In an ensemble production, the Hawaii football team delivered a 31-20 victory over Albany at the Ching Complex.
A crowd of 7,646 endured early rain to watch the Rainbow Warriors weather a gritty challenge from the Great Danes to defeat an FCS opponent for the 20th consecutive time dating to 2000.
Roll the credits for:
>> Reserve running backs Nasjzae Bryant-Lelei and Jordan Johnson, who combined for 111 rushing yards in their first game of the season. Early in the week, Bryant-Lelei was medically cleared from a leg injury and Johnson was added to the rotation after fulfilling academic obligations.
>> Wideout Jonah Panoke, who underwent ankle surgery in the offseason and suffered a hamstring injury three days ahead of the Aug. 26 season opener, caught four passes for 47 yards, including a 4-yard scoring reception to stake the Warriors to a 10-7 lead in the first quarter.
>> And a defense that held the Great Danes to 3.5 yards per play, frustrated quarterback Reese Poffenbarger into 10-for-31 passing, and made two fourth-down stops and forced a fumble in the fourth quarter.
“This is what we’ve been expecting,” UH defensive coordinator Jacob Yoro said. “It’s something we’ve been working on since January. I told our guys, in regard to the experience on this team, we have the experience on the defensive side. Our offense is going to score a lot of points. But there are going to be games, like this, when the defense has to step up. I’m proud of the guys for stepping up.”
The Warriors went ahead 24-17 on Brayden Schager’s 34-yard pass to Jalen Walthall with 6:10 to play. Walthall, who had rotated between wideout and slot receiver since training camp, was not targeted in UH’s first two games, both losses. But Walthall fought for Schager’s arcing throw while being draped by defensive back Denzel Patrick.
The Great Danes closed to 24-20 on John Opalko’s 32-yard field goal with 3:32 remaining in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Warriors twice fell short on fourth-and-1 rushes. But the Warriors’ defense proved to be equally defiant. On fourth-and-3 from the UH 17, Poffenbarger was tackled for a 3-yard loss by linebacker Isaiah Tufaga. Tufaga was suspended for the first half after being ejected for targeting against Stanford a week earlier.
>> RELATED: Dave Reardon: More cable outrage as outage causes some to miss UH on PPV
Then with six minutes remaining, the Great Danes drove to the UH 27. Albany placed two tight ends wide as a part of a triple-option play. Poffenbarger rolled to his right and tried to pitch to a trailing back. But defensive end Andrew Choi and cornerback JoJo Forest forced Poffenbarger to hurry the lateral. The football bounced free, and was scooped by linebacker Noah Kema, who sprinted 41 yards the other way.
“It was a crazy blackout moment,” said Kema, who started the game in place of Tufaga.
On the previous play, weak-side linebacker Logan Taylor, a co-captain, was helped off the field because of an apparent injury to his left leg.
“They were kind of driving on us,” Kema said. “It was a make-or-break moment. Logan’s the heartbeat of the defense. He leads us. Right before we went back on the field, we huddled, and said we wanted to be there for Logan, and doing what he would do for us. … I got off my block and scooped. I saw No. 7 (Poffenbarger) and kind of got a juke around him. Big ol’ Sauce (Williams, a defensive tackle) was running next to me. He gave me a shove forward. It was a good run.”
The Warriors drove to the 12. Schager fired a pass to the threshold of the end zone. Wideout Steven McBride, who was running along the left sideline, cut toward the pylon and secured the back-shoulder pass for the insurance touchdown that made it 31-20 with 3:20 to play.
Coach Timmy Chang praised Schager for continuing to fire away.
“He’s a tough kid,” Chang said. “He’s tough physically and mentally. He’s making the big-time throws, man. That’s what I love about him. He kind of wipes (setbacks) out. He’s learning and he’s growing.”
Schager was intercepted three times under heavy pressure, including a pick-6, and sacked five times But he finished 23-for-40 for 266 yards and four touchdowns.
“At the end of the day, all it says is: It’s a win,” Schager said. “It’s a lot to clean up, but a win’s a win. (After mistakes) you’ve go to bounce back and not let it affect you.”
It was a disappointing trip for the Great Danes, who were without their head coach. Greg Gattuso did not travel because of an illness. And Poffenbarger, whose dynamic play earned him the nickname “Johnny Football,” was held in check because of a defensive strategy of boxing him in the pocket. Eti Ena, the co-defensive coordinator, came up with plays to bracket the edges.
“We wanted him to throw from the pocket,” Yoro said of limiting Poffenbarger’s rollouts. “We thought if we did that we’d have a better opportunity to be successful.”
