Colleges
Rainbow Warriors fall short to Fresno State


ScoringLive staff
November 3, 2019, 2:06am

  

Sat, Nov 2, 2019 @ Aloha Stadium [ 6:00 pm ]

Fresno State

41

Hawaii

38

Final 1 2 3 4 T
Fresno State 7 7 17 1041
Hawaii 0 24 0 1438
Cole McDonald 275 yd 1 TD
Jorge Reyna 188 yd 1 TD
Fred Holly III 84 yd 1 TD
Ronnie Rivers 103 yd 2 TD
Cedric Byrd II 97 yd
Zane Pope 58 yd 1 TD



HALAWA — Fresno State powered through a late-game Hawaii rally as junior kicker Cesar Silva nailed a 37-yard field goal as time expired to boot the Bulldogs past the Rainbow Warriors, 41-38, Saturday evening at Hawaiian Financial FCU Field at Aloha Stadium.

This one had no lack of drama with Hawaii redshirt-freshman quarterback Chevan Cordeiro (Saint Louis '18) coming in relief of starter Cole McDonald to post a two-score rally capped by a 10-yard bob and weave scramble to the end zone to tie it up at 38 with just over a minute remaining in the game.

Preceding Fresno State's nine-play, 55-yard sprint in under a minute to set up Silva's walk-off kick, the Rainbow Warriors recovered an onside attempt that was almost for naught after head referee Kevin Hassell mis-announced a video review of a fumble from running back Fred Holly III.

It was originally ruled that Holly was down before the ball came loose and Hassell initially said that after review, the play stood as a fumble but quickly made the correction that the play stood as a non-fumble. Four plays later, Cordeiro's score tied the game.

The loss dropped Hawaii to 5-4 overall but to a 2-3 record in the Mountain West Conference, moving to tied for third in the West Division. With San Diego State (7-1 overall) atop the standings at 4-1, it doesn't necessarily eliminate the Rainbow Warriors from championship game contention, but it does make it unlikely to happen. While the Aztecs will travel to the islands in three weeks, Hawaii would still need another San Diego State loss courtesy of either Nevada (5-4 overall, 2-3 MWC) or Fresno State (4-4 overall, 2-2 MWC) in the upcoming fortnight.

The Rainbow Warriors carved Nevada back in September with QB McDonald throwing for four touchdown passes, but Saturday night against Fresno State was a bit different. It was a sluggish start for the offense as Hawaii didn't get on the scoreboard until McDonald dashed for a six-yard meat-grinding score at the 9:23 mark of the second quarter. On the ensuing possession, Holly popped off a 32-yard bolt and later ran in the last three feet to cap an 11-play, 84-yard drive.

Momentum continued to roll after defensive end Kaimana Padello (Mililani '16) tapped the ball out of Fresno State quarterback Jorge Reyna's hand with freshman Darius Muasau (Mililani '19) getting the recovery. Ryan Meskell then knocked a career-long 50-yarder to put Hawaii up 10 points.

But Fresno's Jalen Cropper took a jet sweep 53 yards to the house to cut into the deficit with a minute left in the half. The Rainbow Warriors returned the favor as McDonald found a wide open JoJo Ward from 48 yards out after the Bulldogs' defender fell down during the play.

The second half saw the Hawaii offense unable to connect with a handful of dropped balls and overthrown passes as Fresno State poured in 24-straight points to take a 38-24 lead.

With 10 minutes to go, Cedric Byrd II took a screen pass 44 yards to put the offense within striking distance at the Fresno 30 yard line. But after back-to-back incompletions, Cordeiro was subbed in to replace McDonald at QB and promptly scrambled for a 26-yard third down conversion. However, the drive ended on downs at the 6 yard line.

Hawaii's next drive started at the 3:44 mark and Cordeiro hit Nick Mardner on a 50-yard rainbow to aid Miles Reed's three-yard touchdown run. Meskell then kicked a cross-body no-look wobbling onside kick attempt that was unable to be secured by a Fresno player as Muasau dashed in and scooped the ball out of the air. A roughing the passer penalty helped propel the ensuing drive to set up Cordeiro's game-tying touchdown.




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