HONOLULU, Hawai’i — Behind the efforts of a trio of running backs, Hawai’i racked up a season-best 410 yards of total offense en route to a 23-7 non-conference football victory over the University of South Alabama Saturday at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium.
Joey Iosefa posted 97 yards, Will Gregory added 71 and Sterling Jackson chipped in with 68 and a score, helping the Warriors (3-9) conclude the season with back-to-back victories. UH recorded 229 yards on the ground, equalling the most ever allowed by the Jaguars (2-11).
The Jags avoided the shutout with 6:22 left in the contest after completing a drive that lasted nearly five minutes. C.J. Bennett — on for the first time since USA played Troy on Sept. 29 — led the offense 80 yards in 11 plays, culminating in a three-yard touchdown pass to Wes Saxton on third-and-goal after he kept the drive alive with a four-yard carry on fourth-and-two at the UH-5. The possession began with a holding call on the Warriors on a pass attempt, and on the next snap Bennett connected with Bryant Lavender for a 25-yard pick up — after a penalty for a late hit, USA had the ball at the Warrior 30-yard line. Julien Valentin gained one first down with an eight-yard rush, while he carried for seven yards to set up Bennett’s fourth-down conversion.
The drive accounted for nearly half of the Jaguars’ total of 166, as USA ended up with a program-low 18 yards on 34 carries.
“They were tough; they were a physical group. They had some movement going on, and came with a few blitzes that gave us some problems,” center Trey Clark said. “I think we did alright for the most part, but those sacks and fumbles hurt us.
“The biggest thing was that we weren’t going to lay down — we weren’t going to quit. We just had that mindset that we were going to fight to the last whistle. I’m just proud of the seniors, my teammates and the coaches.”
Art Laurel led the Warrior defense with seven total stops, which included a pair of sacks for a loss of 24 yards among his five tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Brenden Daley was credited with six tackles, while Mike Edwards, John Hard-Tuliau and Beau Yap collected five; Edwards also forced a fumble and intercepted a pass.
Aided by two personal foul calls early, the Jaguars moved into the red zone on their opening possession, but on second-and-nine from the UH-14 Edwards intercepted a pass intended for Gabe Loper in the end zone to end the threat. A 50-yard pass from Iosefa to Billy Ray Stutzmann on the Warriors’ second play moved the ball to the USA 24-yard line, and after an 18-yard rush by Iosefa Jackson scored from one yard out with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first quarter to give UH a 7-0 advantage.
Stutzmann finished with five receptions for 88 yards, both game-high totals.
After a three-and-out, the Warriors added to their edge with less than five minutes left in the period; UH used eight plays to move from its own 40-yard line into range for a 41-yard field goal from Tyler Hadden. UH ended first quarter with 129-41 edge in total offense.
On the opening play of the second quarter, Tyrell Pearson forced a fumble that Maleki Harris recovered on the UH-44. “I got beat inside, and that can’t happen,” Pearson observed. “Then I just busted my tail to get back in it and try to make a play for the team.” The Jags were able to pick up a pair of first downs on a Ross Metheny run of seven yards, which he followed one play later with a 10-yard completion to Jeremé Jones. But the drive stalled at the Warrior 24-yard line when Laurel forced an intentional grounding penalty on USA that resulted in a loss of 17 yards.
UH took over at its 14-yard line, and proceeded to move 62 yards in 11 plays before Hadden increased the Warrior lead to 13 with a 42-yard field with just under six minutes left in the opening half. Hadden’s third field goal of the half — this time from 40 yards out with less than two minutes to go before the break — gave UH a 16-0 advantage going into the locker room.
In the first half, the Warriors limited the Jags to just 55 total yards including only six on the ground.
“We came out and put together a good drive but throw an interception, and end up down 16-0 at halftime,” explained USA head coach Joey Jones. “We didn’t do much offensively in the second quarter, and they made some big plays. We gave up a long play on the first drive, but in the second half the defense came out and played better. They just controlled the game.”
USA intercepted two passes in the third quarter — one by Pearson and one by B.J. Scott — but in between UH put together a six-play, 60-yard march that concluded with a 26-yard scoring pass from Sean Schroeder to Chris Gant that increased the Warrior lead to 23 points midway through the period. The Warriors had another gain of 20-plus yards on the possession when Iosefa rushed for 24 yards on the second play of the series.
Schroeder was 10-of-21 passing for 131 yards.
Scott posted a career-high 12 tackles to lead all players in his final collegiate appearance, and fellow senior Jake Johnson recorded nine stops as well; that total included a sack, as he was credited with at least on tackle for loss in every game this fall. Enrique Williams made six stops and forced a fumble that Harris recovered late in the fourth quarter, Jesse Kelley contributed a career-best six tackles including a sack and Andy Dalgleish set a career high with six stops as well. Harris became the first Jag ever to recover two fumbles in a game.
“We had a good game plan. They [Hawai’i] came out with a little trickery, and they got a little jump-start on us,” Scott observed. “We fought the whole game, and it started coming together better in the second half. Whenever we let a team jump on us like that early, we know it’s going to be tougher. You always have to stay focused to continue to try and stay in the game. We fought back, we just dug ourselves a hole in the beginning and it was a little too much.”
T.J. Glover’s 169 all-purpose yards were a season-high total, as he returned five kicks for 115 yards while adding 34 more on nine carries — that figure led the team’s rushing attack — two receptions for 12 and an eight-yard punt return. Loper caught four balls for 32 yards, Corey Besteda had three catches for 42 yards and Saxton finished with three receptions for 27 yards, while Julien Valentin carried nine times for 20 yards.
“We were down the whole game, and I needed to do something,” commented Glover. “I had teammates asking me to do something — get a spark going for us. That was my drive, and I tried to do everything I could to make it happen.”
The game was USA’s last in a two-year transition to the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision.
“It was a great experience, and we were able to play another non-conference game,” Scott stated. “We got a chance to experience a bowl-like atmosphere, and we have a lot to look forward to next year. We were just a few plays away in every game we lost this year. For the young guys, I just want them to stay focused and continue to work hard. I feel like we can easily flip this season around with just a little more attention to detail and focus.
“I think we will have a great team next year.”
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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USA-Hawai'i game stats
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