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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, April 25, 2009

Players hungry for Warrior Bowl

By Stephen Tsai
HawaiiWarriorBeat.com Editor

The opposing University of Hawai'i football teams would like to settle a beef in today's intrasquad Warrior Bowl at Aloha Stadium.

"Betting is illegal, so there are no bets, but there's a guarantee I will be eating a steak dinner," said slotback Dustin Blount, who will play for the Makai team. "Ryan (Henry) will be eating hotdogs."

Henry, a slotback for the Mauka team, said: "I don't like hotdogs. I don't eat them. But Dustin is used to eating them. He'll be doing that after the game Saturday."

The festivities begin with an autograph session at 1 p.m.

The Warriors will go through drills at 3 p.m., followed by the Warrior Bowl.

"I'm really excited to see the players compete," UH coach Greg McMackin said. "We've divided the teams evenly. I'm excited to see them under game conditions. There will be officials, full-speed contact."

The exception is defenders are not permitted to hit the quarterbacks.

And there will not be a kicking game.

"It's going to be fun," said Greg Alexander, the Mauka's starting quarterback. "It will be good to be in a live game."

Mauka is led by Alexander, center John Estes, running back Inoke Funaki, and receivers Rodney Bradley, Greg Salas and Kealoha Pilares.

"They have the better overall team," Blount said. "It looks like an all-star team out there. But it'll be like David versus Goliath."

Henry said: "Team Mauka will be prepared."

Henry said he is fond of the team's nickname.

"Our goal is to get to the top of the mountain," Henry said. "And I have a friend back home (in Los Angeles) named Mauka. She's actually a neighbor."

The Warrior Bowl counts as the last of the 15 practices of spring training.

"We will evaluate this film (of the Warrior Bowl)) and add it to the rest (of the videos) of this spring," McMackin said.

The coaches will evaluate the performances tomorrow, and meet with the team Monday. Then each position coach will meet with his players and explain their situation.

McMackin said at least 20 spring players will be cut to make room for newcomers arriving this summer.

"We want to do a thorough job selecting our team," McMackin said. "Unfortunately, some players will have to be let go. It's not fun to do that. It's tough. Everybody's been contributing and playing hard. But (cuts are) part of the game. We're not playing P.E. football. It's Division I football."

The NCAA limits training-camp rosters to 105. The Warriors open training camp Aug. 3.

The roster may expand on the first day of the fall semester.

McMackin said he will honor every scholarship, although there is no guarantee that every scholarship player will be invited to training camp.

"We're going to take the best players we feel, in our mind, can help us win," McMackin said. "I will not cut a scholarship guy, but if he's not in the top 105, he might not go to training camp. But we'll invite him to join when school starts. We haven't made any decisions (on the roster) yet."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.