When Matthew Shipley entered the NCAA transfer portal after an indelible 51-yard field goal to beat Colorado State, the University of Hawaii football team suddenly needed a new kicker and a new punter.
Competition for the kicker position has carried from the spring into the fall, where a tight battle between junior Kansei Matsuzawa and redshirt freshman Kai Kluth is currently too close to call, according to UH special teams coordinator Thomas Sheffield.
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Because of time and space constraints due to the team no longer having the UH-Manoa grass practice field at its disposal, special teams practices normally begin before the sun comes up at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex and end prior to the rest of the team's regular 7 a.m. practices.
Behind the scenes, the kicking competition has intensified.
“They’re neck-and-neck," Sheffield told KHON2 about the competition between Matsuzawa and Kluth. "There’s a one field goal separation between makes and misses. We got two really young kickers and I’m excited about both of them.
“I chart everything. Me and coach Jack Ray, we chart everything. At the end of the day, I gotta trust my gut on who’s gonna be that guy because again, they’re in a really tight battle and they’re gonna make it a hard decision for me which I love because that means we got depth and we got good football players. But at the end of the day, I gotta trust the charts and trust my gut.”
Matsuzawa and Kluth both joined the team prior to the 2023 season. Matsuzawa, a native of Tokyo, kicked two years for Hocking College in Ohio, going 12-for-17 on field goals and 16-for-17 on extra points.
Kluth, a walk-on from San Diego, went 7-for-11 on field goals with 73 touchbacks on kickoffs over his high school career, earning five stars on a six-star scale by kicking guru Chris Sailer.
“It’s been really good. The guys are taking on the challenge. Obviously, we lost Matt Shipley in the spring. We gotta fill that void," Sheffield said. "That’s a huge void to fill, but our two young kickers have really stepped up and they’re in a really tight battle right now. I like the consistency they’re bringing right now. We’re this close, we gotta close the gap a little bit."
At punter, the Rainbow Warriors had secured a commitment from Australia native James Rendell, who flipped his commitment to Notre Dame in April. Despite the loss, the 'Bows still found All-MAC punter Lucas Borrow from Ball State, who will spend the last year of his college career at UH. Borrow is also from Australia.
"Lucas has had a tremendous camp," Sheffield said. "He’s placing the ball where we want and giving us exactly what we need. We’re in a really good place and it’s headed in the right direction.
“I got really lucky and we got really lucky as a football team because sometimes that is a piece that goes unnoticed, but that is a guy that can singlehandedly change a game and flip the field which is basically my job: Flip the field whenever the team takes the field. From a punt standpoint, he gives us an opportunity now and he’s gonna put us in a really good position to flip the field every time he goes out and punts.”
Borrow, who also held kicks for Ball State, is currently in a competition with incumbent holder Ben Falck for the position.
At Saturday's scrimmage at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, Matsuzawa and Kluth each made field goals. Meanwhile, Tylan Hines was seen gaining explosive yardage in the return game.
“It’s more about who can be consistent," Sheffield said of who will be included in the kickoff and punt return rotation. "There’s no secret that last year we muffed a few punts in some critical situations, to be honest. We spent a lot of time during the spring, summer and the fall camp just evaluating the guys that we think are our biggest playmakers that we can put on the field but consistency in catching the football, Tylan had a really good day doing that. But there’s a few guys, honestly. Nick Cencale, Koali (Nishigaya), Pofele Ashlock that have done well throughout camp catching punts."