric Parson.
“We kind of slowed down our installs,” Scott said. “We went back to the fundamentals. We relaxed our minds and worked on fundamentals this week. It works when we don’t try to do too much.”
Scott’s best play was catching a slant from Jake Farrell, then spinning out of two would- be tackles for a 20-yard gain. “It’s been a minute since I’ve been able to strike out on my catch,” Scott said. “It was pretty fun, striking out and showing Coach Timmy I can make the YAC (yards after catch) and get yards.”
Scott, who is 5 feet 9 and 175 pounds, has the unspecified role of “offensive player.” He has aligned as an H-back, slot, wideout and running back. “We’re team players,” Scott said.
Chang, who was hired in January, has yet to set a depth chart, insisting the goal of this spring is to implement the offensive and defensive schemes.
“It’s one of those things where there’s a lot on their plate,” Chang said. “It’s a new terminology. It’s new schemes. It’s new fundamentals and techniques. It’s going to continue to take a process. We know that. The beauty is the kids are still buying in. They’re excited and they want to play football.”
Brayden Schager, who took the initial snaps, and Cammon Cooper appear to be ahead of the five other quarterbacks. Saturday’s No. 1 offensive line was left tackle Ilm Manning, left guard Stephan Bernal-Wendt, center Eliki Tanuvasa, right guard Aradi Mose and right tackle Micah Vanterpool. Manning and Vanterpool are viewed as leaders on the line. Chang said offensive line coach Roman Sapolu has been mixing and matching linemen to find cohesive combinations. Chang said there also is a practical reason to distribute the workload.
“We need to spread out the reps because it helps to save their bodies,” Chang said. “The game is taxing. The more bodies we have, the better. Even though people might not be taking the reps physically, mentally they get to learn from the other guys on what they’re doing right, what they’re not doing right. Definitely, this time of spring, it’s a development of everybody. Everybody is getting reps.”
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