In the afterglow of Saturday’s season-ending 28-26 victory over Louisiana-Monroe, the University of Hawaii football team raised a toast to:

>> A ground-and-pound offense, spurred by Paul Harris’ 166 rushing yards and finished with a countdown-to-closing-whistle drive.

>> The defense, which made an all-or-nothing stand to deny the Warhawks’ potential go-ahead, 2-point play.

>> The 22 seniors, interim leader Chris Naeole and, even, Norm Chow, who was fired as head coach four weekends earlier.

“People can say this or that about Chow, but he’s a good guy and, at the end of the day, he had our backs,” said quarterback Ikaika Woolsey, who threw a scoring pass to tight end Harold Moleni and ran for two more touchdowns. “This was for all the coaches we had — Coach Chow and Coach Naeole — and the seniors and all the guys who put their heart into this. I’ve got mad respect for all those guys. They never quit on us.”

Naeole, who united the Rainbow Warriors following Chow’s dismissal, said the victory — the Warriors’ first after nine consecutive setbacks — should serve as a bridge to Nick Rolovich’s tenure. Rolovich, a former UH quarterback and offensive coordinator, was announced as the Warriors’ head coach on Friday.

“When you get a win like this, it’s good for everyone involved in the program,” Naeole said. “It springboards these guys to next season. You’re only as good as your next game, and the next game isn’t for a long while. It’s a good chance for these (returning) players to go into spring feeling good about themselves.”

But UH’s feel-good story almost lost its happily-ever-after ending.

The Warhawks, who also entered with a nine-game losing streak, surged from a 21-3 deficit to close to 28-20 on Earnest Carrington’s 13-yard scoring pass to wide-open wideout Ajalen Holley with 3:42 remaining in the third quarter.

The Warriors were without Harris, who suffered concussion-like symptoms early in the third quarter. When fullback-turned-running back Justin Vele was “dinged up,” according to Naeole, the Warriors turned to Ryan Tuiasoa as the clock-draining back.

“A lot of our guys were pulling out,” Naeole said of the expanding injury list. “We played whoever was left on the bench. The cupboard was getting bare.”

Late in the fourth quarter, two Tuiasoa rushes netted zero yards. On third down from the UH 17, the play clock was turned off because of a malfunction.

“We were waiting for the ref to do some hand signal,” center Brenden Urban said. “I’m in my stance, and I’m getting uneasy. We heard ‘blue’ or ‘go blue.’ ”

The voice might have originated from the defensive linemen, who were trying to coax a false start. After making the shot-gun snap, Urban recalled feeling a “deep pit.”

“As soon as I let it go, I heard people screaming,” Urban said. “I was like, ‘Oh, no.’ ”

The football zipped between Woolsey and Tuiasoa, landing in the end zone, where defensive end Lorenzo Jackson pounced for a touchdown, cutting the deficit to 28-26 with 3:03 to play.

John Mumford, who was named ULM’s interim head coach two weeks, did not hesitate in going for a 2-point conversion.

Across the field, defensive backs coach Abraham Elimimian called for “zero” coverage — an all-out blitz. Elimimian was promoted to play-caller after defensive coordinator Tom Mason was reassigned to non-coaching duties on Monday.

“On the 2-pointer, we got home,” Elimimian said.

Under pressure, Carrington, who started in place of injured Garrett Smith, fired to tight end Harley Scioneaux at the end of a crossing pattern in the end zone. Maybe Scioneaux was bumped, maybe he was not. But safety Marrell Jackson was credited with a breakup on the pass that dropped to the artificial turf.

“The ball was right there,” Scioneaux said. “It was a good throw.”

Jackson, who had missed the previous two games because of a concussion, said: “I was putting the team on my back, and I said I was gonna get the ball back by any means. I got picked a little bit. I was late to it. All I did was dove toward him to get the ball out as best I can.”

Urban said: “The defense battled and got that 2-point conversion down. They picked me up.”

On the ensuing kickoff, Jason Muraoka caught the ball near the 1. He remembered special teams coordinator Jake Cookus’ tip that “if the momentum takes you into the end zone, you’re good. I saw the line. ‘OK, I can take it.’” Muraoka was awarded the touchback.

The Warriors then milked the final 3 minutes, 3 seconds, with six Tuiasoa rushes, Woolsey’s 14-yard pass to slotback Makoa Camanse-Stevens on third-and-6, and the victory-formation rush.

“We competed, and we ran the ball strong at the end,” Naeole said. “It’s all good.”

The Warriors kept searching for different answers the entire game. Harris rushed 27 times before being sidelined with the head injury. They succeeded on a fake punt, when 290-pound nose tackle Penitito Faalologo took the long snap and rumbled for the first down.

“I waited all season to run the ball,” said Faalologo, who was part of the three-man shield on punt protection.

With punter/place-kicker Rigo Sanchez on the mainland because of a family death, Aaron Novoa handled the kickoffs and place kicks, and shared punting with outside linebacker Jahlani Tavai, a former rugby player. Tavai averaged 54 yards on his two roll-out punts.

Tavai also played stand-up end in the Warriors’ four-man front. The Warriors strayed from the 3-4 base defense they ran the first 12 games.

“We have to stop making close games when we don’t need to,” Woolsey said. “We made some mistakes. It wasn’t a pretty win, but a win is a win. We’ll take it.”