Bowl bid within Warriors' grasp
POSTED: Sunday, November 29, 2009
On military night, it was fitting that Hawaii's postseason aspirations rested on its defense.
With 5:41 showing on the clock, the Warriors took the field with a seven-point lead, 84 yards and their bowl hopes to protect.
The pressure ticked up as Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs chewed up yardage and the clock in driving the Midshipmen into Hawaii territory.
But after Navy reached the Hawaii 39, the Warriors would give no more ground.
NEXT: WISCONSIN (8-3) AT HAWAII (6-6)
» When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday » TV: ESPN2
» Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM
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Linebackers R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane and Blaze Soares sacked Dobbs on the final two plays of the game to punctuate a pulsating 24-17 win last night at Aloha Stadium as a crowd of 36,834 erupted.
“;I knew I got the sack and I just blacked out,”; Soares said of the last of his game-high 12 tackles. “;The game's on the line and you make a big play and the adrenaline's rushing and everything goes silent, but you see everybody just raging.”;
Hawaii's fourth consecutive win capped a perfect November and evened the Warriors' record at 6-6, setting up an all-or-nothing season finale against Wisconsin on Saturday.
Knock off the Badgers and the Warriors—who entered the month at 2-6 and with several starters out for the season—can make plans for the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. A loss ends the season on senior night.
“;I'm jacked up already, I'm not going to get any sleep tonight,”; Hawaii head coach Greg McMackin said.
“;In December, we have something to play for. Looking at our season, losing Greg Alexander, losing Brashton (Satele), losing Rodney (Bradley), and we have a chance to play for something. These guys have fought their tails off.”;
Hawaii's win spoiled Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo's return to Aloha Stadium, as the Midshipmen, who have already secured a spot in the Texas Bowl, were shut out in the second half and fell to 8-4.
“;Give Hawaii credit. It was a great game, a great battle,”; said Niumatalolo, a Radford graduate and former UH quarterback and assistant coach. “;Most of our games are like this. Hawaii just made enough plays.”;
Current UH quarterback Bryant Moniz made the plays he needed most in throwing for 366 yards and three touchdowns after a week's absence due to a rib injury.
After a shaky start, the Warriors got rolling when Moniz stepped up in the pocket to complete back-to-back passes to Greg Salas covering 66 yards. He then hit Kealoha Pilares on a streak down the left side for a 24-yard touchdown to open the scoring.
“;Timing was a little off, so we just had to get in the groove of things,”; Moniz said.
With Navy playing soft zone, Moniz connected with Salas 10 times for 147 yards and hit Pilares for eight completions covering 102 yards and two scores.
“;Coach Ron (Lee) was telling us it was going to be a catch-and-get-upfield kind of a game because they have big holes in their zones,”; Salas said. “;They were playing old-school zone defense and we knew we could be successful.”;
Navy countered with its spread option powered by Dobbs, who rushed for 127 yards, 53 coming on a touchdown run on a midline option on the final play of the first quarter.
The Midshipmen took their lone lead of the game on fullback Vince Murray's 18-yard blast up the middle at the 1:07 mark of the second quarter.
UH's Jovonte Taylor responded with a 55-yard kickoff return to set the Warriors up at the Navy 44 with 57 seconds left in the half. Completing passes to the sidelines and scrambling up the middle for a 10-yard gain, Moniz moved the Warriors to the Navy 7 and hit Pilares on a post for the tying touchdown with 6 seconds left.
The Warriors defense then shut out the Midshipmen in the second half, holding them to 117 yards in total offense.
“;It's just trust in one another,”; Soares said of defending the option. “;Certain people had to take the dive, other people had to take the quarterback and the pitch man. We trusted in one another to do that. We were very responsible. It cracked here and there, but overall everybody just did their job.”;
Hawaii had just three possessions in the second half. The second was a nine-play, 82-yard march that ended with running back Alex Green taking a swing pass and bulling into the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown.
It appeared the Warriors were on their way to a game-clinching score when they stalled at the Navy 16, bringing up fourth and inches. Green was stuffed for no gain, giving Navy the ball.
“;I believed in two things,”; McMackin said. “;I believed in our offense that they could get that and I believed our defense was playing well against their offense so I thought we could get after them.”;
Navy took over with 5:41 left and Dobbs gradually moved the Midshipmen upfield by ground and air, completing a 14-yard pass on third and 11 to maintain the drive. But cornerback Jeramy Bryant dropped Marcus Curry for a 2-yard loss and defensive end Fetaiagogo Fonoti wrapped up Dobbs for a 1-yard gain.
With Navy now forced to throw, Kiesel-Kauhane and Soares ended it by chasing Dobbs down twice more. Much to the delight of the largest crowd of the year and their teammates.
“;I was yelling so loud I'm surprised I didn't lose my voice,”; Moniz said. “;It's something I'll remember forever. The crowd was so loud. I hope to hear that sound next week.”;
HAWAII 24, NAVY 17
At Aloha Stadium
| Navy | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 |
| Hawaii | 7 | 10 | 7 | 0 | — | 24 |
| First Quarter | |||
| UH | 1:20 | Kealoha Pilares 24 pass from Bryant Moniz (Scott Enos kick) | 0-7 |
| Navy | 0:00 | Ricky Dobbs 53 run (Joe Buckley kick) | 7-7
|
| Second Quarter | |||
| UH | 8:52 | FG Enos 34 | 7-10 |
| Navy | 5:03 | FG Buckley 28 | 10-10 |
| Navy | 1:07 | Vince Murray 18 run (Buckley kick) | 17-10 |
| UH | 0:06 | Pilares 7 pass from Moniz (Enos kick) | 17-17
|
| Third Quarter | |||
| UH | 0:37 | Alex Green 14 pass from Moniz (Enos kick) | 17-24
|
| Fourth Quarter | |||
| None |
Attendance —36,834. Time: 2:46.
Officials — Referee: Bill Athan; Umpire: Chad Bowers; Back judge: Jim Settle; Field judge: Chris Jamison; Scorer: Dara Young.
TEAM STATISTICS
| NAVY | HAWAII | |
| FIRST DOWNS | 16 | 21 |
| Rushing | 13 | 6 |
| Passing | 3 | 15 |
| Penalty | 0 | 0 |
| NET YARDS RUSHING | 248 | 62 |
| Rushing | 48 | 17 |
| Average per rush | 5.2 | 3.6 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 2 | 0 |
| Yards gained rushing | 277 | 98 |
| Yards lost rushing | 29 | 36 |
| NET YARDS PASSING | 88 | 366 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int | 5-9-0 | 32-46-0 |
| Average per attempt | 9.8 | 8.0 |
| Average per completion | 17.6 | 11.4 |
| Passing touchdowns | 0 | 3 |
| TOTAL OFFENSIVE YARDS | 336 | 428 |
| Total offensive plays | 57 | 63 |
| Average gain per play | 5.9 | 6.8 |
| Fumbles: Number-Lost | 2-0 | 3-1 |
| Penalties: Number-Yards | 1-15 | 3-25 |
| PUNTS-YARDS | 6-258 | 4-166 |
| Average yards per punt | 43.0 | 41.5 |
| Net yards per punt | 37.2 | 34.5 |
| Inside 20 | 2 | 2 |
| 50-plus yards | 1 | 0 |
| Touchbacks | 1 | 1 |
| Fair catch | 1 | 0 |
| KICKOFF-YARDS | 4-266 | 5-306 |
| Average yards per kickff | 66.5 | 61.2 |
| Net yards per kickoff | 36.8 | 44.2 |
| Touchbacks | 0 | 0 |
| Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD | 1-8-0 | 4-15-0 |
| Average per return | 8.0 | 3.8 |
| Kickoff returns: Number-Yards-TD | 5-85-0 | 4-119-0 |
| Average per return | 17.0 | 29.8 |
| Interceptions: Number-Yards-TD | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Fumbles returns: Number-Yards-TD | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Miscellaneous yards | 0 | 0 |
| Possession time | 31:10 | 28:50 |
| First Quarter | 9:53 | 5:07 |
| Second Quarter | 6:52 | 8:08 |
| Third Quarter | 5:22 | 9:38 |
| Fourth Quarter | 9:03 | 5:57 |
| Third-down conversions | 4 of 13 | 5 of 11 |
| Fourth-down conversions | 1 of 2 | 0 of 1 |
| Red-zone scores-chances | 2-2 | 3-4 |
| Sacks by: Number-Yards | 2-21 | 2-19 |
| PAT kicks | 2-2 | 3-3 |
| Field goals | 1-1 | 1-1 |
INDIVIDUAL DEFENSIVE STATISTICS
TACKLES FOR LOSS-YARDS —Navy, Jabaree Tuani 1-15, Craig Schaefer 1-6. Hawaii, R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane 2-13, Blaze Soares 1-9, Jeramy Bryant 1-2, Mana Silva 1-1.
SACKS-YARDS —Navy, Jabaree Tuani 1-15, Craig Schaefer 1-6. Hawaii, R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane 1-10, Blaze Soares 1-9.
INTERCEPTIONS —Navy, None. Hawaii, None.
KICKS BLOCKED —Navy, None. Hawaii, None.
QUARTERBACK HURRIES —Navy, None. Hawaii, R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane, Richard Torres.
| NAVY | |||
| TACKLES | |||
| PLAYER | SOLO | AST | T |
| Ross Pospisil | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| Ram Vela | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Craig Schaefer | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Kevin Edwards | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Blake Carter | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Jabaree Tuani | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Billy Yarborough | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Jordan Stephens | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Tony Haberer | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Kwesi Mitchell | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| David Wright | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Tra'ves Bush | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Bo Snelson | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Nechak | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Michael Walsh | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Wyatt Middleton | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Aaron Santiago | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Tyler Simmons | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Clint Sovie | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| HAWAII | |||
| TACKLES | |||
| PLAYER | SOLO | AST | T |
| Blaze Soares | 11 | 1 | 12 |
| R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| Mana Silva | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Fetaiagogo Fonoti | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Richard Torres | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Tuika Tufaga | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Lametrius Davis | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Mike Wadsworth | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Geordon Hanohano | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Elliott Purcell | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Corey Paredes | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Spencer Smith | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Vaughn Meatoga | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Jeramy Bryant | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Po'okela Ahmad | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Inoke Funaki | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Rocky Savaiigaea | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Liko Satele | 0 | 1 | 1 |
INDIVIDUAL OFFENSIVE STATISTICS
| NAVY | |||||||||
| RUSHING | NO. | GAIN | LOSS | NET | TD | LG | AVG. | ||
| Ricky Dobbs | 25 | 146 | 19 | 127 | 1 | 53 | 5.1 | ||
| Vince Murray | 10 | 88 | 0 | 88 | 1 | 32 | 8.8 | ||
| Gee Gee Greene | 5 | 30 | 3 | 27 | 0 | 16 | 5.4 | ||
| Marcus Curry | 7 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0.7 | ||
| Alexander Teich | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | ||
| Totals | 48 | 277 | 29 | 248 | 2 | 53 | 5.2 | ||
| PASSING | COMP.-ATT.-INT. | YDS. | TD | LG | SACK | ||||
| Ricky Dobbs | 5-9-0 | 88 | 0 | 41 | 2 | ||||
| Totals | 5-9-0 | 88 | 0 | 41 | 2 | ||||
| RECEIVING | NO. | GAIN | TD | LG | |||||
| Bobby Doyle | 2 | 60 | 0 | 41 | |||||
| Nick Henderson | 1 | 14 | 0 | 14 | |||||
| Cory Finnerty | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 | |||||
| Greg Jones | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 | |||||
| Totals | 5 | 88 | 0 | 41 | |||||
| PUNTING | NO. | YDS. | AVG. | LG | In20 | TB | |||
| Kyle Delahooke | 6 | 258 | 43.0 | 52 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Totals | 6 | 258 | 43.0 | 52 | 2 | 1 | |||
| ALL RETURNS | PUNTS | KICKOFFS | INTERCEPT | ||||||
| No. | Yds. | Lg | No. | Yds. | Lg | No. | Yds. | Lg | |
| John Angelo | 1 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bo Snelson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Yarborough | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gee Gee Greene | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 48 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 1 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 85 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ALL PURPOSE | RUSH | RCV | KR | PR | TOTAL | ||||
| Ricky Dobbs | 127 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 127 | ||||
| Vince Murray | 88 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 88 | ||||
| Gee Gee Greene | 27 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 75 | ||||
| Bobby Doyle | 0 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 60 | ||||
| Bo Snelson | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 27 | ||||
| Nick Henderson | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | ||||
| Billy Yarborough | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| John Angelo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 | ||||
| Greg Jones | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||||
| Cory Finnerty | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||||
| Marcus Curry | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||||
| Alexander Teich | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Totals | 248 | 88 | 85 | 8 | 429 | ||||
| HAWAII | |||||||||
| RUSHING | NO. | GAIN | LOSS | NET | TD | LG | AVG. | ||
| Leon Wright-Jackson | 5 | 47 | 0 | 47 | 0 | 21 | 9.4 | ||
| Chizzy Dimude | 1 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 17.0 | ||
| Alex Green | 6 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 2.2 | ||
| Bryant Moniz | 5 | 21 | 36 | -15 | 0 | 11 | -3.0 | ||
| Totals | 17 | 98 | 36 | 62 | 0 | 21 | 3.6 | ||
| PASSING | COMP.-ATT.-INT. | YDS. | TD | LG | SACK | ||||
| Bryant Moniz | 32-44-0 | 366 | 3 | 35 | 2 | ||||
| TEAM | 0-2-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Totals | 32-46-0 | 366 | 3 | 35 | 2 | ||||
| RECEIVING | NO. | GAIN | TD | LG | |||||
| Greg Salas | 10 | 147 | 0 | 35 | |||||
| Kealoha Pilares | 8 | 102 | 2 | 25 | |||||
| Jovonte Taylor | 4 | 44 | 0 | 14 | |||||
| Jon Medeiros | 4 | 25 | 0 | 8 | |||||
| Alex Green | 3 | 27 | 1 | 14 | |||||
| Royce Pollard | 2 | 15 | 0 | 8 | |||||
| Chizzy Dimude | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 | |||||
| Totals | 32 | 366 | 3 | 35 | |||||
| PUNTING | NO. | YDS. | AVG. | LG | In20 | TB | |||
| Alex Dunnachie | 4 | 166 | 41.5 | 47 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Totals | 4 | 166 | 41.5 | 47 | 2 | 1 | |||
| ALL RETURNS | PUNTS | KICKOFFS | INTERCEPT | ||||||
| No. | Yds. | Lg | No. | Yds. | Lg | No. | Yds. | Lg | |
| Jovonte Taylor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 119 | 55 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Henry | 4 | 15 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 4 | 15 | 16 | 4 | 119 | 55 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ALL PURPOSE | RUSH | RCV | KR | PR | TOTAL | ||||
| Jovonte Taylor | 0 | 44 | 119 | 0 | 163 | ||||
| Greg Salas | 0 | 147 | 0 | 0 | 147 | ||||
| Kealoha Pilares | 0 | 102 | 0 | 0 | 102 | ||||
| Leon Wright-Jackson | 47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | ||||
| Alex Green | 13 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 40 | ||||
| Jon Medeiros | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 25 | ||||
| Chizzy Dimude | 17 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 23 | ||||
| Ryan Henry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 15 | ||||
| Royce Pollard | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 | ||||
| Bryant Moniz | -15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -15 | ||||
| Totals | 62 | 366 | 119 | 15 | 562 |
WAC FOOTBALL STANDINGS
| Conference | Overall | |||||||
| W | L | PF | PA | W | L | PF | PA | |
| Boise State | 7 | 0 | 300 | 155 | 12 | 0 | 478 | 214 |
| Nevada | 7 | 1 | 383 | 197 | 8 | 4 | 487 | 326 |
| Fresno State | 6 | 2 | 257 | 220 | 7 | 4 | 359 | 282 |
| Idaho | 4 | 4 | 260 | 304 | 7 | 5 | 382 | 426 |
| Hawaii | 3 | 5 | 166 | 241 | 6 | 6 | 286 | 332 |
| Utah State | 3 | 5 | 232 | 266 | 4 | 8 | 349 | 408 |
| Louisiana Tech | 2 | 5 | 204 | 183 | 3 | 8 | 295 | 289 |
| San Jose State | 1 | 6 | 92 | 226 | 2 | 9 | 145 | 359 |
| New Mexico State | 1 | 6 | 72 | 217 | 3 | 9 | 142 | 422 |
Friday
Boise State 44, Nevada 33
Yesterday
Utah State 52, Idaho 49
Hawaii 24, Navy 17
San Jose State 13, NMSU 10
next Saturday
Fresno St. at Illinois, 7:30 a.m.
San Jose at LaTech, 9 a.m.
NMSU at Boise State, 10 a.m.
Wisconsin at Hawaii, 6:30 p.m.
