Rainbow Warriors primed to put on a show for fans, alumni during spring fling game

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - With the annual Spring Fling Warrior Bowl happening this weekend, the Rainbow Warrior football team wrapped up their 13th spring practice earlier this morning to work out the kinks on both sides of the ball in order to put on a show for fans and alumni alike.

"I'm happy where they're at," said head coach Nick Rolovich. "I didn't think we'd be as far ahead with quarterbacks. Offensive line I think has surprised a lot of people, especially me. They were gonna be real thin and guys didn't have a lot of experience really kind of dug their cleats in and really tried to be as good as they can be. And they've really done some good things."

With a new offensive scheme that will look familiar to most Hawaii fans from over a decade ago, Rolovich is looking forward to his players letting it loose on the field on offense as long as they play mistake-free football - especially for the quarterbacks.

"We got a long way to go but I think what really helps, what we've really pushed, is the relationship between the receivers and the quarterbacks," Rolovich said. "That's helped both sides grow and understand what each other's looking at. So the receivers are hearing what they quarterback reads are and they're hearing one voice on a certain play so it's not all discombobulated - they've become a tight unit. That's helped as the receivers have come along with the quarterbacks."

Defensively, under first-year defensive coordinator Corey Batoon, the Warriors are looking to generate a consistent pass rush this season while creating turnovers. So far through spring, the Warriors defense has looked energetic and active, producing multiple turnovers through the team's 13 practices.

But just because the defense is performing well so far doesn't mean that they don't have a lot to learn.

"Schematically, we've got plenty in. We're trying to give the defense a little bit, I don't want to say exotic looks, but different splits, different bunches, different stacks that they need to work on," Rolovich said.

As for what Rolovich expects from his team on Saturday, he wanted his team to play with the pride and excitement for the game that they've shown over the past month.

"We'd like to be clean, we'd like to clean up some of the dropped balls, some of the exchanges still. It's been a fun 13 (practices) so far," he said.

The spring intrasquad scrimmage will take place this Saturday at the Clarence TC Ching Athletics Complex. The game is set to begin at 5:30 p.m. HT, but the team will be out on the field for a brief practice before kickoff.

The game is free and open to the public.

Copyright 2018 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.