UH’s game against Air Force on Veteran’s day has special meaning for this ‘Bows quarterback
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The rainbow Warriors football team takes on the Air Force this weekend on Veterans Day. Its going to be a special moment for one UH quarterback.
Dalen Morris took an unconventional path to the University of Hawaii.
The 6′”1, 205lbs grad student spent the last five years at the Naval Academy — playing three seasons for the Midshipmen.
Per Service school rules, all graduates must serve at least five years, so how did he end up in Manoa?
After graduating from the Naval Academy Morris was stationed on Oahu earlier this year, he enrolled UH for grad school, but he still had the desire to play football.
Following a walk-on tryout, he made the team and was granted an extra year of eligibility due to the 2020 COVID-19 season.
“To be an active duty service member and playing college football is pretty remarkable,” Morris said, “I’ve got to give thanks to coach (Timmy) Chang for even giving me the opportunity and especially my command.”
Morris is a Junior grade Lieutenant in the Navy and has appeared in nearly every game this season, coming in as the short yardage option QB.
“Every time we get in that red zone situation, you know, I start to prepare my mind mentally and the boys up front always got to give them the credit.”
He’s racked up two short yardage TDs with is legs this year, flashing his crisp salute to the crowd and his teammates have started to take notice.
“We all want to see him go out there and put on his little salute,” UH wide receiver Pofele Ashlock said. “It’s good to have him back there, especially for this week.”
The ‘Bows are set to take on Mountain West Powerhouse Air Force this weekend. It’s a team Morris is very familiar with thanks to his time in Annapolis, he’s faced the Falcons all three years at Navy in the ‘Commander and Chief Cup’ and says its going to a dog fight.
“It’s going to be physical always, those Service academy games are always going to be physical,” Morris said, “It’s going to be special, specially for Air Force coming in, going to a service academy means a lot in itself knowing what they’re going to do when they graduate.”
The game is set to be played on Veterans Day, something Morris doesn’t take lightly as he looks to honor all the men and women who have served our country.
“That’d be a special moment for me, just for all those families, all the service members that are deployed overseas.”
Kick off is set for Saturday at 6:00 p.m. Hawaii time with the game available on Spectrum Pay-Per-View.
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