Hawaii comes up short in trophy match against UNLV, 29-27

Victory was in the Hawai’i football team’s grasp Saturday night.

But no dice.

The Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors came up short in a back-and-forth affair against visiting UNLV, 29-27, in a Mountain West Conference game at T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.

The Rebels improved to 7-2 overall and remained undefeated on the road this year by rushing for 311 yards. Including Hajj-Malik Williams’ 40-yard keeper on third-and-3 to seal the game with Hawai’i trying to get the ball back.

Hawai’i saw its two-game winning streak come to an end as it fell to 4-6 and saw its hopes of getting to seven wins to clinch a postseason bowl bid come to a crash with two games left on the schedule.

“Tough game,” said Hawai’i coach Timmy Chang. “A lot was on the line for us and a lot was on the line for them. Very tough. Anytime you lose close games like this, tough ones to swallow.”

The Rainbow Warriors trailed 10-0 to start the game after UNLV scored on its first two possessions, but rallied to make it a 12-10 game at the half.

Hawai’i would take its only lead of the game midway through the third quarter when Brayden Schager tossed a 49-yard strike to Jonah Panoke to make it a 17-15.

But the Rebels came back quickly in four plays with Williams’ 37-yard touchdown pass to Ricky White III to regain the lead, 22-17.

The Rainbow Warriors then used a lengthy 11-play drive that nearly took six minutes off the clock before Kansei Matsuzawa booted a 33-yard field goal to make it a two-point game late in the third quarter.

UNLV imposed its will in the run game in the fourth quarter however as A 32-yard run by Jai’Den Thomas made it a two-possession game with 6:03 left in regulation.

Hawai’i managed to score two minutes later after a big completion to Nick Cenacle and a 5-yard TD reception by Panoke, but it could not get the ball back after a pair of first down conversions. The Rainbow Warriors also just had one timeout left in their pocket on UNLV’s final drive.

The Rebels racked up 106 yards on the ground on their final two drives behind Williams and Thomas, who rushed for 122 and 109 yards for the game respectively.

“We didn’t make enough plays,” said Chang. “We didn’t make enough plays to eat a good team and that’s what they are. They’re a great football team. They do a lot of damage to a lot of other teams.”

The Hawai’i offense was explosive with a pair of deep passes by Schager, but was inconsistent at times. Schager threw for 282 yards and three TDs, but only completed 14 of his 35 pass attempts.

His first throw also went off a receiver’s hands and was intercepted by UNLV’s Johnathan Baldwin. The Rebels recycled the turnover into a Caden Chittenden 41-yard field goal for the early 3-0 lead.

A blocked punt that led to a safety for UNLV in the first quarter also proved to be a difference as it gave the Rebels a 12-7 lead.

Three of the Rainbow Warriors’ six losses have been decided by three points or less.

“It hurts to continue to have two, three point losses. They hurt worse than blowouts,” said Schager. “You can look back at two or three plays and game is a different story. It’s just hard.”

Next up for Hawai’i is a road game against Utah State on Saturday.