Warrior Beat: 2 freshmen to boost defense

Nick Rolovich wore a shirt honoring Honolulu's Little League World Series champs. Availability of the shirts can be found at HiLifeClothing.com. Portion of the proceeds will go to the LL team to cover its travel costs. / Photo by Stephen Tsai

Freshman defensive backs Khoury Bethley and Alaka‘i Mashima are expected to earn playing time in Saturday’s home opener against Navy.

Both players were used on special teams against Colorado State.

“Those are two young players who do a good job,” defensive coordinator Corey Batoon said.

Bethley, who is 5-10 and 200 pounds, is a 2018 graduate of Don Lugo High in Chino, Calif.


Mashima is a 2017 Punahou School graduate who joined the Warriors after succeeding at a walk-on tryout. Mashima is 5-11 and 175 pounds.

“They’re both really smart football guys,” Batoon said. “They work hard. They’re doing everything we’ve asked them to do. They deserve an opportunity.”

COMMENTS

  1. WarriorMojo August 29, 2018 11:56 am

    Excited to see Bethley play. Have been looking forward to seeing him ever since he committed.

    One thing that really strikes me about this team is how many young players are proving that they are ready to play and contribute right away. Great job of recruiting, coaches!


  2. Bowwar August 29, 2018 11:58 am

    It’s time to give folks an opportunity!


  3. Da Punchbowl Kid August 29, 2018 12:08 pm

    What Mojo said.


  4. tom-warriornation August 29, 2018 12:24 pm

    I say play everyone as you never will know how someone will play “under the lights”!
    Go Warriors!


  5. Ipu Man August 29, 2018 12:41 pm

    Excuse me, but that shirt should have a graphic, no?


  6. justsomeguy August 29, 2018 12:50 pm

    If the offense keeps firing like this first game and the defense makes strides each game I think we could be in line for an 8-5 season when initially I thought we were headed for 5-8….or even 4-9.

    I gotta say I’d be VERY happy with 8-5 this year considering the youth that’s getting so much playing time….

    Real excitement these days


  7. Maddog50 August 29, 2018 1:14 pm

    Malcolm Perry and Zach Abey are the most important and productive factors for Navy offense. Both have played QB with Perry being what appears to be the starter. Think we will see both at QB with Perry remaining on the field in the slot/wing. This team is dominated by Sr/Jr starters and is considerably smaller than CSU but still good sized. At these service schools the style of play overrides many of the things other schools covet. I firmly believe defensively we now have enough of the right stuff to defend the option-inside size and strength, speed and athleticism to get to the pitch. Offensively look for a relentless attack on the ball by speedy quick defense. Navy was 7-6 last year and only saw two out of many that they did not bring the game to the opponent. They are gonna be a load but I am sure we can answer the bell!!! GoWarriors!


  8. SailorBlue August 29, 2018 1:19 pm

    Anybody coming to the tgate at Rainbow Bay Pavilion and need a parking pass? Let me know so I can get it to you.


  9. JesseJames August 29, 2018 2:39 pm

    Tenth…Woot woot. Good to be home. Take it one game, one rep, one snap at a time. No letdown week…pedal to the metal all game. Step on the gas and blow their…okole….no looking back. WARRIOR PRIDE!!! HAWAII PRIDE!!!


  10. nomu1001 August 29, 2018 2:58 pm

    Excited to see how this team comes along this season. Looking forward to every weekend and seeing players step up and play.


  11. gigi-hawaii August 29, 2018 3:07 pm

    Thanks to CBS Sports, we are looking forward to seeing the next game on TV. Bring it on, Warriors!


  12. H-Man August 29, 2018 4:01 pm

    Bobby Curran was asking people to guess how many will show up for Saturday night’s game. It’s military night so the crowd will be larger than usual. I’m guessing 29,000 turnstile count. And Hawaii will win 34 – 28. Also Ken Niumatalolo was interviewed. What a gentleman. He spoke very well of Rolo and his staff. Ken said he owns a home in Manoa and one in Laie and calls Hawaii home. He said it always will be and once again mentioned he wants to be part of Hawaii Athletics when he retires from coaching. Not looking for a coaching position, but maybe be in charge of security or something like that. Aloha Ken Niumatalolo !!!


  13. Warrior Dave August 29, 2018 4:45 pm

    Thanks for the heads up Gigi Hawaii. I can DVR the game and watch it when I come home.


  14. 3-Prong August 29, 2018 5:14 pm

    Black Out….Be there. Aloha!


  15. Ran August 29, 2018 5:43 pm

    ST: Do you when the Navy team is arriving in Honolulu tomorrow?


  16. Pukalani boy August 29, 2018 6:15 pm

    Ken Niumatalolo interview was very good. He’s very thoughtful and classy.


  17. islandman August 29, 2018 6:41 pm

    Saw Paul Johnson chewing out his player on TV a couple years ago and also saw Ken chewing out a player or was it an official ? Both were screaming their heads off. Wonder if they changed some since. I don’t think i would see June Jones or Rolovich doing that.


  18. Big Island Lava August 29, 2018 7:21 pm

    I will be flying in from the Big Island to support Hawaii Warriors. Could watch it on TV but what better way to let the Hawaii Warriors know we support them that being physically there and making BIG Noise.

    Hate this new format. Gottah log in, sign in plus prove you not one robot. Taking me longer to verify than it was to type comment. Sheesh


  19. burro sabio August 29, 2018 8:13 pm

    #17 I think you haven’t been watching closely, haha.


  20. Stephen Tsai August 29, 2018 8:17 pm

    Ran
    No. I don’t. But I think they practice at the stadium


  21. JesseJames August 29, 2018 11:19 pm

    #18 Big Island Lava…come to the tailgate


  22. suckkabooya August 30, 2018 1:25 am

    I’m glad to see UH get picked up again by the CBS sports network. Good time slot too, not too many games to compete with. I hope we can make an impression on viewers as we compete against a program that we should aspire to become. One with a “brand” that is easily identifiable while being well respected. Coach Rolovich has put the program on that track in this new era. Still got a lot of work to do but you can see the potential. The potential to become a top 25-30 team consistantly as Navy has become. Not ready to be that yet but UH has taken its first couple of steps in that direction. And Navy is related to UH by blood (Niumatalolo and Johnson) so we are family. Terrific. Thank you Navy for showing the FBS (especially Alabama and Ohio St.) how to compete.


  23. Maddog50 August 30, 2018 1:29 am

    Stephen was wondering where #70 is. Figured he would make the depth chart-any news?


  24. Whitey August 30, 2018 6:28 am

    Col. Take the points and run.


  25. burro sabio August 30, 2018 6:36 am

    My #20 is now referring to IslandMan’s #18 and not #17.


  26. boolakanaka August 30, 2018 6:45 am

    The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that we have the potential to make a real run of it during the first 5-6 games. While I was a bit dubious about returning to the quasi R&S, there are some real advantages that play in our favor.

    First, there is no film on this team with the RnS offense, thus making it difficult to prepare and identity tendencies. Two, and similar to point number one, there is no film on our QB, and since he is a legitmate dual threat, especially with his outing last week, they (opposing teams), have to be able to defend both the threat of both run and pass. Three, the RnS, allows us to highlight some skilled positions, especially at receiver, which might be off-set, in a more traditional offense. And finally, since the RnS went out of fashion, several years ago, many teams, akin to those that still employ the triple option, are not use to defending such an offense—making it a very time intensive.

    Now, as time goes on, folks will eventually catch up to the idiosyncrasies of this offense, but we do have a definite advantage during the first half of the season, and I hope we can capitalize on that before they get on the learning curve….


  27. A-House August 30, 2018 6:55 am

    whitey:

    #25 — I really would if I could!!!

    since MasaBoy came home, no one I can ask to “take points”.

    hope all is well on “no Ka Oi”

    hello to Duffer if you see him


  28. Inyoface August 30, 2018 7:50 am

    Noticed #7 didn’t get a snap in after fumbling the ball.


  29. suckkabooya August 30, 2018 9:11 am

    I really think we’ve only seen a fraction of the playbook for the offense. It was a “pick your poison” option for Colorado State’s defense so the slot receivers were targeted more. I think once we see all the different receivers and running backs in action we may see specificly designed routes and plays for anyone who’s
    specific skillet is mismatched, like Coach Jones employed. Hard to prepare for everything. Just the protection packages have to be on point. Wait until it’s Jojo Ward’s time to be “highlighted”, good luck preparing for that. And Armstrong-Brown made a nice play with his opportunity. Going to be fun to watch them figure things out. Terrific.


  30. cocobean August 30, 2018 9:24 am

    Boola, CSU wasn’t prepared for Rolo’s version of the RnS. For the most part the offense was playing down hill until Rolo took his foot off the gas pedal. CSU couldn’t find a way to bring pressure while not giving up the shovel passes or stopping Cole from hurting them with his legs. Cole got into his comfort zone early and stayed there.

    Rolo’s game plan and play calling should be interesting now that he knows Navy has game film to break down to prepare their defense. I suspect Navy’s planning to bring pressure and try to speed up Cole’s decision making. They know they can’t give Cole 3-4 seconds to pass like CSU did while still keeping him from breaking contain.


  31. Rodney August 30, 2018 10:41 am

    Feel we will get smashed by Navy and hope
    we don’t get down because I like our teams
    Bowl chances.
    Defense!!!!!! Defense!!!!!!!


  32. Stephen Tsai August 30, 2018 10:44 am

    New post: http://www.hawaiiwarriorworld.com/?p=46577


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