Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Navy senior quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada has been ruled out of Saturday's season opener against Towson, Coach Ken Niumatalolo said yesterday. Senior Jarod Bryant will start and sophomore Ricky Dobbs will be his backup.

Kaheaku-Enhada injured his left hamstring during a scrimmage Aug. 9, and his condition appeared to be improving Monday, when he ran in the sand pit and did some throwing, but there wasn't significant improvement yesterday.

"From Friday to Monday, he recovered a lot, but from yesterday to today, he's about where he was [Monday]. You're kind of hoping he makes that jump, but he didn't," Niumatalolo said. "We've moved forward -- him coming back would've been a bonus. We'd already moved forward as if Jarod was going to be the quarterback."

Bryant, who made one start last season, quarterbacked the first-team offense throughout the spring, as Kaheaku-Enhada was held out following minor knee surgery, and he has spent the past two weeks preparing as if he was going to start against Towson.

Niumatalolo said Navy has been "overly cautious" in dealing with Kaheaku-Enhada's injury. If it had happened later in the season, like during Army week, "we probably would've pushed a little harder," Niumatalolo said. "A lot of that too is it's early in the season, and our confidence in Jarod. I don't know if luxury is the word, but it's allowed us to take our time with it."

-- Camille Powell