Former UH star Cordeiro leads San Jose State past Warriors
ASSOCIATED PRESS
San Jose State quarterback Chevan Cordeiro scrambled past Hawaii defensive lineman Ezra Evaimalo for a gain during the first half of today’s game in San Jose, Calif.
STEPHEN TSAI / STSAI@STARADVERTISER.COM
San Jose State quarterback Chevan Cordeiro is seen after an NCAA football game against the University of Hawaii today in San Jose, Calif.
SAN JOSE >> San Jose State quarterback Chevan Cordeiro helped torment his former team, throwing two touchdown passes in the Spartans’ 27-14 victory over Hawaii today at CEFCU Stadium.
Cordeiro, who transferred from UH at the end of the 2021 season, was 17-for-26 for 208 yards.
The Spartans scored the first 10 points of the second half to extend a 14-6 halftime lead to 24-6.
The Warriors cut their deficit to to 24-14. After San Jose State kicker Taren Schive’s second field goal made it 27-14, the Warriors drove to the Spartans’ 2. But two rushes netted minus-2 yards, Nehemiah Shelton broke up a pass aimed at wideout Zion Bowens, and Brayden Schager was sacked by Viliami Fehoko and Cade Hall.
The Warriors end their first season under head coach Timmy Chang at 3-10 and 2-6 in the Mountain West.
The Spartans are 7-4 and 5-3, and are in contention for an invitation the Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl at the Ching Complex.
Cordeiro and wideout Elijah Cooks collaborated on two first-half scoring plays to give the Spartans a 14-6 lead at the intermission.
In between those two scores, the Warriors were able to contain the Spartans. UH’s Matthew Shipley missed his first field-goal attempt, sailing a 44-yarder wide of the right post. But Shipley connected on his next two, from 46 and 27 yards, to close the Warriors to 7-6 with 5:56 left in the first half.
Late in the second half, the Spartans opted to punt on fourth down at midfield. In part due to Alii Matau’s sack of Schager, the Spartans used two timeouts to create enough time for a final drive of the half.
The Spartans took over at their 47 with 2:10 left in the half. On second-and-10, Cordeiro launched a pass to wideout Justin Lockhart along the right sideline. Lockhart caught the pass, slipped a would-be tackler, and raced for a 44-yard gain to the UH 9. Two plays later, Cordeiro placed a lead pass to Cooks in the left corner of the end zone for a 14-6 lead with 1:09 left in the half.
