Dominant Fourth Quarter Powers Warriors to Win Over Utah State

Game Recap: Football | 10.11.2025

HONOLULU – The Hawai’i soccer workforce snapped an eight-game shedding streak to Utah State with a 44-26 win over the Aggies on Saturday night time at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex.
 
The Rainbow Warriors (5-2, 2-1 MW) adopted up a back-and-forth first half with a dominant second half, outscoring the Aggies (3-3, 1-1) 20-6 within the third and fourth frames. All three models made huge contributions within the second half, as three straight stops by the protection led to 4 straight scoring drives to clinch the ‘Bows’ first win towards Utah State since 2010.
 
Quarterback Micah Alejado celebrated his birthday by changing into the primary UH sign caller since Cole McDonald to throw for over 400 passing yards in back-to-back video games. Alejado accomplished 34-of-54 passes for 413 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He additionally had a speeding landing. Alejado accomplished passes to 11 totally different receivers, led by Pofele Ashlock and Jackson Harris. Ashlock caught eight passes for 113 yards and three touchdowns, whereas Harris led all receivers with 117 yards on seven catches.
 
Landon Sims tied a profession excessive with 82 yards on 10 carries with a speeding landing.
 
Placekicker Kansei Matsuzawa continued his excellent begin to the season, enhancing to 19-for-19 with three area targets (31, 46, 36) towards the Aggies. Matsuzawa tied Jason Elam’s faculty file for many consecutive area targets made with 20 consecutive makes courting again to final season.
 
The ‘Bows and Aggies traded defensive stops to start a back-and-forth first half. Matsuzawa related on a 31-yard area objective to open the scoring, but it surely was rapidly matched by Utah State on Tanner Rinker’s 20-yarder.
 
Two performs later, Alejado accomplished a 46-yard bomb to Brandon White, establishing an 18-yard landing cross to Ashlock and capping off a fast four-play scoring drive. Utah State responded with a landing drive of their very own as Miles Davis discovered the endzone from a yard out to tie the sport, 10-10.
 
Utah State scored on a brief area after a failed UH punt pretend conversion, and this time it was the ‘Bows who needed to reply. The Alejado and Harris mixture drove UH down the sector on completions of 12 and 43 yards to open the drive, but it surely was Ashlock once more who put the capper on the drive as Alejado discovered Ashlock within the endzone for a 7-yard rating to tie up the sport.
 
After a Utah State area objective late within the half, the Rainbow Warriors put collectively another scoring drive with a minute left to play. The system was the identical. Alejado accomplished passes of 17- and 15-yards to Harris to drive the ‘Bows down the sector, and this time it was Ashlock with the explosive play as his 31-yard landing put UH up 24-20 on the half.
 
The Aggies scored first within the second half to go up 26-24, but it surely was all ‘Bows from there. The Warriors scored on every of their subsequent 4 possessions to take management of the sport. Matsuzawa related on a pair of area targets from 46- and 36-yards away, whereas Alejado and Sims every scored on the bottom.
 
Alejado capped off an 81-yard scoring drive with a 15-yard quarterback keeper, and Sims bounced off a number of Aggies defenders for a four-yard landing run to make it 44-26.
 
The UH protection locked the Aggies offense down within the second half, forcing a USU turnover on every of its closing three drives. Elijah Palmer broke up a cross to drive a turnover-on-downs, whereas Jamih Otis pressured a fumble that was recovered by Jalen Smith. Otis adopted up the hassle with an interception off of Barnes on the next drive.
 
The ‘Bows will head again out on the highway for a match-up with Colorado State on Oct. 18 in Fort Collins, Colo. Kickoff is 1:00 p.m. HT.