Game 1 | UH supporting cast a big hit

Aug. 30 at Aloha Stadium • UH 40, Appalachian State 17

Advertiser Staff

On a warm summer night, the new stars came out.

"We wanted to show we're not a one-man team," wideout Jeremiah Cockheran said following the University of Hawai'i football team's season-opening 40-17 victory over Appalachian State last night at Aloha Stadium.

The Warriors played without quarterback Tim Chang, who was suspended for failing to meet an academic requirement last fall. Instead, they turned to:

• Cockheran, the new team leader, who caught scoring passes of 18, 54 and 35 yards.
• Jason Whieldon, Chang's understudy, who might not be willing to return to the chorus line after throwing for 359 yards, the second-best starting debut by a UH quarterback.
• Ross Dickerson, who blazed a 100-yard trail in a breathtaking kickoff return for a touchdown. "I just saw a little daylight on the left and, after I saw my blockers, I just broke," said Dickerson, a second-year freshman from Saint Louis School. "It's a trip. It happened so fast, I almost didn't know what was happening."
• An innovative and relentless defense, led by strong safety Hyrum Peters, rush end Travis LaBoy and inside linebacker Chad Kalilimoku.

"Everybody thought we wouldn't do well because Timmy was out," said Cockheran, a senior who was voted co-captain three days before the end of training camp. "We knew people were going to come in and shine. That's our team. Anybody can come in and be athletic and make a difference. We wanted to make a statement, and the statement was: the second guy can be just like the first guy."

APPALACHIAN STATE 0 10 7 0 — 17

HAWAI'I 21 3 16 0 — 40

First Quarter

UH—John West 13 run (Justin Ayat kick)

UH—Jeremiah Cockheran 18 pass from Jason Whieldon (Ayat kick)

UH—Cockheran 54 pass from Whieldon (Ayat kick)

Second Quarter

ASU—FG Rockhold 24

UH—FG Ayat 48

ASU—Zach Johnson 8 pass from Richie Williams (Rockhold kick)

Third Quarter

UH—FG Ayat 36

UH—Cockheran 35 pass from Whieldon (Ayat kick)

ASU—DaVon Fowlkes 46 pass from Williams (Rockhold kick)

UH—Ross Dickerson 100 kickoff return (kick blocked)

Attendance—36,844

RUSHING: ASU—Atwater 6-45, Williams 15-37, Jackson 7-19, Adams 6-16, Fowlkes 1-3, White 1-2. UH—West 6-27, Bass 5-23

Brewster 5-22, Poumele 2-13, Owens 1-7, Rhode 1-5, Whieldon 7-(minus 6).

PASSING: ASU—Williams 11-20-1—132, Elsener 2-3-0—5. Hawai'i—Whieldon 21-35-2—359, Poumele 1-2-1—0, Rhode 0-1-0—0.

RECEIVING: ASU—Hayward 4-34, Fowlkes 3-68, Little 2-19, Atwater 2-(minus 5), White 1-13, Johnson 1-8. Hawai'i—Cockheran 7-154, Owens 5-77, Ilaoa 2-51, Brewster 2-38, West 2-20, Komine 2-10, Bass 1-9, Dickerson 1-0.