All-Time All-Mountain West Hawaii Football Team
Who were the best two-deep in 20 years of Mountain West play?
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The best Warriors players ever, in the Mountain West.
The Mountain West is 20 years in and with that being a milestone year we decided to look back at the league and do a lot of cool stuff including creating the ultimate two-deep.
We are going alphabetically with current teams and then do **gasp** BYU, TCU, and Utah at the end. Going through and creating the list our writers could use any criteria they liked.
So, it could be All-American awards, all-conference, career stats or season-long stats especially for teams that had players who played in the WAC and then came into the Mountain West.
We also include coaches and most outstanding offensive, defensive and special teams players.
For Hawaii, they have a smaller span in the league ranging from 2012-2019.
Coach
Nick Rolovich – His record as the Warriors head coach is just 18-22 but that far superior to his predecessor in Norm Chow. Plus, Rolovich does stuff like this on social media.
Seriously, Rolovich seems to have the Warriors on the right track after the 2018 season which saw the run-n-shoot offense be a game-changer for the Hawaii offense. Going into his second year of the offense should yield even better results.
Most outstanding offensive player
John Ursua, WR – Ursua was named to just one first-team All-Conference selecton but it would have been two had he not torn his knee in 2017. The wide is a one of a kind playmaker who nearly averaged a touchdown a game with 28 in his 33 games in a Warrior uniform.
He averaged 14.1 yards per reception in his career and 12 games with 100 or more yards. He arguably was the best Mountain West wide receiver during his time in the league.
Most outstanding defensive player
Jahlani Tavai, LB – Hawaii is typically not known for its defense and that might be why Tavai was somewhat overlooked from the casual football fans. He ended up being a second-team Mountain West player and in a league where there were dominant linebackers in the conference.
He ended up being a surprise second-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft which was the highest-drafted defender in a decade. Tavai was all over the field with 16.5 sacks and 41 career tackles for a loss.
Most outstanding special teams player
Mike Edwards, KR – Edwards spent just one year in the Mountain West and just two with Hawaii, but his one-year returning kicks put him at the top. He was named Mountain West special teams player of the year with 1,215 kickoff return yards and had a 30.4-yard average, plus three touchdowns which is a Warriors record.
**Stats are used where available since going back to the start of the 2000s complete and accurate stats are hard to come by.
First-team Offense
| QB | Cole McDonald (2021) – Honorable Mention All-Conference, 2019 MW leader in TD’s and YPG |
| RB | Diocemy Saint Juste (2017) – Second team All-MW, 3,102 yards, 13 rushing TD’s, 39 receptions, 2 TD’s |
| RB | Joey Iosefa (2014) – 2,218 yards which is second most in MW-era for Hawaii. 21 rushing TD’s, 3 receiving TD’s |
| WR | John Ursua (2018) – First-team All-MW, 24 receiving TD’s, 2,662 yards |
| WR | Marcus Kemp (2016) – Honorable Mention All-Conference, 2,570 yards, 13 TD’s |
| WR | Cedric Byrd (2019) – 970 yards, 9 TD’s |
| OL | Dejon Allen (2017) – First-team All-Mountain West, Second-team All-Mountain West, Honorable Mention All-Conference |
| OL | Leo Koloamatangi (2016) – Honorable Mention All-Conference |
| OL | Ben Clarke (2015) – 4X Honorable Mention All-Conference |
| OL | Kody Afusia (2014) – Honorable Mention All-Conference |
| OL | Sean Shigematsu (2014) – Honorable Mention All-Conference |
First-team Defense
| DL | Kennedy Tulimasealii (2015) – First-team All-Mountain West, 30 TFL, 6 sacks |
| DL | Paipai Falemalu (2012) – Second-team All-Mountain West, 10 TFL, 5 sacks |
| DL | Kaimana Padello (2019) – Second-team All-Mountain West, 16 TFL, 8.5 sacks |
| DL | Beau Yap (2014) – Second-team All-Mountain West, 32 TFL, 14 sacks |
| LB | Jahlani Tavai (2018) – First-team, second-team and honorable mention All-Mountain West, 41 TFL, 16.5 sacks, 2 INT’s |
| LB | Julian Gener (2015) – Honorable Mention All-MW, 20 TFL, 4.5 sacks, 2 INT’s |
| LB | Brenden Daley (2013) – Honorable Mention All-MW, 14.5 TFL, 4 sacks, 1 INT |
| DB | Trayvon Henderson (2017) – Honorable Mention All-MW, 9 INT’s |
| DB | Ne’Quan Phillips (2015) – Honorable Mention All-MW, 5 INT’s, 15 TFL, 3 Sacks, 16 PBU |
| DB | Nick Nelson (2017) – Honorable Mention All-MW, 20 PBU, 2.5 TFL, 1 Sack |
| DB | Mike Edwards (2012) – Second-Team All-Conference, 2 INT’s, 5 TFL |
First-team special teams
| Punter | Alex Dunnachie (2012) – Honorable Mention All-American |
| Kicker | Rigoberto Sanchez (2016) – 2X Honorable Mention All-MW |
| Punt Returner | Scott Harding (2014) – First-team, Honorable Mention All-Conference |
| Kick Returner | Mike Edwards (2012) – MW special teams player of the year, 3 KR TD’s are team record. |
UP NEXT: ALL-TIME SECOND TEAM
Second-team Offense
| QB | Dru Brown (2017) – 5,273 yards, 37 TD’s, 15 INT’s |
| RB | Steven Lakalaka (2016) – 1,706 yards, 19 TD’s |
| RB | Paul Harris (2016) – 1,711 yards, 8 TD’s |
| WR | Dylan Collie (2017) – 1,300 yards, 9 TD’s |
| WR | Jojo Ward (2019) – 51 rec. 865 yards, 9 TD’s |
| WR | Chris Gant (2013) – 81 rec. 1,205, 12 TD’s |
| OL | Solo Vaipulu (2021) – Honorable Mention All-MW |
| OL | J.R. Hensley (2019) |
| OL | Ilm Manning (2021) |
| OL | Kohl Levao (2019) |
| OL | John Wa’a (2018) |
Second-team Defense
| DL | Viane Moala (2019) – Honorable Mention All-Mountain West |
| DL | Meffy Koloamatangi (2017) – Honorable Mention All-Mountain West |
| DL | Siasau Matagiese (2013) – Honorable Mention All-Mountain West |
| DL | Tavita Woodard (2012) – Honorable Mention All-Mountain West |
| LB | Art Laurel (2013) – Honorable Mention All-Mountain West, 16 sacks |
| LB | Solomon Matautia (2019) – 10.5 TFL, 2 sacks, 3 INT’s |
| LB | Jeremiah Pritchard (2019) |
| DB | Taz Stevenson (2014) – Honorable Mention All-MW |
| DB | Ne’Quan Phillips (2015) – Honorable Mention All-MW, 5 INT’s, 15 TFL, 3 Sacks, 16 PBU |
| DB | Rojesterman Farris II (2019) – Honorable Mention All-MW, 3 INT’s, 17 PBU |
| DB | John Hardy-Tuliau (2013) – Honorable Mention All-MW, 3 INT’s, 3 Sacks, 10.5 TFL’s |
Second-team special teams
| Punter | Scott Harding (2014) – First-team, Honorable Mention All-Conference |
| Kicker | Tyler Hadden (2014) – 38 of 57 FG |
| Punt Returner | Nick Nelson (2017) – 8 yard average, 1 TD |
| Kick Returner | Keelan Ewaliko (2018) – 101 returns, 21.7 yard average |
