Is there any doubt Hawaii defensive lineman Ezra Evaimalo can spike a punch?

During football games, Evaimalo unleashes the punch — an open-handed thrust onto an offensive lineman’s jersey numbers — that creates separation from a grasping blocker and whiplash claims.

“He has a punch that is, oh, my goodness,” associate head coach Chris Brown said. “You don’t see that a lot where the (O-lineman) gets knocked back with the first punch. Usually you get driven back. Ezra can snap your neck back. He’s very, very powerful. … He has a nasty punch. He has a natural snap. If he catches you flush, good luck, you’d better brace yourself.”

Jeff Reinebold, who coaches the Rainbow Warriors’ interior defensive linemen, described Evaimalo as being “heavy handed. He’s got the kind of punch that Mike Tyson had. … We’re always looking for the ‘knock back,’ where we’re re-establishing the line of scrimmage. A great way to do that is to have a great strike, a great first punch. Ezra certainly can do that.”

Evaimalo said his punch is actually a result of his “get-off,” the at-the-snap burst from a three-point stance to striking an offensive lineman.

“My get-off helps to get good leverage,” Evaimalo said. “I think good hand placement is the thing, being able to get my hands inside (a blocker’s frame). If my hands are on the outside, I know I’m going to get washed or get thrown out of the club.”

At 6 feet 2 and 260 pounds after a cheat meal, Evaimalo often is yielding 40 pounds to a heavier offensive lineman. But Evaimalo learned from an early age that quickness and technique are equalizers.

“My dad was very big on me getting off the ball,” Evaimalo said. “Sometimes after practice, he would make my older brother (Tanielu) suit up.”

In a drill, Evaimalo would work on pass rushing against his older brother. “I was in third grade, my brother was around seventh grade,” Evaimalo recalled. “That’s what allowed me to play up, to play against bigger guys, heavier guys, because I’ve been doing that since I was a little kid.”

At Kamehameha Schools, then-head coach Abu Ma‘afala designed a pass rush around Evaimalo. “A lot of it was what Jeff (Reinebold) is doing out here to allow me one-on-one situations,” Evaimalo said.

He was recruited to UH as a rush end. But with taller ends on the roster, then-UH head coach Todd Graham moved Evaimalo to the interior with a mandate to gain weight. He weighed 225 at the start of his first UH training camp in 2020.

“I’m not going to say a lot of it was good weight,” said Evaimalo, who eventually reached 270 pounds. “I was constantly eating whatever I could.”

Evaimalo is now comfortable at 260. Moving between nose tackle and 3-tech tackle, Evaimalo’s quickness and punch create unique matchup problems for offenses. “And he has an amazing motor,” Brown said.

Special teams coordinator Thomas Sheffield also is using Evaimalo as an edge blocker on the three-player shield that aligns in front of punter Lucas Borrow.

“He’s got the best strike of anybody on our team,” Sheffield said. “He’s really good at using his hands. We put him in that situation to do his thing.”

During training camp, teammates selected Evaimalo as one of five captains. Evaimalo is admittedly uncomfortable delivering speeches. “That was actually a problem for me all through high school,” he said. “My coaches wanted me to be more vocal. I needed to break out and allow myself to be uncomfortable sometimes. Just for growth, being a captain, I can’t be stagnant. I can’t be the same go-with-the-flow guy. If players believe who they think I am, I need to show it.”

After last week’s loss 16-13 loss to UCLA, head coach Timmy Chang addressed the team. Then Evaimalo stepped forward. He reminded teammates that after close losses the previous two seasons, the Warriors would be flat in the next practice. “And that leads into the next game,” Evaimalo said.

He implored the players to not let the UCLA loss have a lingering effect.

“In the past, I had a lot of leeway to deal with different things,” he said. “Now more eyes are on you. We have a lot of young guys, and I think it’s important for me to leave my foot on the gas. I can’t let up.”