Black-clad Warriors roll to homecoming win

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

The University of Hawai'i football team responded to an all-points bulletin of inspiration to power its way to a 46-28 victory over San Jose State last night at Aloha Stadium.

Hawai'i running back West Keli'ikipi puts San Jose State safety Bobby Godinez on his okole after taking a screen pass in the second quarter. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

• Quarterback Tim Chang, who completed 25 of 39 passes for 318 yards and two touchdowns. Chang is 240 yards from tying Ty Detmer's NCAA record of 15,031 passing yards.

• Wideout Britton Komine, who rebounded from a dropped pass by making a 46-yard scoring catch on the very next play. Komine finished with nine catches for 159 yards and two TDs.

• Chad Owens, who scored on a punt return for the third consecutive home game, this time covering 71 yards. Once again, the path was cleared by a block from former Roosevelt High classmate Chad Kapanui.

• Running back West Keli'ikipi, who scored on two 1-yard runs. He set the tone when he floored safety Bobby Godinez at the end of an 8-yard screen play. "Everybody wants me to hit somebody," the 266-pound Keli'ikipi said. "That's what the coaches want and that's what the crowd wants. My job is to go out there and hit somebody."

UH offensive lineman Uriah Moenoa said: "West is a different type of human being. It was good to get the sideline fired up when he knocked that guy over."

• The black uniforms, worn for games that are deemed to be "special." As the Warriors entered the locker room hours before the kickoff of the homecoming game, they were pleasantly surprised to see a black jersey instead of a green one hanging in each of the lockers.

"It lifted our spirits a little bit, especially for homecoming," Moenoa said. "We play good in black because we look good in black. It has a slimming effect, kind of like pinstripes. We need to wear it more so I don't look so robust. It got me pumped up. We were like, 'Yes, we've got black jerseys.' "

UH cornerback Abraham Elimimian said: "We normally don't lose when we wear black. I think we should wear black all year. We feel different in black. We feel bigger, stronger, faster. It's like when Clark Kent becomes Superman."

Hawai'i slotback Chad Owens secures the ball as he tries to break a tackle by San Jose State linebacker Ezekiel Staples. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The Warriors entered with three starters unavailable because of injuries — middle linebacker Ikaika Curnan, cornerback Kenny Patton and safety Lono Manners. During UH's first defensive series, weakside linebacker Tanuvasa Moe, already playing with a hyper-extended left elbow, suffered a strained right hamstring. Later, defensive end Melila Purcell III suffered a bruised chest. Dr. Jay Marumoto, the team physician, said Purcell was taken to the emergency room for further tests.

"We keep losing guys," UH defensive tackle Lui Fuga said. "It's so frustrating to have so many injuries. We kept telling the new guys to suck it up and get ready."

The Spartans ran the ball 12 times during a 17-play scoring drive that spanned 6 minutes, 42 seconds, capping it with Rufus Skillern's 3-yard reception from Dale Rogers. It was the Spartans' only possession of the opening quarter.

Then the Warriors came back with a rare time-consuming drive, taking 14 plays and 7 minutes, 24 seconds — their longest possession in terms of plays and time this season — to tie it at 7. Michael Brewster scored on a 7-yard run.

Although the Spartans would go ahead soon after, on kicker Jeff Carr's 6-yard option run off a fake field-goal attempt, the tone was set by the Warriors' long drive.

"That showed how we can dominate on offense and how we can hold the ball," Chang said. "Everybody thinks our offense can't use up a lot of time. But we really set the tempo with that drive. I thought that was one of our greatest drives of the season. We ran a lot of clock off. We kept our defense off the field."

Indeed, the offense appeared energized after that. On short yardage plays, the Warriors summoned Keli'ikipi. Even though it was apparent who would receive the handoff, the Warriors still gave it to Keli'ikipi on basic, no-frills plays. On Keli'ikipi's second touchdown, which made it 40-21 in the fourth quarter, the Warriors ran an off-tackle play with no pulling from the backside guard.

"Everybody did the job tonight," Moenoa said. "We kept going at it."

When Komine dropped a pass after breaking into the clear on a post route, Chang went back to him on the next play — this time for a 46-yard touchdown.

"(Chang) didn't give up on me," Komine said. "He told me, 'I'm going right back to you.' "

Chang said: "We have a thing on this team: we don't get mad at each other. We keep playing the game. He might drop a pass, but I make a lot of bad passes, too. We can't let it bother us. As long as we come back, that's the main thing."

UH's defense also refused to fold, despite the Spartans converting on 3 of 4 fourth-down situations, including the fake field goal that resulted in a touchdown, and Tyson Thompson's 203 rushing yards, with 85 coming on a fourth-quarter sprint after the suspense had ended.

The Warriors intercepted a pass, recovered a fumble of a botched double reverse and did not a allow a point during a stretch of 24 minutes, 9 seconds from the middle of the second quarter to early in the fourth quarter.

"We made a lot of mistakes," UH safety Leonard Peters said, "but we stuck together and made plays when we had to make plays."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051.