honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 8:35 p.m., Saturday, November 22, 2008

WARRIOR FOOTBALL
Warriors rout Idaho, 49-17

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Hawai‘i's Francis Maka looks to bring down Idaho quarterback Nathan Enderle during the second quarter.

ANDREW SHIMABUKU | The Honolulu Advertiser

spacer spacer
Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Hawai‘i quarterback Greg Alexander scrambles out of the pocket during the first quarter.

ANDREW SHIMABUKU | The Honolulu Advertiser

spacer spacer
Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Hawai‘i's Jameel Dowling runs back an interception during the second quarter.

ANDREW SHIMABUKU | The Honolulu Advertiser

spacer spacer

In a fast-and-furious display, the Hawai'i football team raced to a 49-17 rout of Idaho tonight at Aloha Stadium.

Greg Alexander threw three scoring passes, including two to Malcolm Lane, and Daniel Libre rushed for two touchdowns in the Warriors' most productive outing of the season.

The Warriors had three one-play scoring drives, including Lane's 82-yard, catch-and-sprint play.

What's more, the Warriors intercepted three passes, all of which were parlayed into touchdowns.

The Warriors improved to 6-5 overall and finished with a 5-3 Western Athletic Conference record. They need to win one of their final two games — Washington State on Saturday or Cincinnati Dec. 6 — to finish with a winning regular season and earn the accompanying berth in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl.

Alexander, who made his third consecutive start, was 14 of 24 for 264 yards. He was not intercepted.

Libre, who did not start after missing most of two practices because of an abdominal injury, replaced an injured Kealoha Pilares in the second half and scored on runs of 9 and 4 yards.

The Warriors made the big plays in a big way to take a 28-10 halftime lead.

Lane scored on the eighth-longest scoring pass play in the program's history, and two interceptions set up Warrior touchdowns.

Even the predicted heavy rain eased up for the Warriors' first home game in four weeks.

The only downer was an injury to the Warriors' best defensive back, Ryan Mouton, who suffered a high sprain to his left ankle in the first quarter. Mouton, who started at free safety for the first time in his career, did not play in the final three quarters.

The Vandals showed little sign of the expected letdown after losing to cross-state rival Boise State last week. The Vandals drove 74 yards on 14 plays of the game's opening drive to take a 7-0 lead.

Nathan Enderle's 6-yard scoring pass to tight end Peter Bjorvik punctuated the drive. Bjorvik was playing in place of the Vandals' most prolific offensive player, Eddie Williams, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last week.

The Warriors then scored 21 unanswered points to seize control.

Alexander, making his third consecutive start at quarterback, directed the Warriors on a 69-play scoring drive. Alexander completed all three of his passes during that possession, and he twice scrambled away from would-be tacklers.

Alexander's 1-yard keeper tied the score at 7 with 3:48 to play.

The Warriors then forced the Vandals to punt. Pilares, making his debut at punt returner, was stopped at the UH 18.

On first down, Alexander threw long to Lane, who had sprinted past cornerback Eric Hunter along the right sideline. Lane caught the pass at the UH 45 and raced the rest of the way. On the successful PAT attempt, which gave UH a 14-7 lead, Idaho safety Jeromy Jones was thrown out of the game for a personal-misconduct penalty, further depleting the Vandals' already thin secondary. Safety Shiloh Ke'o has not played since September because of a shoulder injury, and two Vandal defensive backs are serving suspensions.

The play also forced the Vandals to change their defensive scheme. They scrapped their nickel coverage, replacing it with a four-deep zone. That opened the way for the Warriors to attack with pass patterns to the flats.

The Vandals' first possession of the second quarter ended with cornerback Jameel Dowling's interception at the Idaho 31. Dowling stepped out of bounds at the 2. From there, Pilares took a handoff and raced around left end for a touchdown.

The Vandals closed to 21-10 on Tino Amancio's 52-yard field goal.

On the Vandals' next possession, Dowling hit receiver Preston Davis on a pass attempt. The ball ricocheted to safety Desmond Thomas, who made the third interception of his career.

Six plays later, from the Idaho 3, Alexander threw to slotback Aaron Bain in the right flat. Bain made the catch at the 1, pirouetted and entered the end zone.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.