Alejado’s record-setting evening leads Hawai’i to win on Senior Night

HONOLULU – Closing one chapter is opening another. 

The University of Hawai’i football team saw the 2024 season come to an end on Saturday night, winning the program’s seventh straight Senior Night game with a 38-30 victory over New Mexico (5-7, 3-4 MWC) to send 23 seniors off as winners one final time. The 38 points came with 586 total yards of offense, both new high points in the Timmy Chang era as 10 different players recorded a reception for the Rainbow Warriors and four had catches for a touchdown. 

While it was a night to celebrate UH seniors, true freshman quarterback Micah Alejado was the star of the show as he stepped in for injured senior starter Brayden Schager and completed 37-of-57 pass attempts for 469 yards and five touchdowns, setting multiple Hawai’i program records for a quarterback’s first start. He added another 54 yards rushing on 10 carries, giving him 523 yards of total offense in his true introduction to college football. 

The 469 passing yards by Alejado were the most by any FBS freshman this year and the most for any freshman since the 2022 season. Looking decisive from the jump, Alejado helped orchestrate the most efficient offensive game by the Rainbow Warriors all year while not getting sacked a single time by the Lobos. 

Hawai’i (5-7, 3-4 MWC) started quickly, forcing a punt from the dynamic New Mexico offense on the game’s first possession before Alejado led the Rainbow Warriors 94 yards down the field and found sophomore Pofele Ashlock for a three-yard touchdown catch. The 12-play, 94-yard scoring drive was the longest of the year for Hawai’i and provided a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. 

The response from New Mexico didn’t come until the start of the second quarter as dual-threat quarterback Devon Dampier scampered his way in from three yards out, but the two-point conversion try failed as UH remained ahead, 7-6. The Rainbow Warriors wasted no time returning the favor as Alejado hit Dekel Crowdus in stride for the second straight week, connecting for a 52-yard touchdown to push the Hawai’i lead to eight with 12:26 left to play in the opening half. 

Alejado ended his spectacular opening half with one more score, capitalizing on a 35-yard punt return by Nick Cenacle that set the offense up inside Lobos’ territory. The true freshman hit Ashlock for a big gain before hooking up with senior wide receiver Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala for a 15-yard touchdown to give Hawai’i a 21-9 lead heading into halftime. 

The true freshman kept the burners going through the break, leading Hawai’i 75 yards down the field on the opening possession of the third quarter and finding Cenacle for his fourth TD pass of the night to give UH a three-score lead. 

New Mexico found some new life after Hawai’i failed to convert on a 4th-and-1 inside its own territory, using the short field to an advantage as Dampier took in his second rushing touchdown of the night with just under seven minutes left in the third to make it a 28-16 game. The Rainbow Warriors responded with a 19-yard field goal, making it a 15-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

The Lobos pulled back within a possession with just under 14 minutes left in regulation with Dampier’s third rushing touchdown of the night, but Hawai’i hit right back as Alejado led his fifth and final touchdown drive of the night. The Rainbow Warriors drained five minutes off the game clock, giving New Mexico less than nine minutes to erase a 15-point deficit as he hit Mokiao-Atimalala for a touchdown for the second time on the night. 

With bowl game hopes on life support, New Mexico worked down the field to bring it back within one score as NaQuari Rogers punched it in from one yard out with only 2:32 left to play. Unfortunately for the Lobos, that would be the closest they could come as the Rainbow Warriors ran out the rest of the clock to secure the victory. 

New Mexico quarterback Devon Dampier finished the night completing 19-of-31 passes for 176 yards through the air. A dynamic dual-threat, he added 101 yards rushing and three touchdowns on the ground in the loss by the Lobos. 

Spencer Curtis set a career-high with 100 yards receiving on seven catches in his final collegiate game, leading the way for the Hawai’i receiving corps. Nick Cenacle added another seven receptions for 93 yards while Jonah Panoke tacked on 86 yards receiving to end his six-year college career. 

Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala hauled in four passes for 26 yards on the night, catching two touchdowns in his final appearance for his hometown Rainbow Warriors. The Campbell Sabers alum caught the first and final touchdown passes of the 2024 season for Hawai’i. 

Following the game, 23 seniors were honored for their contributions to the program. Many of the players who stuck with the program when Chang first took over said aloha to fans one final time, receiving love from the islands for their efforts.

Hawai’i’s senior class poses for a photo together following a 38-30 win over New Mexico on Senior Night. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

“Taking over this program, a lot of guys left, and we played against those guys for other programs,” Chang said. “These guys stayed, and that’s what matters. The thing that hurts is that we left games out there that we could be playing in our own bowl game here … but these guys laid it on the line and then laid it again [for Hawai’i].”