For the kicker nicknamed “9-iron,” it was all about the confident stroke.

Cesar Silva connected on a field goal from 37 yards as time expired to deliver Fresno State to Saturday night’s 41-38 football victory over Hawaii.

What remained of a crowd of 17,583 saw the Bulldogs win their sixth consecutive meeting between the teams at Aloha Stadium.

Asked if there were any doubts, Fresno quarterback Jorge Reyna said: “Not at all. We call him ‘9-iron.’ Chip it, it’ll always go in.”

Silva said: “I don’t know what (a 9-iron) is. I don’t really know anything about golf. Only on the Wii. … But I was ready for (the kick). My snapper and holder were ready for it, too.”

>> Click here to see photos of the game between Hawaii and Fresno State.

Silva’s night to remember was the Rainbow Warriors’ nightmare to forget. The Warriors missed several opportunities to increase a 24-14 halftime lead. The Bulldogs scored 24 unanswered points in the second half to take a 38-24 lead before the Warriors rallied.

“That was a well-coached team,” said UH coach Nick Rolovich, whose Warriors fell to 5-4 overall and 2-3 in the Mountain West. “There were a lot of opportunities we didn’t take advantage of. Some of the penalties were uncalled for. The unsportsmanlike (penalties) are what I’m talking about. The rest are close calls. But when we do stupid stuff … 13 penalties, a lot of it is stupid.”

The Warriors’ 13 infractions totaled 135 yards. The Bulldogs were assessed five penalties for 45 yards.

But the Warriors overcame drops, overthrows and penalties and appeared to be in control — until they were not.

The Bulldogs used deception to take a 7-0 lead on 36-yard option pass from wideout Jalen Cropper to Zane Pope for the only points of the first quarter.

But the Warriors tied it when quarterback Cole McDonald scrambled up the middle, bounced off two defenders and found the end zone to complete the 6-yard run.

The Warriors took the lead on their next possession. Fred Holly’s 32-yard sprint advanced the ball to the Fresno 1. Holly had launched from the 5. “I was telling some of my teammates that was my high school move,” Holly said. “I used to try to do a little leap from 5 out. Maybe I was short (of the goal line) because I’m a lot bigger than I was then.”

On the next play, McDonald rolled to his left, then pitched to Holly, who could not secure the football. The officials ruled it to be an incomplete forward pass instead of a fumble — a judgment that stood following a video review.

Holly scored from a yard out on the ensuing run to give the Warriors a lead they would hold through the first half.

Ryan Meskell’s 50-yard field goal and JoJo Ward’s 48-yard scoring pass from McDonald contributed to the 10-point advantage at the intermission.

In the Fresno State locker room, there were no pep talks.

“No halftime speech,” Reyna said. “We knew what we had to get done, and we got it done.”

The key was to get the football to speedster Ronnie Rivers. Rivers scored from near (4 yards around left end) and far (44-yard dash) to give the Bulldogs the lead, at 31-24 with 1:07 left in the third quarter.

It was 38-24 after Reyna found tight end Jared Rice at the end of a 26-yard route to the right corner of the end zone.

UH’s ensuing drive went to the Fresno 30, when McDonald overthrew wideout Nick Mardner. Noticing that McDonald’s release was a “little funky,” Rolovich summoned Chevan Cordeiro, who had been warming up. Cordeiro led the Warriors as far as the 6 before running out of downs.

But the quarterback change appeared to spark the Warriors. On UH’s next possession, Cordeiro and Mardner teamed on their second 50-yard play of the season. That moved the ball to the 3, from where Miles Reed took a handoff and scored to cut the deficit to 38-31 with 2:13 to play.

Meskell’s onside kick was mishandled by Fresno State’s Cam Sutton. UH linebacker Darius Muasau, a true freshman from Mililani, recovered it at the FSU 49.

Aided by a roughing penalty, the Warriors advanced to the 10. Cordeiro then took the shotgun snap, scanned routes that were covered, and took off up the middle.

“I saw open space,” Cordeiro said. “I had to make one guy miss, and I tried to do whatever I could.”

Cordeiro actually evaded two would-be tacklers to reach the end zone and close the Warriors to 38-37 with 1:08 to play.

Rolovich opted to go for the extra-point kick instead of the 2-point conversion. “I would have considered (going for 2), but they had three timeouts and over a minute left,” Rolovich said. “If it was closer to the end of the game, maybe.”

Meskell’s PAT was true, and the score was knotted.

But the Bulldogs then drove to the UH 33. Rivers took a handoff, raced to the 20, and deliberately fell to the turf with six seconds left.

After a timeout, Silva was beckoned.

In the first half, Silva had missed two field-goal attempts. “Coach (Jeff) Tedford still kept me in,” Silva said.

Silva had last kicked a winner in junior college. “It was a 19-yard field goal, less than a PAT,” Silva said. “This one felt good.”

Reyna said: “That’s our brother. That’s our guy. We always have his back. We knew he would make it.”