The Hawaii Warriors once again proved that home is where the heart is. They were energized by the home atmosphere and put their past road struggles behind them. They knew this was a must win if they wanted to keep their goals a head of them. Beat the Aggies and their WAC title hopes and bowl aspirations would still be in place. That would be exactly what the warriors would do.
The Warriors came out and right away and established their presence in this game. The Warriors struck first with 4 and a half minutes left in the first quarter. Bryant Moniz would find Justin Clapp open in the right corner of the endzone for a 24 touchdown giving the warriors a 7-0 lead they would not relinquish. The Warriors were not done with their scoring in the first quarter. Of all the struggles the special teams has had this past season, they would step up in a big way. The Warrior defense would stop NMSU on their next drive and force them to punt. This is when John Hardy-Tuliau would make his presence felt. He would block the Aggies punt and Kamalani Alo would pick it up and run it into the endzone for the 13 yard touchdown giving the Warriors a 14-0 lead. The Aggies are an improved football team and would not lay down. When the Warriors had all the momentum in the world and everyone thought the route was on, the Aggies proved otherwise. They would answer Hawaii’s blocked punt for a touchdown with a great play of their own. Lets be honest. The Aggies were pretty much over-matched in every aspect of this game. The Aggies felt the only way to catch the Warriors off guard and keep this game from getting away from themselves was to execute a trick play. That is exactly what they did. The Aggies ran an option left, receiver reverse pass or something like that. The bottom line is that it worked. New Mexico State receiver Todd Lee was credited with a 47 yard touchdown pass to Austin Franklin to cut Hawaii’s lead to 14-7 with 36 seconds left in the opening quarter. There would not be any scoring until late in the second quarter. That is when Bryant Moniz would hit receiver Allen Sampson at the end of a post route for a 25 yard score. Allen Sampson made an unbelievable catch. He did not run the right route, forcing him to have to make a tougher catch then he should have had to. He ran a post instead of a deep cross allowing the NMSU defensive back to make a play on the ball. The DB was able to tip the ball but Sampson kept his focus and made a great diving recpetion off the tip. This would give the Warriors a 21-7 lead. The Aggies, like they did most of the game, fought right back with a drive of their own. Quarterback Matt Christian would throw a 41 yard touchdown pass to NMSU receiver Taveon Rogers cutting the Hawaii lead to 21-14 with still 1:29 left in the half. Unfortunately for the Aggies, that is too much time to give Bryant Moniz and the Warrior offense. Moniz would lead a quick scoring drive down the field of his own. His 17 yard touchdown run capped off the drive but the Warriors were unable to make the point after attempt. Tyler Hadden’s kick hit and bounced off the right goal post leaving the score at 27-14 in Hawaii’s favor. NMSU felt they had enough time to get into field goal range but their aggressiveness did not pay off. Hawaii’s Corey Pardes would force a fumble giving Hawaii the ball back at the Aggie 48 yard line. Hawaii did not have enough time to generate anything and would have to settle with their 13 point lead going into the half.
The Warriors and Aggies would exchange punts to start the third quarter. Hawaii would score first with 3:10 left in the quarter. Joey Iosefa’s 18 yard touchdown run would give Hawaii some breathing room at 33-14. Once again, the point after attempt struggles wreaked their ugly head. This time, holder Shane Austin would not be able to handle the snap, not even allowing an attempt by Hadden. The Aggies would counter again, this time with a 46 yard touchdown run by Kenny Tuner cutting the warrior lead to 33-20 with 2:33 left in the third quarter. The Aggies attempted a two point conversion but failed. The Warriors would counter with a solid running attack of their own lead by Joey Iosefa. His 1 yard touchdown run made it a 39-20 game. The Warriors 2-point conversion attempt failed. The Aggies and their gritty quarterback Matt Christian would lead yet another counter attack. His 4 yard touchdown run would make it, 39-26. The Aggies 2-point conversion attempt failed. In what turned out to be a back and forth affair, particularly in the second half, Bryant Moniz and the Warriors would counter again. Moniz’ 19 yard touchdown run would make it a 45-26 game. Hawaii would try to go for two, again but would fail, again. Moniz’ threw a fade to left wide receiver Darius Bright. It looked as if NMSU’s corner was holding Bright but the refs would let that play go keeping it a 19 point lead for Hawaii with 6:59 left in the game. At that point, the Warriors would put in some of the backups. The Aggies were able to score a garbage touchdown with under 2 minutes left in the game to make it a more respectable, 45-34 game. Hawaii had a chance to score with their second/third team offense on the field but Greg McMackin proved once again the class act that he is. For the second time this season, Hawaii would take a knee inside the 5 yard line to run out the rest of the game clock.
Here are my game grades:
Offense B-: The Warriors did not play their best game but were not too bad either. While they punted too many times, they had a nice balanced attack. The Warriors only passed for 276 yards but they also rushed for 227. Iosefa (90), Jackson (75) and Moniz (62) all had great games on the ground. The Warriors were also efficient as they had zero turnovers.
Defense C+: The Warriors could not seem to stop the Aggies offense after the Warrior offense scored. This would keep the game a lot closer than it should have been. The Warriors did generate 4 sacks and a turnover and played solid enough to win the game. This aspect still need to be more sound and consistent if they want to repeat as WAC champions. This defense is too good to give up 34 points, even to an improved NMSU offense.
Special Teams C: The Warriors would struggle yet again but not from a protection standpoint. The Warriors got off most of their field goal and point after attempts but would suffer different snafu’s this time. Their holder would drop a perfectly good snap on a point after attempt. The Warriors would miss a field and point after attempt as well. There was a few positives though. The Warriors looked solid in the return game. The coverage teams were solid for the most part against one of the best return guys in the country in NMSU returner/receiver Taveon Rogers. Warrior punter Alex Dunnachie was tremendous as he averaged over 40 yards per punt and had 3 punts pinned inside the 20 yard line. The Warriors got their first blocked punt resulting in a touchdown in 10 years! This aspect still has a ways to go but they are showing signs of being a vintage Dick Tomey special teams. Injuries to both kickers have hurt Hawaii in the kicking game but look for this aspect to get better as the final stretch of the season approaches.
Overall, this was a big win for the Warriors against an improved New Mexico State team. The Warriors kept their WAC title and bowl hopes alive. They would end up losing Allen Sampson to a season ending knee injury but found a diamond in the rough in freshman Trevor Davis. Davis has been coming alive in practice the last few weeks and has now proved that he can be a factor with the lights on. He will give Moniz yet another deep threat alongside Royce Pollard on the outside. Idaho on the road will not be easy but if the Warriors come out and play their game, they should come out with the victory.