HONOLULU — Fortune smiled on the Hawaii football team on Saturday night. The Rainbow Warriors, unused to such treatment, nervously smiled back.
For the first time in nine games, UH won the opening coin toss. It elected to receive the ball second against UNLV on senior night and it paid off on the Warriors’ opening drive as quarterback Brayden Schager connected with a wide-open Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala for a 15-yard score and the early lead.
The previous week, UH had its opening touchdown wiped out by a penalty in a one-score loss to Utah State. It was just the first of several examples of — for one night, at least — the Warriors making the most of their opportunities. They’d need most of them in the emotional 31-25 senior night win over the Rebels at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.
When Schager knelt in victory formation, players sprinted from sideline to sideline to retrieve the Island Showdown Trophy and restore some shine to their empty display case.
“I never saw them run so fast in my life,” head coach Timmy Chang observed. “(The trophy) means something, right?”
It meant that UH (3-9, 2-5 Mountain West) snapped its four-game losing streak and finally ended on the right side of a back-and-forth conference contest for the first time in 2022. Players, surrounded by friends and family on the Ching Complex field, agreed it was an important outcome for a battered program to cling to heading into an impactful offseason.
As a bonus, UNLV (4-7, 2-5), which thumped UH by two touchdowns in the desert last year, was knocked out of bowl contention.
All that’s left is next week’s matchup at San Jose State (6-4, 4-3) and former UH quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, who remains the most prominent symbol of the chaos wrought after the 2021 season under Todd Graham.
The underclassmen surprised the seniors with a spirited ha‘a after 23 players were honored — up from 20 announced to begin the day. It was the 10th time in the last 11 years that UH won on senior night.
During the ceremonies, safety Leonard Lee took the moment to thank Chang for the opportunity to be there. The new coach Chang invited Lee, who was a key figure in players’ allegations of mistreatment against Graham, back to the program in the spring and awarded a scholarship just before the season.
“Man, I think people really, truly don’t understand that I thought it was done for me,” Lee told Spectrum News. “I was working at a restaurant. I told Coach Chang during the senior walk that I’m so thankful and so blessed. Without him, I wouldn’t get to experience this. Without so many pieces falling in the right spot, I wouldn’t get to experience this.”
The aforementioned fast start for the Rainbow Warriors wouldn’t last. UNLV, behind dual threat, lefty quarterback Doug Brumfield, claimed a 13-7 halftime lead.
After several unsuccessful deep ball attempts in the first three quarters, UH was still convinced it could hurt UNLV deep. With 1:01 left in the third quarter, Schager connected with Zion Bowens in stride for a 55-yard score.
“We felt like we could run by them, as far as the corners and the safeties,” Bowens said. “We wanted to take advantage of that by going deep, taking that top off.”
Bowens, who was the post man on a couple of the incomplete routes, said the difference in the night’s outcome was because of the team being fully bought into playing for the men to their sides.
The sophomore Schager delivered perhaps his best overall game as a Warrior with 16-for-27 passing, 202 yards, a career-best three touchdowns and no interceptions.
“It’s huge. We’ve been talking about it all week — just play for those seniors,” said Schager. “It’s really satisfying to see all the smiles on their (faces).”
Matthew Shipley added a 30-yard boot early in the fourth for a 24-16 lead, and the celebration appeared to be well underway. But the defense had to execute after Schager was strip-sacked by Adam Plant Jr. and Elijah Shelton returned it 3 yards for a touchdown. The tying 2-point conversion toss to the front left pylon by Brumfield was off the mark, however, and UH remained out front. But the hosts' next drive ended with another fumble, this one an uncharacteristic one by freshman back Tylan Hines in the red zone.
Similar moments derailed UH on other nights this season.
The defense had to come up with key plays to ensure it didn't. Linebacker Logan Taylor overcame a personal foul early in the game to record a team-high 11 tackles and his first career interception to end the third quarter. Freshman defensive back Peter Manuma had a key fourth-down pass breakup over the middle with 4:20 left.
From there, senior running back Dedrick Parson ran it three straight times, the last a 34-yarder to pay dirt — a decisive nine-point lead — when he broke through a tackle in the secondary with 2:51 left.
“That felt amazing, to go out like that at home, like a dream come true,” said Parson, who like Schager and other teammates this season has usually had to answer questions about what went wrong. “A scene out of a movie, for real. In front of my mom, my sister. All the fans. It was amazing to put on a show for all the fans and get the win for all the seniors.”
UNLV got a 40-yard field goal from kicker Daniel Gutierrez — who became a target of ire of the mostly full 9,343-seat venue because of his showmanship following an earlier kick, plus an incident in which he appeared to knock over a UH band member while warming up for the second half — to get within one score.
But the Rebels’ last gasp, onside kick attempt was fallen on by senior receiver Jordan Murray.
Parson, the Howard transfer and co-captain, attained the first down necessary for his rebuilding team to kneel for the rare victory.
The 23 seniors honored were: OL Stephan Bernal-Wendt, TE Kamuela Borden, WR Bowens, QB Armani Edden, OL Ra Elkington, DB Malik Hausman, LB George Hooker, OL Austin Hopp, LB Noa Kamana, DB Kalamaku Kuewa, DB Lee, OL Ilm Manning, K Scott Marshall, WR Murray, DB Hugh Nelson, RB Parson, LB Penei Pavihi, DB Jalen Perdue, TE Caleb Phillips, DL Blessman Ta‘ala, DL John Tuitupou, OL Micah Vanterpool, and DL Kolby Wyatt.
Sometimes, they may petition for an extra year of eligibility.
“A lot of them could’ve left, and they didn’t,” Chang said. “They chose to stay here, they chose to fight. And I’m appreciative and I love them for that.”
A few more photos of the night:
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.