Gahr’s Hawaiian punch

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Gahr’s no-huddle, shotgun-formation is being run with aplomb by junior quarterback Corey Nielsen, who spent part of a two-week summer vacation in Hawaii in 2006 throwing the ball around with Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan.

‘He’s a real cool guy,’ Nielsen said. ‘We got to talk, and become pretty good friends. I learned a lot just watching him, and how he throws, and how he carries himself.’

Nielsen, whose uncle, Jon Nielsen, is the quarterbacks and receivers coach for Gahr and a former NFL, CFL, Arena League and XFL player who knows Hawaii Coach June Jones, has apparently learned well.

The Gladiators’ offense, which includes an abundance of screens and shovel passes, is patterned after pass-happy Hawaii’s, and Nielsen has completed 49 of 67 passes (73.1%) for 1,023 yards with 12 touchdowns and only one interception, thrown in a 38-7 victory over Cerritos on Sept. 14. He also has rushed five times for 74 yards and three touchdowns.

Nielsen’s top target has been junior slot Deondre Powell, who has 19 receptions for 384 yards and five touchdowns. Junior Aaron Bradley has nine catches for 232 yards and four touchdowns and sophomore Shaan Johnson has seven receptions for 138 yards and

‘The whole scheme is challenging because you’ve to throw the ball around all over the place -- show that you’re not going to focus on any one guy,’ Nielsen said. ‘But we all know what we’re doing. We expect to score every time we have the ball.’

- Lauren Peterson