He escaped, and so have the Warriors.

Somehow, Inoke Funaki eluded two Louisiana Tech players ready to sack him on the left, retreated to the right, turned upfield and swallowed up 19 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

Two plays later, the shovel, shuffle, shuttle. Whatever you want to call it, it has bedeviled LaTech since it was Chang to Brewster. Last night it was Funaki to Pilares and good for 23 yards.

Then Greg Salas fighting off the coverage in the end zone, with Funaki patiently waiting for the right time to release the pass. Salas is in a crowd, but Funaki throws to the right spot, and Hawaii gets the lead it will keep on the way to its 24-14 win.

It was the kind of offensive sequence we came to accept as routine in other seasons, but up to now has been a rare and precious commodity in 2008.

For most of the first half, LaTech threatened to turn it into another home loss for Hawaii to a visiting underdog. Might this be another San Jose State, where Hawaii dominated the first half but failed to close largely because of turnovers and penalties?

No, not this time. These Warriors took control and then stepped on the throats of the Bulldogs and didn't let go until it was decided.

UH nearly frittered away a 16-point halftime lead at Fresno State last week, but there was no let-up this time, no mercy.

“;It's taking the heart out of a team,”; said safety Desmond Thomas, a big playmaker in 2007 but a forgotten man this fall until coming up with two turnovers last night. “;We have to finish. When they're down we can't let up.”;

The defense came up big with another round of gimme that: four takeaways, the biggest when Brashton Satele knocked the ball out of Patrick Jackson's grasp at the UH goal line. Then a field-goal try blocked by Keala Watson, recovered by Thomas. And Thomas coming up huge again with an interception.

Hawaii is 2-1 in the WAC and all of a sudden in contention for the conference championship. A win at Boise State is certainly a tall order. Most people will still scoff at the idea, even though UH has already beaten a ranked team on the road.

But after last night, the ones who really need to believe it as possible have all the reason to do so.

“;We still have high expectations,”; linebacker and captain Adam Leonard said. “;We just needed some time to get used to each other and learn how to win again.”;

The Warriors appear to have escaped from the brink of a disastrous 2008, like one of Funaki's fun-ride scrambles.

“;We've had to fix glitches,”; coach Greg McMackin said.

The owner of the Hawaii Bowl was here to see it.

“;I'm counting W's,”; said Pete Derzis.

The Warriors have seven left to win four and it's Merry Christmas. And they believe one of those can come Friday where they've yet to win.