At last.

A chase that spanned decades came to a chicken-skin end last night when the Hawai'i football team claimed its first outright Western Athletic Conference championship.

It ended in a mosh pit of celebration after the Warriors conquered arch-rival Boise State, 39-27, before a national television audience and a sellout Aloha Stadium crowd that screamed "B-C-S!" into the full-moon night.

It ended with the Warriors gathering in a group prayer in the locker room, then, in unison, yelling: "WAC champs!"

"I'm happy," said UH head coach June Jones, who earned the first outright championship of his coaching career. "I'm happy for the state of Hawai'i, and I'm happy for my team. These players are very committed, and they did a hell of a job all year."

UH left slotback Davone Bess, wearing a green "WAC Champs" hat, struggled with his emotions, saying: "I'm almost speechless. We busted our butt all summer and fall. We've been through adversity. We've been through ups and downs. This is the outcome. We're thankful."

Both teams entered with 7-0 WAC records, but it was the Broncos who stepped onto the FieldTurf wearing the crown.

The Broncos' showcase displays the past five WAC trophies. They had won 46 of 47 WAC games during that span, and six in a row against the Warriors.

"We believed," UH quarterback Colt Brennan insisted. "That was our motto."

It was strengthened during a chapel service yesterday morning when the pastor gave a sermon on David and Goliath.

"All of the armies were scared of Goliath," UH defensive tackle Michael Lafaele said. "This young boy came out and called him out in the name of God. The pastor painted that picture for us. If you believe, giants will fall. Giants do fall. That was the message in chapel."

Brennan said: "It couldn't have been a better analogy for the day. It was exactly what we needed to hear to go out and take down this giant."

But football giants do not fall easily, and the feisty Broncos — aided by two blocks of UH point-after kicks — seized a 27-26 lead on Kyle Brotzman's 36-yard field goal with 6:52 remaining in the third quarter.

But the Warriors quickly responded, driving 70 yards in 10 plays, to go ahead, 32-27, on a 7-yard pass from Brennan to Jason Rivers at the skinniest area of the end zone.

Later, the Warriors made it 39-27 when C.J. Hawthorne made an over-the-shoulder-pads catch of a perfectly thrown Brennan pass for a 38-yard touchdown play.

"I knew Colt was coming to me," Hawthorne said. "He told me that in the huddle. I just needed to get open. It was just a great throw. We did that same play earlier, and I was wide open. I ran the route, and Colt made a great throw. Don't give me too much credit."

After that, the Warriors' defense took charge. The Broncos rely on shifts and motions to keep opponents on the heels of their cleats. But clear away the smoke, and their fire comes from a power running game and play-action passes.

"Take away the run," Lafaele said, "and you stop them."

And that's what the Warriors did, with the ends bracketing the Broncos' offense, the tackles pushing back the line of scrimmage, and linebackers Blaze Soares, Timo Paepule, Adam Leonard and Solomon Elimimian pounding the ballcarrier.

The Broncos were held to a season-low 101 rushing yards, with only 32 in the second half.

Running back Ian Johnson, who finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting last year, rushed for 86 yards and two touchdowns — one for 50 yards in the first quarter— but he had only 11 yards after intermission.

"We gave up that (50-yard run), and made an adjustment," UH defensive coordinator Greg McMackin said. "We just missed the backside gap, the cutback. The guys worked hard on playing the run."

With the running game contained, the Broncos' play-action passes had less deception.

"When we stopped the run, the game was over," Lafaele said. "We tried to dominate the line of scrimmage."

The Warriors also unleashed Soares, who played despite a shoulder injury. Soares floored running back Jeremy Avery, sacked Taylor Tharp, and hurried Tharp into an overthrow on fourth down.

"We started blitzing him from the outside," McMackin said of Soares. "He's a great player. He brings so much intensity."

Tharp said: "They were bringing some heat. I had a little hard time getting enough time to throw the ball. It's a credit to them."

Brennan admittedly was nervous early.

"I puked," he said. "It was before the game even started. I knew if I kept my composure and kept myself calm, I would be fine. Once we started scoring some touchdowns, everything felt great."

Brennan indeed found his groove, completing 40 of 53 passes for 495 yards and five touchdowns.

In the process, he broke Ty Detmer's NCAA record for career touchdown passes. Brennan now has 126.

Bess caught a school-record 15 passes, giving him 27 receptions in the last two games.

Rivers added 11 catches for 113 yards.

The Warriors' four starting receivers — Bess, Rivers, Hawthorne and Ryan Grice-Mullins — each had a scoring catch.

With Brennan at the controls, the Warriors controlled the clock in the fourth quarter, relying on a well-preserved running game. They did not call their first designed rush until the game's 47th minute.

After Tharp was sacked on fourth down with 6:26 to play, the Warriors would not relinquish the ball.

When the Warriors gained a first down inside the Broncos' 1 with 35 seconds left, the countdown to UH's 11th victory in as many games began.

"I couldn't believe it," Brennan said, scanning the scene. "I was getting goose bumps."

The Broncos, without a timeout, could not stop the impending celebration in which fans stormed the field.

"What I was excited about was all of the jumping around and people rushing the field," Brennan said. "You only see that with the best schools across the nation — the SCs, the Michigans, the Ohio States. Now Hawai'i is right there. It's unreal."

A makeshift stage was set up at midfield, and WAC commissioner Karl Benson, after fighting through the crowd, presented the trophy to the dancing Warriors.

"When I signed, people asked, 'Why Hawai'i?'" said defensive back Ryan Mouton, who joined the Warriors in August. "The reason is these guys around here. This is what a team's about — love, family, and competing and fighting to win games."

Brennan said the camaraderie and close victories "got me completely convinced there's somebody special watching over us, and all we've got to do is keep doing things right. ... We set off this season to do things right. We weren't going to be cocky or arrogant. We just wanted to win football games and be humble. That's the way we set out to do it, and that's why we're 11-0.

"It's amazing when you install this much cohesion and togetherness. The power. Talk about people coming together and having power. This is one of those examples. This team comes together so crazy that it makes it just so explosive on the football field."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.