Taz Stevenson’s reunion with his former Washington teammates doubled as his coming-out party.

The Hawaii senior safety posted a team-high 10 tackles and a quarterback hurry in his new starting role with the Rainbow Warriors, and contributed in helping the UH defense hold the Huskies scoreless in the second half on Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.

Initially, Stevenson, an All-State player out of Mililani High in 2010, didn’t want to talk much about the school where he earned his undergraduate degree before returning home in 2014 with one year of eligibility as a graduate student.

"First of all, it has nothing to do with about who we played," Stevenson said. "But together as a team I’m proud of the way we played. We played hard, and obviously it was a couple of mistakes (that got us) … but I’m proud of us overall as a team and unfortunately we didn’t come out with the W."

He had good reason for pride in defeat. Defensively, UH was sound. It shut out an opponent in the second half for the first time since beating San Jose State 41-7 on Nov. 20, 2010. It was the fewest points and yards (336) the Warriors gave up since beating South Alabama (23-7, 166 yards allowed) in 2012.

At the time of those games, Stevenson toiled up in Seattle, where he was primarily a backup safety and special teams player. But upon joining UH, he quickly carved out a starting job in the secondary during fall camp.

Any concern about his former teammates ragging him for switching sides quickly dissipated.

"It was a lot of chatter, but not necessarily bad chatter," Stevenson said. "It was good chatter, you know, seeing a bunch of my old teammates."

UH gave up a 91-yard TD to John Ross in the second quarter and trailed 17-10 at halftime. That’s where the big offensive plays ended; UH forced UW to go three-and-out on five of its first six possessions of the second half.

The Warriors chipped tantalizingly close — within a point. But Huskies running back Lavon Coleman had other ideas, and gained hard-fought yardage for first downs in the game’s final minutes to kill clock.

Afterward, Stevenson greeted familiar faces with handshakes and hugs on the field.

"It was kind of a reunion, you know," he said. "Seeing everybody, giving hugs and love. I’m proud of those guys, and they’re proud of me. They think … we can do big things this season and I do as well."

Stevenson did little to diminish his new standing with his teammates and coaches.

"Taz had a good game," cornerback Dee Maggitt said. "He didn’t flinch back there in the safety position. We have two new safeties (Stevenson and Trayvon Henderson). I don’t think we flinched at all. All our calls were right. We were really, really sound back there when it came down to it."

Said defensive coordinator Kevin Clune, "Very happy with Taz. When I watch film I can tell you better, but I was very happy with him. His effort, his leadership, his physical play."