After his fifth carry Saturday night, Joey Iosefa stayed on the turf for a few anxious moments.
But he wouldn’t let the pain in his leg keep him down much longer.
Motivated by the memory of a member of their position group, Iosefa regrouped and teamed with Steven Lakalaka to help power Hawaii to a 49-42 win over Army in the Rainbow Warriors’ season finale at Aloha Stadium.
The UH running backs lost one of their number when junior Willis Wilson died Saturday morning in an apparent drowning at Sandy Beach. So Iosefa was determined not to let the hard hit prevent him from contributing to UH’s push toward its first win of a trying season.
"We were playing for a lot tonight, the seniors, Willis," Iosefa said. "I went down, closed my eyes a little bit, but I was thinking about him, thinking about everything. I just wanted to get up and bounce back."
The running backs provided pivotal yards after Army rallied to tie the score at 28-28 in the third quarter. Iosefa and Lakalaka combined for 24 carries and 127 yards on UH’s next three drives, all ending with touchdowns to give UH enough cushion to hold off Army’s comeback.
"When Army tied it up I told my offense we can turn this thing around and can take the momentum," Iosefa said. "So we went up there, executed, made some good plays."
The junior ended the night with 28 carries for 154 yards and a touchdown. Lakalaka, a redshirt freshman, added a season-high 104 yards on 19 attempts and also scored in the third quarter.
The performances marked the first time UH had two runners top 100 yards in a game since Leon Wright-Jackson went for 167 and Alex Green added 110 against Utah State in 2009.
UH finished the night with 285 rushing yards to 254 for Army, which entered the game as the nation’s top rushing offense.
"When he runs, it motivates me to run harder and it motivates him to run harder," Lakalaka said. "It’s a team effort."
Despite being limited to two carries in the first two months of the season due to a foot injury, Iosefa ended the year as the Warriors’ leading rusher with 590 yards on 126 carries, also a team high. He topped 100 yards in three of UH’s last four games, the exception being a 91-yard performance a week ago at Wyoming.
Iosefa contributed to two touchdowns while lined up behind center in a wildcat formation. The first was a Tim Tebow-esque jump pass for a 1-yard score to Harold Moleni for his first career touchdown toss, giving UH a 28-7 lead in the second quarter.
"It was exciting to change it up a little bit," Iosefa said of getting more looks in the wildcat. "I was happy (the coaches) called it."
His next touchdown was more conventional, scoring on an 8-yard keeper that broke the 28-28 tie in the third quarter.
Iosefa broke loose for a season-long 32-yard gain to spark UH’s next drive. Lakalaka covered the remaining 29 yards on the next four carries and scored his fourth touchdown of the season with a 1-yard plunge.
Lakalaka also helped clear the way for quarterback Sean Schroeder to score what would be the game’s decisive touchdown.
"It’s just overwhelming, especially for the running backs in general because (Willis) came from our group," Lakalaka said. "Joey got us into a group, we (said) we were going to play hard and every down we think of him and just push."
