Dave Reardon: Hawaii football team’s snapper, holder and place-kicker often take their work home with them

Our mother had a rule against ball-playing in the house.

Didn’t everyone’s?

That rule was often broken by our father … and because of that, so were some household items.

“Good things you guys could catch,” my mom said when I told her I’d be mentioning that in today’s column.

“Most of the time, Mom.” I recall a football bouncing off my hands and shattering a vase when I was about 10 (a year or two before some genius invented the Nerf ball).

Ben Falck, Solomon Landrum and Matthew Shipley are college juniors far from home, so they don’t have to worry about such maternal regulations. The common areas of the Kaimuki house they live in are bereft of ceramic knicknacks and framed pictures that could be damaged, anyway.

And their indoor ball-playing now could help the University of Hawaii football team win some games this fall.

“The hallway’s pretty narrow, but it works,” said Landrum, who is competing for UH’s long-snapper position. “We can practice our snaps without a problem. Shipley doesn’t kick in here. If he did he’d blast the roof off.”

On the day we visit, Falck, the Warriors’ holder, sits on the living room couch and catches crisp snaps from Landrum. Sometimes Shipley, who was UH’s place-kicker and punter last year, takes snaps, too.

Players who do what these three do on football teams are called specialists. Except perhaps for Landrum, that’s not a very apt description. Falck is listed as a place-kicker and also has experience as a punter. Shipley is one of those kickers who could probably play on offense or defense — but likely will never get the chance because his production as a kicker is too valuable to risk to injury.

“I’m the best holder on the team, too,” Shipley says. Maybe he’s joking, I’m not quite sure. Regardless, he knows his success as a kicker is dependent on others, especially the snapper and holder.

“It’s a lot easier when I don’t have to think about the rest of it,” he said.

He was a receiver and defensive back at Liberty Hill High School near Dallas, where he was also all-state in soccer. Shipley was recruited to UH by Nick Rolovich’s staff before Rolo left for Washington State prior to the 2020 season.

There’s a lot of talk about all the production Hawaii lost from last fall’s team. But at least its leading scorer is back — that would be Shipley, a 2021 Groza Award semifinalist who accounted for 96 points on 18 field goals and 42 points-after-touchdown. Shipley also averaged 41.5 yards on 55 punts last year.

His career-long field goal in a game is 49 yards against Utah State last fall. He has converted from 73 yards in practice.

There’s no chance of Shipley becoming complacent, not with Kyler Halvorsen around. Halvorsen, a sophomore from Kaiser, kicked a 55-yard field goal for the winning points in the spring game this year. He forced 40 touchbacks in 72 boots as UH’s kickoff specialist in 2021.

“Matt knows if he has a bad day, Kyler’s right there,” UH special teams coordinator Thomas Sheffield said. “They’re 1 and 1A.

Falck was a 6-foot-4 goalkeeper in soccer and also lettered in golf at Citrus Hill High School in Perris, Calif., where he was also valedictorian.

He was first-team all-league at kicker and punter at San Bernardino Valley College (Calif.) during a conference-championship season in 2019. Now he’s a Mountain West all-academic math major who will likely double in business before he’s done at Manoa.

“As holder, my job is to place the ball exactly the way (the kicker) wants it,” Falck said. “Laces away, slight tilt.”

Landrum made more than 200 tackles in four years as a starting defensive end at Sumrall High School in Hattiesburg, Miss.

“Every day, same Solomon, same effort, no matter what we are doing. He’s just really consistent and a maximum-effort guy,” said his prep coach, Shannon Wright.

Landrum knew he was undersized for the next level at barely 6 feet. But he learned there is a position for a consistent and tough perfectionist.

“I didn’t think I’d be a snapper collegiately, until in high school I started getting looks,” he said. “A couple of JCs reached out to me.”

Mississippi Gulf Coast was among them, and Landrum was the long-snapper on its 2019 national championship team. Last year, he was invited to walk on at Ole Miss by special teams coordinator Coleman Hutzler (now at Alabama, and coincidentally, the son-in-law of Dave Shoji, UH’s legendary retired volleyball coach).

In an example of what the transfer portal was originally intended for, Landrum was offered a scholarship by Hawaii and joined the Warriors last spring.

“I fell into a great situation here,” he said.

Shipley and the Warriors are perfect the past two years on extra points with 68. “I missed one in high school, but I think I can blame the holder for that,” Shipley said.

Maybe they didn’t get together with their snapper enough for some homework.