George Lee / [email protected]
Hawaii receiver Pofele Ashlock catch a touchdown pass from Micah Alejado against Stanford on Saturday at the Ching Complex.
Kansei Matsuzawa converted a 38-yard field goal as time expired to lift Hawaii to a season-opening 23-20 football victory over Stanford today at the Ching Complex.
A crowd of 13,368 watched the Rainbow Warriors rally behind a kicker reared in Japan and ailing quarterback Micah Alejado, who played most of the second half on a sprained right ankle.
The Cardinal went ahead 20-17 on Micah Ford’s 2-yard run to cap a 20-play, 85-yard drive with 9:41 to play, and then appeared to moving out of reach when it regained possession and drove.
But UH safety Kilinahe Mendiola-Jensen made a leaping interception of Stanford quarterback Ben Gulbranson’s throw toward the left flat.
Led by Alejado, the Warriors drove to the 20, from where Matsuzawa was true on a 37-yard field goal to tie it 20 with 2:01 to play.
After UH forced a three-and-out, the Warriors took over at their 28. Alejado then steered the Warriors to the 20. They worked the clock down to 3 seconds before calling their final timeout. After Stanford answered with a timeout, the Matsuzawa calmly drove a 38-yard field goal between the uprights for the Warriors as time expired.
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Wideout Jackson Harris, who transferred from Stanford in January, caught a 19-yard scoring pass from Alejado with 42 seconds remaining in the first half. Kansei Matsuzawa’s ensuing extra-point kick gave the Warriors a 14-13 lead, their first of the game.
Stanford needed just 7 minutes, 52 seconds to score the game’s first 10 points. A controversial third-down play — wideout CJ Williams was granted a catch he appeared to not have made — extended a drive that led to Emmit Kenny’s 23-yard field goal.
On the ensuing kickoff, UH returner Brandon White mistakenly signaled for a fair catch on a ball that bounced. White was ruled to have been downed at the 1. On the next play, Clay Patterson stripped the ball from Alejado in the end zone. Edge rusher Wilfredo Aybar recovered for a 10-0 lead.
The Warriors closed to 10-7 on Alejado’s 3-yard scoring pass to Pofele Ashlock. Prior to the touchdown, the Warriors were forced to call a timeout to re-insert Alejado into the game. Alejado had to exit for a play — or timeout — because his helmet became dislodged during a 4-yard scramble.
Kenny’s second field goal, this time from 46 yards, made it 13-7.