The worst-kept holiday surprise is where Nick Mardner will be spending Christmastime.
Since Mardner joined the Hawaii football team in August 2018, every Rainbow Warrior season has ended in a bowl game. It was the Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 22, 2018, and Dec. 24, 2019, and the New Mexico Bowl last Christmas Eve. Mardner said he welcomes the Warriors’ appearance in the Hawaii Bowl this Christmas Eve.
“It’s nice to be around all the seniors and the team before Christmas,” Mardner said. “They’re your second family. It’s nice to be around them before you go back to your other family (for winter break).”
The Warriors had three animated practices this week. With the last day of fall instruction today and final exams next week, the Warriors’ next practice is scheduled for Wednesday. The following week, the Warriors will stay in Waikiki ahead of the game against Memphis.
“It’ll be smooth,” Mardner said. “It’ll be nice to be in a big hotel, be around a lot more people. For the new guys, it’ll feel a little more special being in Waikiki. You’ll feel you’re in a little city.”
The bowl comes at a time when COVID-19 restrictions are being eased. Last year, the Warriors played a league-only regular season in which spectators were not permitted at games. There were no usual festivities for last year’s New Mexico Bowl, which was played in Frisco, a Texas city with a Bay Area-sounding name.
“I was confused where it was,” Mardner said, smiling. “First they told us it was the Frisco Bowl and then the New Mexico Bowl. I was like, ‘California or New Mexico, or are we playing in Texas or whatever?’ I was like, ‘All right, bro, I don’t even know what’s going on.’ But it was smooth. And the Houston team was pretty good, so it was good competition.”
For the Hawaii Bowl, there will be excursions, a luau and swag for the participating teams.
“We’ll get to do all the activities,” Mardner said. “We’ll get to do all the things that come with being in a bowl. It’ll be good to win in front of a crowd. It’ll be good, especially for the young guys who didn’t get to experience that.”
Mardner said “Zebo” — wideout Zion Bowens — will be in his element. “He’s Mr. Waikiki,” Mardner said. “He knows everybody.”
While growing up in Toronto, Mardner harbored a widely familiar vision of Waikiki.
“You get that same picture of Waikiki with Diamond Head in the back and the skyline,” Mardner said. “Everybody sees that photo. When you think of Hawaii, you think of that. It’ll definitely be cool. You’ll feel like you’re in it for real.”
This season, Mardner has emerged as a go-to receiver. At 6 feet 6, Mardner is fast (4 yards per stride) and tough (nine catches on contested passes). Mardner averaged 19.9 yards on his team-high 46 catches (and 87 targets). His yards-after-catch average is 6.1.
Mardner, who has been targeted on 17 passes of at least 20 yards, has cemented plans for a deep route after the Hawaii Bowl. That night, he is catching a direct flight to Toronto.
“It’ll be a 10-hour flight,” Mardner said. “I’m glad, because all he flights I usually have to do are terrible. … When I go home it’s freezing cold. It’s nice to be here until I go back. December 25th is freezing cold back home. It’s nice to be out here a little longer.”
