This summer, tight end Harold Moleni worked on his routes.

"I was a pizza-delivery driver," said Moleni, a Hawaii football senior. "There were definitely places I hadn’t been before, the ins and outs. The work, compared to football, was easy."

Moleni, who is married with a 16-month-old-son, sought extra income to complement his scholarship check. The largest tip he received was $20 for an eight-pie delivery.

"The store manager and assistant manager were good to me," Moleni said. "They knew I played football, so they let me pick hours that would be best for my schedule."

He said he was unrecognized at the front door.

"A couple people asked me, ‘Hey, you’re a big guy. Do you play football?’" Moleni recalled. "I told them I played for UH."

Moleni also worked on pass routes in preparation for the tight end’s expanded role in offensive coordinator Don Bailey’s spread attack. Moleni, who started 13 games as a junior in 2014, was used primarily as a blocker. He said he lowered his weight and body fat.

"I’m down to 230 now," he said. "I feel really good running routes now. It’s not as straining as when I was 245."

Of the position’s increased use as a receiver, Moleni said, "I like it. It’s not so much in-your-face blocking all the time. It’s hard to play finesse after you’ve been blocking for five plays in a row."

Bailey has praised Moleni’s workmanlike consistency.

"He’s very dependable," Bailey said. "In football, to me, dependability sometimes over-rides ability."

Moleni always has been dutiful. A year after graduating from Utah’s Hunter High, Moleni began serving a two-year church mission in Spokane, Wash. He said it was a learning experience during which he served as a teacher and role model. It was during the mission when he discovered someone important — the man in the mirror.

Noting that eight older siblings went on missions, Moleni said, "The reason I went, I think, is because it was kind of expected. I grew up in it. But then once I was there, and I actually started to study the scriptures and I applied the teachings and I saw how I started to change, that’s when I really said, ‘This is good. This is the person I want to be.’ That encouraged me to change my life to a different me."

Moleni was 22 when he returned from the mission and signed with the Rainbow Warriors as part of the 2012 recruiting class, Norm Chow’s first as UH head coach. Of recruiting missionaries, Chow said, "They’re older. They’re mature. They bring a lot of maturity to the table."

Moleni said his priorities changed.

"It’s not so much football is no longer desired, there are things that come before it," Moleni said. "In high school, (football) was life. When I came back, I had to prioritize: This is where God is, this is where my family is, this is football and school."

But Moleni remains fierce on the field — and in locker-pounding halftime speeches.

"I try to be a good sport, but it’s an emotional game," Moleni said. "It brings out the passion in you. It’s part of human nature. I think football is a good way to represent the warrior side of me."