When he was a University of Hawaii quarterback in the early 2000s, Nick Rolovich was known for a powerful right arm.
On Friday night, the Rainbow Warriors’ first-year head coach still had a bazooka — a mechanical launcher used to shoot T-shirts into the Ching Athletic Complex stands.
Rolovich appeared to do it all during the Spring Fling, which marked the 15th — and final — practice of this 32-day spring training. Rolovich distributed souvenirs, refereed a tricycle race among graduate-assistant coaches, called offensive plays and sparked fun in a team that lost 10 games and a head coach in 2015.
“I wanted to see them play and have fun,” Rolovich said of the 80 scrimmage-like plays spread over four situational sessions before 2,500 fans. “The guys finished up (spring training), and they’re all happy and smiling. I thought it was a success.”
The Warriors were able to install most of the hybrid offense, which is a blend of run-and-shoot and read-option concepts. Quarterback Ikaika Woolsey, who has worked under six play-callers since joining the Warriors in January 2012, said the offense found its rhythm this spring.
“We ended on a good note, and now we’re trying to get better,” Woolsey said. “We’re trying to move forward, and the future should be bright for us.”
Rolovich has said the quarterback competition featuring Woolsey, Beau Reilly and Aaron Zwahlen will continue through the summer. Each had their moments during the scrimmage-like sessions.
Woolsey threw scoring passes of 25 yards to Dylan Collie and 30 yards to John Ursua, who pirouetted from two would-be tacklers to find the end zone.
“You just have to get the ball to John Ursua, and he’ll do the rest,” Woolsey said.
Ursua was admittedly annoyed at himself after dropping a pass on a slant earlier in the drive.
“I’m glad (Woolsey) could come back to me, and I’m glad I could make a play,” Ursua said. “I was kind of stumbling over, and then I found myself in the end zone.”
Asked about his elusiveness, Ursua said, “I always ran away from my bigger brothers when they tried to beat me up. I had to get quick. I had to get quick feet.”
Reilly and Makoa Camanse-Stevens teamed on a long scoring pass.
“It was a nice throw by Beau,” Camanse-Stevens said. “I had to catch it. That’s my job. That’s why I’m on the team.”
The Warriors also found success on the ground. Diocemy Saint Juste, Paul Harris, Steven Lakalaka and Ryan Tuiasoa rotated at the lone back position. Harris’ possible scoring run was abbreviated when he tripped on the turf.
“I tried to push it,” Harris said. “I tried to get my legs up, and they said, ‘No.’”
Lakalaka, who has recovered from a stinger, showed his agility with jump-cut moves.
“The opponents always think I’m a big back, so they expect me to run over them,” said Lakalaka, who is 5 feet 10 and 215 pounds. “I’m trying to work on my moves, trying to be shifty, and falling forward and getting positive yards.”
Kaiwi Chung, who plays the newly created U-back position, made a leaping catch and then sprinted 14 yards to the end zone. He said it was his first touchdown before a crowd.
“I scored one in practice, but that was small kine,” Chung said.
Rolovich praised the defense, which had to overcome injuries, suspensions and other circumstances. There were about 25 healthy defenders available for Friday’s practice.
“I credit (defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa) and the defensive staff,” Rolovich said. “They went to different personnel groups. They got creative. They gave guys roles. Guys like Malachi (Mageo) and Jahlani (Tavai) are making plays.”
Mageo has played in place of injured Dany Mulanga, who moved from safety to strongside linebacker this spring. Tavai has emerged as the defensive leader after moving from rush end to middle linebacker.
The Warriors had only three available defensive tackles for Friday’s practice. Zeno Choi, a walk-on from Kaiser, has played most of the snaps. Remy McClam, another walk-on, recovered a fumble near the goal line.
“It was like seeing a thousand dollars on the ground with my name on it,” McClam said. “I hopped on (the football).”
McClam said there is a “camaraderie on the d-line. It’s a beautiful thing. We pick up and move on.”
Safety Damien Packer said: “The depth is low, but we tried to make it happen. We wanted to come out and play hard and have fun.
“After all the hard work this spring, this is our celebration. Our numbers were short, but our energy wasn’t.”