They've played shoulder-to-shoulder for most of their young-adult lives, so it's only appropriate that former Castle High teammates Blaze Soares and Victor Clore rehab their way through spring practice much the same way — albeit with just two good shoulders between them.

Soares, who totaled 27 tackles and three sacks in nine games last year, sustained a shoulder injury last week but returned for his first practice in pads yesterday.

Clore, who'll likely battle for time on the defensive line and special teams, is making his way back after suffering a separated acromioclavicular joint and fractured shoulder in December.

"I was so excited to get back out there, I was up at 5:30," Soares said. "I'm a little out of shape because I haven't been running too much, but it's hard to stay off the field when your boys are out there practicing. I'd rather be in the hospital than watching from the sidelines."

Clore, who had seen just spare time on the deep and experienced line, saw his reps increase yesterday as a fill-in starter for David Veikune, who sat out to study for a test.

"I was pretty good at first," Clore said, laughing. "But from the lack of reps so far this spring, it started catching up with me at the end."

Soares and Clore were both All-State standouts, and both sat out the 2005 season before joining the Warriors the following year.

And while Soares has found more success, the two continue to push each other on and off the field. Last summer, they prepared for the fall practices with a rigorous regimen of weight lifting and running.

"We'd get up at 4 in the morning and run," Clore said. "Sometimes, we'd drag tires on the beach."

Clore said that his recovery is progressing on schedule and that he's regained much of the range of motion in his injured shoulder. Clore, who was able to bench press 405 pounds last season, has still not been cleared to resume regular weight training, but has been working out with light weights.

"I just want to be able to help out wherever I can and get some playing time, either on special teams or at defensive end," said Clore, who is 6 feet 3 and 245 pounds.

Soares, who is 6-1 and 239, was held out of full-contact drills and spent the day working on individual and non-contact drills. The focus, he said, was on improving his tackling and putting himself in position to make the sort of big defensive plays on which the Warriors so often relied last season.

And while the UH offense takes time to adjust to a new, more diversified offense, the defense has been happily accepting kudos for its precocious development.

For Soares, the rise of head coach Greg McMackin is the dawn of the new age of "D" in Manoa.

"I love it," he says. "It's about the defense now.

"Last year, we ran to them (the offense)," he said, pointing to the dissipating team huddle at the middle of the field. "This year, they run to us."

PORLAS SIDELINED

Safety Dane Porlas sat out of practice with a sprained right ankle.

Porlas, who roamed the sidelines on crutches, suffered the injury while running stairs on Tuesday.