The University of Hawai'i football turned to the junior-college route to fill two needs on defense.

Aaron Brown, a safety from Saddleback Community College in Mission Viejo, Calif., and Zack Masch, a defensive tackle from Arizona Western College, accepted scholarship offers from the Warriors.

Brown is 6 feet 1 1/2 and 215 pounds. He is capable of running 40 yards in 4.4 seconds, and bench-pressing 225 pounds 24 times. He has a 36-inch vertical jump.

Brown turned down offers from Arizona State and Oregon.

"I love the Hawai'i fans," Brown said. "I was at the game (against Cincinnati) Saturday night, and it was a great atmosphere. I liked the coaches and the players. I thought it was a good fit for me."

Brown is the latest to travel the Saddleback-Hawai'i pipeline, following quarterbacks Colt Brennan and Jason Whieldon. Former UH basketball players Anthony "A.C." Carter, Tes Whitlock, Micah Kroeger and Eric Ambrozich also receive Saddleback alumni newsletters.

UH wideout Mike Tinoco, a Saddleback graduate, was Brown's host the past weekend. Brown said associate head coach Rich Miano took the recruits to Sandy's.

"That was fun," Brown said.

Brown was an outside linebacker at Puyallup (Wash.) High School before moving to safety as a senior.

As a wrestler, he competed in the 189-pound division, placing third in the Washington state meet.

"Wrestling helped me," Brown said. "It was good conditioning."

Brown also competed in rugby. He was selected to the 20-under national team, but opted to instead focus on football.

As a freshman at Saddleback, he amassed a team-high 65 tackles, including seven tackles for losses.

As a sophomore this season, he tied for the team high with 59 tackles, of which 41 were solo stops.

He also made three interceptions (18.5 yards per return), broke up six passes, made two quarterback hurries, forced two fumbles and had an 81-yard fumble return.

Brown is projected to compete at strong safety at UH.

Safeties Keao Monteilh, Desmond Thomas, Erik Robinson, Ryan Mouton and Dane Porlas will complete their UH eligibility following the Dec. 24 Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl.

Masch drew interest from Utah, Colorado, Nevada and Louisiana-Lafayette. He canceled his visit to Lafayette after accepting the UH offer.

Masch, like Brown, based his decision partly on the Warriors' strong fan support.

"Just to see Hawai'i was great," said Masch, who visited the past weekend. "Going to the (UH-Cincinnati) game was what clicked in. It made me think, 'I want to go there.' It was loud. The stadium was great."

Most of all, he said, "everything there was like a family. I liked that. That's what it takes to win a championship."

Masch, who is 6 feet 3 and 290 pounds, is capable of bench pressing 405 pounds.

He said he will earn his associate degree in a week.

He plans to enroll at UH-Manoa in January, and participate in the off-season conditioning program and spring practice.

Masch and UH quarterback Steele Jantz were teammates at Nevada Union High School in Nevada City, Calif.

But UH was alerted to Masch while watching videotapes of prospects from New Mexico Military Institute. Masch was impressive in the game between Saddleback and NMMI.

"That's how they got the word out," Masch said. "They asked the New Mexico Military coach about me."

After completing his visit, Masch said, "I told coach (Greg) McMackin I was committing. I wanted to be a Warrior."