Back in the game | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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PATRICK SMITH / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER
UH running back Joey Iosefa jumped over Navy’s Chris Johnson during Saturday’s game in Annapolis, Md. Iosefa, in his return from injury, rushed for 191 yards.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Navy’s Will Huntsman tackled UH’s Joey Iosefa during the second half of Saturday’s game. Iosefa, who has missed most of the season with a foot injury, carried 35 times against the Midshipmen to tie a school record.

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. >> Joey Iosefa is a young man of few words — but on this day, of many yards.

He rushed for 191 of them in his long-awaited return to the Hawaii football lineup Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. They weren’t enough for Hawaii to break into the win column, but his presence made a huge impact on the Rainbow Warriors’ ability to move the ball in their 42-28 loss at Navy on Saturday.

"I don’t know how I did it. I just run the ball," said Iosefa, who rushed for the most yards in a single game for UH since Alex Green set the record of 327 in 2010. "I wanted to use the running game to help the passing game."

It certainly did, as it allowed Sean Schroeder to use play-action passes effectively on the way to 29-for-33 accuracy and three TD passes.

Iosefa found the end zone once himself, with a 6-yard blast up the gut capping a 99-yard drive that put UH within a touchdown a 28-21 in the fourth quarter.

Nine of his school-record-tying 35 carries came during that 18-play march. He matched the record set by Nuu Faaola in 1985 and tied by Jamal Farmer in 1989.

By halftime, Iosefa had bulled his way to 103 yards on 17 bruising carries.

Not bad for a guy who has been out nearly all season with a foot injury that has dogged him since the summer and put a severe crimp in UH’s running game.

"Being out for a while, I just wanted to help out the team," said the junior, who rushed for 463 yards last season and 548 as a freshman.

Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said he knew Iosefa might play for the first time since re-injuring his foot against Nevada seven weeks ago.

"We saw a little bit, but we didn’t see much of him. He was running so hard I don’t know if seeing tape would’ve helped us. He’s a hard guy to bring down."

Many of linebacker Cody Peterson’s game-high 14 stops were of Iosefa, but only after he’d reached the second or third level of the Navy defense.

"Yeah, 7, he ran pretty hard," Peterson said. "He’s just a big boy, 250 pounds. He’s up there with all the good backs we’ve played against this year. We had to gang-tackle him."

Safety Wave Ryder said even though Iosefa’s game is mostly straight-ahead brute strength, he was a wild card.

"He was a mystery," said Ryder, who was in on 12 stops. "We heard rumors about him, that he might play. But I’d seen him play and knew he was good."

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The Star-Advertiser’s Stephen Tsai contributed to this report.

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Read Dave Reardon’s Quick Reads at staradvertiser.com/quickreads.