For University of Hawaii defensive lineman Ka’au Gifford, the riding distance between Point A and Point B can be up to two hours.
“I bused it every morning from Waianae to Kamehameha (Schools),” Gifford said. “I was up at 4:30. Breakfast was already made, thanks to my mom. I was on the bus by 5:30. (The ride) could be 45 minutes with no traffic to two hours with traffic.”
For Gifford, the depth-chart distance between 1 and 2 was hours of sprints, squat-lifts and video sessions.
In the first five practices of training camp, Gifford has been the right end on the No. 1 defense — in part due to Kennedy Tulimasealii’s nagging injury, in part due to Gifford’s development.
Gifford redshirted as a freshman in 2014. In the offseason, he focused on improving his run defense. Gifford worked with Tulimasealii and left end Luke Shawley during the offseason, trying to emulate their first-step quickness and block-shedding techniques. At 6 feet 4, Gifford needed to increase his lower-body strength. That meant “taking my squats seriously,” Gifford said.
Gifford still has maintained his pass-rushing skills. In Saturday’s 11-on-11 session, he had a sack.
More scholarships awarded to players
In book-keeping moves, kicker Rigoberto “Rigo” Sanchez and cornerback Cameron Hayes have been placed on scholarship.
Sanchez, who also can punt, is competing with Aaron Novoa and Nebraska transfer Mauro Bondi for the starting kicker’s job.
Quarterbacks start throwing deep
The season opener is more than three weeks away. Still, quarterback Max Wittek said, “to say I’m not thinking about it would be a lie. But we still take it day by day. We still have something like 24 practices from now until the end of camp. I think as much as I can’t wait, we still have a lot of work to do here. We’re getting better every day.”
The Rainbow Warriors were in shells — shoulder pads and shorts — for Monday’s practice. But they picked up the pace on offense in the 11-on-11 session, marking the ball where the previous play ended instead of running situational plays.
“You can see we’re getting into flow-of-the-game situations a little bit more,” Wittek said.
The Warriors also stretched the routes, with Wittek, Ikaika Woolsey, Beau Reilly and Aaron Zwahlen mixing in deep passes. Wittek is capable of throwing a football about 70 yards.
“Everybody knows I can throw the ball deep,” Wittek said. “That’s pretty much my forte. It’s a matter of making the right decisions. That’s what I’m trying to focus on the most.”
The Warriors will be in shells for Tuesday’s practice. They will be in full pads on Wednesday.
