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That “thud” was the sound of the University of Hawaii football team’s first fully padded practice of training camp.
The team drills were on thud, in which players ran at full speed but were limited in take-down tackles and the six quarterbacks wore no-hit jerseys.
“It was a regular practice,” said UH coach Timmy Chang, indicating the Rainbow Warriors are building toward Friday’s tentatively scheduled scrimmage. “It was good. The guys are doing good. I thought it was a great practice.”
Four of the first five practices were split into two 95-minute sessions. On Tuesday, similar to Saturday’s practice, all the players participated in the same two-hour session. Cornerback Virdel Edwards delivered the biggest hit during team drills. Quarterback Brayden Schager had another impressive outing and is maneuvering for one of the top two spots on the depth chart.
Schager, Pittsburgh transfer Jeremy Yellen, Washington State transfer Cammon Cooper and third-year Warrior Jake Farrell are viewed as the top four quarterbacks. Chang and offensive coordinator Ian Shoemaker are at least a week away from setting the quarterback order ahead of the Aug. 27 season opener against Vanderbilt.
Asked about Schager, Chang said, “He threw some good balls. I like what he did today. … He was making some really good decisions. He’s a smart kid. He works hard. He has experience, too. I think that helps him a little bit.”
As a true freshman last year, the Dallas-reared Schager was 2-1 starting in place of the injured Chevan Cordeiro, who transferred to San Jose State in December. Schager’s lone loss was against Nevada, where Chang was an assistant coach. But Schager completed six of his first seven passes, helping UH to an early lead.
“I loved what he did,” Chang said of that matchup. “Smart kid.”
The Warriors incurred their first health setback when safety McKenzie Barnes was diagnosed with a season-ending Achilles injury. He is scheduled to undergo surgery. He suffered the injury while breaking up a pass on Saturday night.
Barnes, who transferred from Arizona, was recruited to help a secondary that lost all five 2021 starters.
“His talent level was something that was going to benefit our defense,” defensive coordinator Jacob Yoro said of the 6-foot-2, 170-pound junior. “It’s an extreme loss. We were impressed how he had become part of the ‘braddahhood.’ We’ll be here for him, and we’ll get his rehab going.”
Chang said: “It’s tough. He’s a good player. He came here with a purpose. It’ll take a little while to heal back. We’ll take care of him. We’ll make sure he get his school work done, and he keeps developing in our program.”
Barnes was competing as the field safety, a play-calling position that defends the wide side and helps in pass coverage and run fits.
Noa Kamana and Leonard Lee have been practicing as the safeties on the first team. Kamana, who earned a scholarship last year after excelling on special teams for three years, is a boundary safety. Lee, who rejoined the team as a walk-on, is the field safety.
“They’re good kids, really good kids,” Chang said of Kamana and Lee. “They’re what our program is about — developing guys, guys who believe what we’re doing. They do all the right things. They’re leaders in the room. You can’t say enough about those guys.”
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