HONOLULU — A season of minor improvement in the Mountain West yielded a modest crop of postseason conference awards for the Hawaii football team.
UH, which tied for eighth among 12 MWC teams with a 3-5 conference record, placed senior receiver Steven McBride on the league’s second team. Five other players — freshman receiver Pofele Ashlock, sophomore safety Peter Manuma, junior quarterback Brayden Schager, senior kicker Matthew Shipley and senior cornerback/returner Cam Stone — were named All-MWC honorable mentions.
All six have eligibility to return next season; student-athletes who played during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season were granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA.
“For us six guys who got mentioned, we know we’re not done yet,” said Shipley, who ended UH’s season with his hurried, career-long 51-yard field goal to beat Colorado State 27-24 on Saturday, his second walk-off boot of 2023 along with New Mexico State on Sept. 23.
“We have work to do, still improvements to be made,” he said. “We’re going to do everything we can in the offseason to become the best version of ourselves.”
McBride, a Louisiana native whose nickname is “Glide,” became the 24th player in program history to record a 1,000-yard receiving season. The Kansas transfer’s 1,024 yards and nine touchdowns were team highs, and he is tied for third among FBS players in 2023 with six catches that went for 50 or more yards.
He was candid all season that he carried motivation from his limited playing time in three years as a Jayhawk.
“I’m glad that the coaches took me in, Coach (Timmy) Chang took me in and gave me an opportunity to show my talent,” McBride said. “That was something that I felt like was (inside me) for a long time and needed to be released. I appreciate everybody on the staff and my teammates for letting me be an impact on this team.”
Ashlock was nearly as productive after leading all FBS freshmen in catches with 83 and receiving yardage with 832. He also caught nine TD balls.
“Me and ‘Fele, it was our breakout year,” McBride said.” We’re going to continue to be better and continue to work. The work’s not going to stop. Next year, we plan to take over the conference.”
Schager improved his completion percentage from 55% last season to 63.2% this year. He topped 300 yards six times in UH’s new run-and-shoot attack and led the MWC in passing yards (3,542) and touchdown passes (26).
Manuma, a Campbell High graduate, led UH with 87 tackles (60 solo), 5.5 tackles for loss and three interceptions.
Stone, a Wyoming transfer who was UH’s lone entry on the preseason all-conference team, was rarely targeted on defense and had 24 tackles, six pass breakups and an interception.
With UH finished 5-8 overall, a two-win improvement from 2022. The Rainbow Warriors were 2-6 in conference play that year.
Shipley is one of four kickers nationally with multiple game-winning field goals this year and was named a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award for the second time in his career. He was 14-for-18 from the field for a 77.8% make rate, including 10-for-10 from within 40 yards.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
