HONOLULU — Hawaii won’t quibble. It will take its first victory with no complaints.
Steven Lakalaka rushed for a career-high 124 yards and a touchdown as the Rainbow Warriors beat Northern Iowa 27-24 on Saturday in front of a crowd of 24,999 at Aloha Stadium.
Hawaii (1-2) rushed for 148 yards against the Panthers (0-2) of the FCS and also saw its defense and special teams put points on the board.
“It’s really nice to see these young men have success,” coach Norm Chow said in a university release. “They were very happy in the locker room and we hope this is the start of something special.
“We played a very good football team and we got chipped up but just kept marching. Steven Lakalaka, the defense, and a bunch of different people did a really terrific job and I’m really pleased for these young men.”
Defensive lineman Beau Yap opened the scoring by recovering a UNI fumble in the end zone and Tyler Hadden had a field goal in each half.
Lakalaka shouldered the load with standout Joey Iosefa out with a fractured ankle suffered in a loss to Oregon State last week. Lakalaka averaged 3.9 yards on a career-high 32 carries and scored on a 30-yard run late in the third quarter. His previous career-best was a 104-yard performance on 19 carries against Army last year.
“He really stepped up,” Chow said. “He played with a shoulder sprain but he just needed to step up because we needed to have him, and he did. We’re really happy to have Steve and even when Joey (Iosefa) was healthy Steve was playing well.”
Quarterback Ikaika Woolsey threw for 188 yards on 14-of-30 passing, including a 15-yard touchdown to Harold Moleni in the second quarter.
Woolsey was replaced by backup Jeremy Higgins in the third quarter.
Northern Iowa was led by Sawyer Kollmorgen’s 265 passing yards on 19-of-40 passing. He threw a pair of second-half touchdown passes — a 9-yarder to Kevin Vereen, Jr. and an 11-yard scoring strike to Darrian Miller, which pulled the Panthers within three points with 1:56 to play.
“I thought he was very average,” UNI coach Mark Farley said of his quarterback. “We weren’t productive enough. We got to make plays but he also needs protection and we have to do a better job in the run game.”
Michael Schmadeke made a 41-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to cut the Hawaii lead to 17-10 at intermission.
Julian Gener and Simon Poti led the Rainbow Warriors defensively with nine tackles apiece and Max Buscher recorded a team-high nine tackles for the Panthers.
Scott Harding made an impact in three facets. His rugby-style punting pinned the Panthers inside their own 20 seven times and averaged 10.9 yards on seven punt returns. He also caught a career-long 52-yard reception in the second quarter.
“Every time we play, the other team talks about Scott,” Chow said. “We gave him the game ball in the locker room. We decided to make an adjustment during the week and not play him too much at receiver. It hurt us a bit but he was just so special on special teams, not only on punts but on punt returns. If you notice he doesn’t fumble the football.”
The teams combined to punt 24 times — 13 by UNI.
It was the second straight FBS opponent to open the season for Northern Iowa. It lost to Iowa on Aug. 30, 31-23.
Hawaii has now won its last nine games against an FCS opponent and 12 of its last 13. Its last loss to an FCS team was against Florida Atlantic in 2004.
The Rainbow Warriors had lost their first two games by a combined nine points against two Pac-12 teams (Washington and Oregon State).
Hawaii will hit the road for the first time this year when it visits Colorado on Saturday.
It was the first meeting between Hawaii and Northern Iowa, but the schools share a unique connection. Former Panthers’ coach Stan Sheriff was instrumental in the building of the UNI Dome and later served as athletic director at Hawaii, where he oversaw the construction of the Special Events Arena. The indoor arena was later renamed the Stan Sheriff Center. The field at the UNI Dome is also named in his honor.
