UH’s Matsuzawa, Harris, Johnson, Alejado earn Mountain West year-end honors

University of Hawaii kicker Kansei Matsuzawa sticks faithfully to a daily routine.

But Matsuzawa has authored a not-so-routine story of going from a self-taught football player from Japan to a record-tying specialist to a finalist for the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s best place-kicker. On Tuesday, Matsuzawa was named the Mountain West’s Special Teams Player of the Year.

“It’s amazing, ” Matsuzawa said, noting that without coaches, teammates and staff “I couldn’t have done this. I want to appreciate everybody.”

Quarterback Micah Alejado was selected as the league’s Freshman of the Year.

Matsuzawa joined wideout Jackson Harris and defensive end Jackie Johnson III as Rainbow Warriors on the All-Mountain West first team.

UH slotback Pofele Ashlock, kickoff returner Cam Barfield, and defensive lineman De’Jon Benton were selected to the second team.

Alejado, safety Peter Manuma, linebacker Jamih Otis, nickelback Elijah Palmer and left guard Zhen Sotelo received honorable mention.

Last Saturday, Matsuzawa matched the FBS record with 25 successful field goals in a row to start a season. Despite the streak ending with a missed 30-yard attempt in the fourth quarter that night, Matsuzawa still leads the NCAA with 2.08 field goals per game. He has kicked a field goal in every game this season, converted on all 37 point-after kicks and leads the Mountain West with 112 points.

Matsuzawa said he has employed head coach Timmy Chang’s time-management recommendation of creating a daily routine that begins with an early wake-up call.

“Do the same thing every day, and focusing on improving as a player, ” Matsuzawa said. “I think (a ) routine helps me a lot better.”

Harris, a sophomore who transferred from Stanford in January, overcame early-season hamstring issues to amass at least 100 receiving yards in six games this season. Of Harris’ 12 touchdowns, seven have been for at least 30 yards and four for 70-plus yards. In conference play, Harris led with 110.38 receiving yards.

“Just stay hungry, ” Harris said of his approach to games and physical therapy.

Johnson, who grew up in Manoa, was a standout linebacker at Saint Francis School. But when the school closed at the end of the 2018-19 academic year, Johnson enrolled at Roosevelt High. Johnson’s senior season was canceled because of the pandemic in 2020. But that did not deter him from playing football. He signed up with the Trench Dawgz, a local club team that played full-padded games at parks across Oahu, as well as in Salt Lake City. After three semesters at Lawrence Tech in Southfield, Mich., Johnson transferred to UH.

Already a devoted weight trainer, Johnson credited D-ends coach Jordan Pu ‘u-Robinson for teaching him how to study video of opponents. Johnson said Pu ‘u-Robinson put his “reputation on the line ” to believe “in a 5-11 walk-on. Coach Pu ‘u, for some reason, saw something in me, and I’m forever grateful, ” Johnson said.

Associate head coach Chris Brown said of Johnson : “Incredible story. He came to us as a walk-on, undersized. I always felt he was a guy who was a throwback. He played like it. It was pretty amazing to see his story, for him to become a first-team, all-conference guy.”

Despite playing the regular season on a sore ankle suffered in the opener, the left-handed Alejado leads the league with 283.2 passing yards per game. Alejado’s 21 scoring passes is a single-season record for a UH freshman.

“Micah is Micah, ” said quarterbacks coach Chad Kapanui, who also coached Alejado at Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas. “How much he understands, how hard he works on his craft, it all came to fruition this year. … Everyone is hurt. He’s hurt. The rest of the team is hurt. These guys are sacrificing for their teammates. He said he would give it all for his whole team. That’s what he’s been doing all year.”

Ashlock is second in the league with 62 catches (for 704 yards and six touchdowns ). In conference play, Barfield averaged a league-best 34.0 yards per kickoff return. He scored on an 86-yard return against San Diego State.

In league play, Benton was fourth with 4.5 sacks and eighth with 6.5 tackles for loss. Benton began his career at USC, served a medical redshirt in his lone season at New Mexico, then transferred to UH this year.

“To a certain extent, all-conference awards are beauty contests, ” said Jeff Reinebold, who coaches the UH defensive tackles and nose guards. “They’re based more on what you did the year before. For De’Jon to be able to get to be an all-conference player after not playing a snap of football for a year is unbelievable. There isn’t (a voter ) who knew who De’Jon was a year ago. For him to make that kind of an impact in one season really speaks to the kind of year he had. The people who know who he is are the offensive line coaches around the league. I’ve had numerous guys come up to me and say, ‘How the hell did you get that guy ?’ … That’s a credit to De’Jon. The greatest compliment you can give a guy, from this school, is he reminds you of Al Noga.”