Hawaii beats South Alabama
On a night Hawaii honored its senior class, the Warriors used that motivation to secure a 23-7 victory over South Alabama in a nonconference football game at Aloha Stadium.
The victory gave the Warriors a 3-9 record for the season. The Jaguars, in only their fourth year of existence, dropped to 2-11 in a sloppy game that saw both teams combine for seven turnovers.
A crowd of 21,521 watched Hawaii score 16 unanswered points in the first half. The Warriors took the opening drive of the second and quickly marched down the field. UH quarterback Sean Schroeder hit Scott Harding for 22 yards to the South Alabama 17, but had a tipped pass picked off to end the drive at the Jaguars 15.
Hawaii’s second drive of the second half had a better result. Once again, Schroeder mixed run with pass to get Hawaii to the South Alabama 26. Two plays later, he hit Chris Gant for 26 yards and the score. Tyler Hadden, who hit three field goals in the first half, added the PAT to make it 23-0 Hawaii with 7:14 left in the third.
The Jaguars finally scored from 3 yards out on a third-down pass from quarterback C.J. Bennett to wideout Wes Saxon. Michel Chapuseaux hit the PAT to make it 23-7 with 6:22 left in the fourth.
Coming out in the wildcat formation to open the game, UH running back Joey Iosefa threw a 50-yard pass to Billy Ray Stutzmann that helped set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Sterling Jackson. Hadden added the PAT as Hawaii led by seven with 9:58 left in the first quarter. It was the third straight game Hawaii scored on its opening possession.
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After forcing a three and out, the Warriors set up shop at their own 40 looking to increase their lead. Schroeder got things started with a 15-yard completion to Stutzmann. Facing third and 2, Schroeder found Stutzmann again, this time for 13 yards at the South Alabama 25.
The drive stalled, leading to a 41-yard field goal by Hadden to extend Hawaii’s lead to 10-0 with 4:46 left in the first quarter. He hit another one from 42 yards to make it 13-0 Hawaii with 5:54 left in the second quarter. And then kicked one from 41 yards to extend the margin to 16-0 with 1:44 left in the half.
