Tough ‘home’ loss for Rebels

While Hawaii’s Joey Iosefa was pounding away for his 219 rushing yards, UNLV’s Peni Vea and Tau Lotulelei were on the other end, receiving the blows.

Vea and Lotulelei, two of six Hawaii-grown players on the Rebels roster, wound up on the losing end despite turning in exceptional performances on defense in the 37-35 loss to the Rainbow Warriors at Aloha Stadium on Saturday night.

Vea, a junior strong safety, and Lotulelei, a sophomore linebacker, finished with nine tackles apiece, best on the team.

A Kealakehe alumnus, Vea also had his team’s only interception of UH quarterback Ikaika Woolsey early in the game, and he had a sack among his three tackles for loss.

Lotulelei, a Maui High alumnus, delivered two tackles for loss, including a sack.

"I thought we had it (the victory), and then I looked up and saw one second left after the second-to-last play," Vea said. "There was definitely that home feeling in front of the Hawaii crowd. If felt like I was playing high school ball again. It was a disappointing ending, but I’m glad I got to play in a great football game."

Lotulelei talked about going against Iosefa, Hawaii’s 240-pound bull.

"A couple of plays he just bounced off of me and a couple of plays I got him," he said. "He’s big and fast for his size."

Lotulelei took Iosefa head-on, literally, at the goal line, when the UH back scored from 1-yard out with two minutes left for a 31-28 Rainbow Warriors lead. Iosefa jumped high and so did Lotulelei.

"Argggh, our heads collided pretty good on that one," Lotulelei said. "(Losing was) a bummer. We were feeling like we could get it done and it was heartbreaking."

Another Hawaii boy, Maika Mataele, a senior wide receiver who played for Kamehameha, almost became the game’s hero when he caught a 13-yard TD pass that gave UNLV a 28-24 edge with 4:51 left.

And the Hawaii connection does not stop there. Asten Koki, a senior defensive tackle who played for Roosevelt, finished with five tackles.

Jarin Morikawa, a redshirt freshman quarterback who played for Mililani, and Christian Clapp, a freshman wide receiver who played for Kaiser, also made the trip for the Rebels but didn’t play.

"They’re tough guys, good football players and great human beings," said UNLV coach Bobby Hauck about the Hawaii players on his roster after cooling off just a bit about 20 minutes after the agonizing loss. "They’re tremendous kids and I’m really glad we’ve got ’em."