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POSTED: Sunday, April 26, 2009

Ron Lee ordered up a surprise helping of the “;Medeiros Special,”; and the play's namesake delivered.

On an afternoon when four Hawaii quarterbacks threw touchdown passes, slotback Jon Medeiros tossed the deciding pass in yesterday's Warrior Bowl at Aloha Stadium.

“;I was on the sideline and I thought I was done for the game,”; Medeiros said. “;All of a sudden, he's like, 'Let's run the Medeiros Special.' So I went in, buckled up and just ran it.”;

Medeiros—a quarterback back in the day at Kapolei High School—caught a lateral pass from Bryant Moniz and heaved a throw down the right side. Speedy wideout Jovonte Taylor tracked it down for a 50-yard touchdown, which turned out to be the decisive score in the Makai team's 28-26 win over the Mauka in the Warriors' spring game played before a crowd of 3,726.

“;It was Coach Ron's idea,”; Medeiros said. “;Thursday at practice we were trying to think of a trick play.

“;We were running bubble screens the whole game, so everybody was biting and sure enough we ran the trick play and got the big one.”;

The double-pass was the only touchdown of the second half after the offenses rolled up and down the stadium turf in a first-half shootout as Ron Lee, UH's offensive coordinator, picked up his second straight Warrior Bowl win over his brother, UH defensive coordinator Cal Lee.

The Warriors' top four quarterbacks threw touchdown passes before halftime. On the game's first play, Makai starter Brent Rausch connected with slotback Dustin Blount, who broke loose for a 70-yard score.

Greg Alexander, who topped the depth chart throughout the spring, responded by directing a 10-play drive capped by a 3-yard touchdown pass to Rodney Bradley. Alexander finished his day 10-for-15 for 152 yards after leading three first-quarter drives, two ending in touchdowns.

Rausch completed eight of 12 passes and his backup, Moniz, went 12-for-18 for 149 yards for Makai. Moniz, a Leilehua graduate who transferred from Fresno City College, threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Blount and scored on a 3-yard run.

Shane Austin was also involved in two scores, a 58-yard touchdown pass to freshman Billy Ray Stutzmann and a 1-yard plunge just before halftime.

“;I thought the offense did a great job,”; UH head coach Greg McMackin said.

In an intrasquad setting, the offensive explosion could be countered by concern for a rebuilding defense, which is replacing nine starters.

“;We didn't game-plan, we played base. We can fix all that up,”; McMackin said. “;All we need is 11 guys to run to the football and hit somebody. When we split them up, it gets a little thinner.”;

The defenses tightened up in the second half and came up with one turnover, an interception by freshman linebacker Art Laurel on the game's final play.

Eight receivers had receptions of 20 yards or longer. Slotback Corey Paclebar was the busiest of the bunch with seven catches for 51 yards, most coming in the second half, when the backups got most of the action. Taylor was the yardage leader with 135, the bulk coming on a 52-yard connection from Moniz and the 50-yard game-winner.

“;We have a lot of depth in receivers and a lot of speed as well,”; Taylor said. “;We're all competing for that No. 1 spot, so it's all on who wants it the most. You have to be hungry for it.”;

“;We're going to have to do a good job of evaluating,”; Ron Lee said. “;The offseason's going to be critical—how they come back, how they work. They're great guys, they all work hard, now we have to make some tough calls.”;

Before throwing his pass, Medeiros caught two throws for 21 yards to cap a solid spring in which he ran with the first unit while working through aches in his hip and knee.

“;We had fun today, but all the fun and games are over. Now it's time to put in work,”; Medeiros said. “;This is where the work begins and this is where everyone's out there grinding trying to keep their positions on the depth chart.”;

 

Makai 28, Mauka 26

At Aloha Stadium

                                                                                                                                           

Makai	8	14	6	0	—	28
Mauka	14	12	0	0	—	26

MAKAI—Dustin Blount 70 pass from Brent Rausch (Blount pass from Rausch)

MAUKA—Rodney Bradley 3 pass from Greg Alexander (Greg Salas pass from Alexander)

MAUKA—Inoke Funaki 6 run (pass failed)

MAKAI—Blount 4 pass from Bryant Moniz (Leon Wright-Jackson run)

MAKAI—Moniz 3 run (run failed)

MAUKA—Billy Ray Stutzmann 58 pass from Shane Austin (pass failed)

MAUKA—Austin 1 run (pass failed)

MAKAI—Jovonte Taylor 50 pass from Jon Medeiros (pass failed)

RUSHING—Makai: Wright-Jackson 4-39, Hogan Rosehill 2-7, Moniz 3-3, Kennedy Carlson 2-0, Joey Cadiz 4-(-2), Rausch 3-(-10). Mauka: Funaki 5-21, Jayson Rego 3-18, Kimo Alo 1-0, Austin 3-(-3), Steele Jantz 1-(-4), Alexander 2-(-9).

PASSING—Makai: Moniz 12-18-0-149, Rausch 8-12-0-143, Medeiros 1-1-0-50. Mauka: Austin 13-24-1-183, Alexander 10-15-0-152, Jantz 1-2-0-4.

RECEIVING—Makai: Taylor 5-135, Blount 4-98, Jeremiah Ostrowski 4-39, Malcolm Lane 2-24, Medeiros 2-21, Matt Kiel 2-11, Joe Avery 1-14, Wright-Jackson 1-0. Mauka: Corey Paclebar 7-51, Stutzmann 3-70, Bradley 3-69, Kealoha Pilares 3-56, Salas 3-39, Daniel Lofton 2-20, Ryan Henry 1-14, Funaki 1-12, Royce Pollard 1-8.

Attendance: 3,726