Because the weather outside was supposed to be frightful, the Hawaii football team took a delightful 1-mile bus ride to practice on the Saint Louis School football field on Friday.

“Nothing but amazing,” offensive lineman Eliki Tanuvasa said of the Rainbow Warriors’ 90-minute practice, the seventh of training camp. Tanuvasa is a Saint Louis graduate who recently transferred from Eastern Illinois.

The Warriors decided to move practice sites in anticipation of inclement weather. UH’s Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex has been unavailable because of the installation of a new track, forcing the Warriors to hold their first six practices on a grass field. UH coach Nick Rolovich reached out to the Crusaders, whose field — also named after Ching — has a synthetic surface.

“We appreciate Saint Louis allowing us to do this,” said Rolovich, who praised the Crusaders with an analogy credited to the late Frank Gansz, who coached in the NFL and with several college teams.

“Frank Gansz said — and I don’t know who said it originally — if you’re going to fight in the North Atlantic, you’d better train in the North Atlantic,” Rolovich said. “ If we’re going to train to be champions, we’re going to train where the champions train.”

The Crusaders have won the past three state football titles in the open division.

Craig Stutzmann, the Warriors’ quarterbacks coach and pass-game coordinator, was adorned in his alma mater’s apparel.

“I just woke up like this,” Stutzmann said, smiling. “I don’t know what happened. I had a Saint Louis shirt and a Saint Louis hat right out of bed.”

Asked what he dreamt overnight, Stutzmann said, “championships and touchdowns.”

“It’s special,” Stutzmann said of the meshing of past and present. “Not only did I go to school here (at Saint Louis), but I also coached here. And also playing at the University of Hawaii and coaching at the University of Hawaii, it’s special to be able to come out here and coach UH on Saint Louis soil.”

It was a lighter than usual practice, with emphasis on implementing new plays. But for Crusaders alumni, it felt like old times.

“After high school, I never thought I’d be able to practice on this field again,” Tanuvasa said. “It’s a true blessing to be back here. We did the same O-line drills in the same corner. It brought back flashbacks.”

Nickelback Kai Kaneshiro, a 2018 Saint Louis graduate, marveled at the recent changes. “There are new buildings,” he said. “It’s a little different, but I still feel the energy. And it felt like a regular Saint Louis practice. The regular 7s (7-on-7 drills) going toward the bubble (wrestling room), it felt the same.”

Tanuvasa added: “The vibe is definitely different here. I saw (wideout) Jared Smart do a back flip when he came on the field. That’s the kind of energy we have here. It brought a lot of memories, a lot of good memories, a lot of hard-working memories.”

The practice showed the re-syncing of the offensive line.

For the third day in a row, Solo Vaipulu was at center in place of ailing Kohl Levao, and Micah Vanterpool was at Vaipulu’s former spot at right guard. “There was a huge improvement,” Rolovich said.

The Warriors’ secondary also continues to impress. Safeties Donovan Dalton and Ikem Okeke each had interceptions in passing drills.

After the defensive backs combined for four of the Warriors’ five interceptions last season, Dalton said, “the goal is to come out here and get five picks every day.”

Okeke said: “We’re trying to make it consistent thing to force interceptions or force strips to get the ball back to our offense.”

The practice ended on high notes. Rolovich ordered the players and coaches with Saint Louis ties to perform the Crusaders’ alma mater.