Ahead of the dawn’s early light, Ben Falck’s and Lucas Borrow’s punts are taking flight.

With the University of Hawaii’s grass field being converted into a complex for soccer and track and field, the Rainbow Warrior football team has been forced to carve practice segments at the Ching Complex. The specialists’ slot is 85 minutes ahead of the weekday practices.

“We’ve got to be up around 4:30 because we’re out on the field kicking at 5:35,” Falck said.

Borrow said: “We have to come out early because there’s only one field (available) at the moment.”

The secret to the early wake-up call?

“Coffee,” Falck said. “A lot of coffee.”

“Just get out of bed,” Borrow said, “splash your face with a little bit of water, and off you go.”

This training camp, Falck and Borrow are the best of friends — and competitors — in pursuit of succeeding Matthew Shipley as punter. Shipley, who doubled as the placekicker, transferred to Arkansas last December.

“We both come from different backgrounds,” said Borrow, who was born and reared in Australia. “We both have different kicking styles. We’ve both been learning from each other and competing against each other every day, which has been really good.”

This is Falck’s fifth year at UH – he redshirted as a freshman in 2020 — but first with a real shot at the punter’s job. Falck, who grew up in Riverside, Calif., is known for his powerful right leg. During practices, his towering punts have caused uneasiness for returners. As the kickoff specialist last year, Falck’s first attempt was returned 97 yards for a touchdown. After that, returners averaged 15.8 yards. His average hang time was 3.9 seconds.

Similar to his golf game, Falck relies on a grip-and-rip approach with his punts, even on rollouts. Borrow, an alumnus of ProKick Australia, has two weapons: a line drive and an end-over-end wobbler.

“If we want to put it on the ground,” Borrow said of the liner, “you put the (football’s) nose down a little bit and kick it flatter. “If you’re kicking it the normal end-over-end and with hang time, you hit the front of it a little bit and make the ball rotate.”

In four years at Ball State — the last two as a starter — Borrow averaged 41.7 yards per punt with an average hang time of 3.6 seconds. Of his 134 career punts, none was blocked and only 29.9% returned. He transferred to UH, in part, because of the master’s program in communications.

Each has experimented with the other’s punting form. “Rugby style — the end-over-end — is definitely not my strong suit,” Falck said. “I think Lucas does an extremely good job with it. He’s able to place that thing very well. It’s been great to have him over here and learn off him.”

Both have unique cross-over skills. Falck is right-footed, but is left-handed when he swings a baseball bat and golf club. Borrow can punt with either foot.

“Actually, I hurt my right foot when I was younger playing Australian football,” Borrow said. “Instead of having time off training — I was 10 or 11 — my coach told me to start kicking with my left foot. I started doing that for a few weeks, and it started to come naturally.”

During scrimmages this camp, Falck and Borrow have rotated as the holder.

Asked if they teach each other phrases from their home areas, both smiled. “We’re learning a lot of Japanese phrases from Kansei (Matsuzawa),” Falck said of the Warriors’ Japan-reared kicker. “It’s Kansei all the time.”