FRESNO, Calif. —Nothing beats beating your rival, especially on the road.
Steve Lakalaka scored his second short touchdown with 59 seconds left Saturday and Viane Moala blocked a field on the final play of the game as the Rainbow Warriors edged Fresno State 14-13 to snap a three-game losing streak.
Kody Kroening had had made 15 consecutive field goals for Fresno State until his 43-yard attempt was blocked, sending the Bulldogs to their ninth consecutive loss.
Hawaii’s Marcus Kemp dropped a third-down pass in the end zone with 1:22 left in the game, but Fresno State was flagged for roughing the passer, giving the Warriors a first down.
Two plays later Lakalaka scored from 2 yards out, capping a 12-play 76-yard drive. Lakalaka scored one a 1-yard run in the first quarter, giving him a team-high 12 touchdowns this season.
Hawaii (5-7, 4-4) also snapped a five-game losing streak to Fresno State in the 49th meeting between the teams. UH has its most victories since winning six times in 2011. The Rainbow Warriors can match that win total next Saturday at home against UMass.
Fresno State (1-10, 0-7 Mountain West) has lost four of five home games and the last three under interim coach Eric Kiesau, who took over after head coach Tim DeRuyter was fired.
“That is why this one hurt so bad, because it was right there in our grasp,” Kiesau said. “We have been preaching for the last four weeks that it is about these seniors and how hard they play. When you have it right there in front of you, it burns.
The Rainbow Warrior defense limited the Bulldogs to just 322 total yards, the second-lowest total by a UH opponent this year.
Compiling only 276 yards annd 49 on the ground. Hawaii’s offense was sluggish for most of the game, finishing just 1-of-11 on third downs and punting eight times. However, Dru Brown came up with a number of big throws on the final drive and finished 20-of-31 for 227 yards. He connected on a 21-yard pass to John Ursua on a 3rd-and-25 from their own territory, then followed that with a big fourth-down conversion to Makoa Camanse-Stevens.
Kemp finished with a game-high eight catches for 65 yards to put him seven yards shy of 1,000 for the season.
Moala’s block was his second of the season.
Hawaii 0 7 0 7—14
Fresno St. 0 7 3 3—13
Second quarter
HAW–Lakalaka 1 run (Sanchez kick), 5:43.
FRE–Cronk 1 run (Kroening kick), :10.
Third Quarter
FRE–FG Kroening 47, 3:26.
Fourth Quarter
FRE–FG Kroening 27, 3:41.
HAW–Lakalaka 2 run (Sanchez kick), :59.
A–26,951.
HAW FRE
First downs 11 20
Rushes-yards 23-49 52-214
Passing 227 108
Comp-Att-Int 20-31-1 13-23-0
Return Yards 40 51
Punts-Avg. 8-0.0 8-0.0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 11-89 7-64
Time of Possession 26:08 33:52
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING_Hawaii, Harris 8-33, Saint Juste 6-23, Lakalaka 4-11, D.Brown 5-(minus 18). Fresno St., Hokit 18-97, Kline 10-52, James 15-49, T.Green 3-15, K.Johnson 1-4, Ju.Rice 1-2, Cronk 1-1, J.Allen 1-(minus 1), Jordan 2-(minus 5).
PASSING_Hawaii, D.Brown 20-31-1-227. Fresno St., Kline 13-23-0-108.
RECEIVING_Hawaii, Kemp 8-65, Ursua 5-49, Ewaliko 3-25, Camanse-Stevens 2-67, Harris 1-14, ‘Unga 1-7. Fresno St., K.Johnson 3-38, Peck 3-27, Ja.Rice 2-4, Jordan 2-2, Martens 1-17, J.Allen 1-11, Hardaway 1-9.
MISSED FIELD GOALS_Fresno St., Kroening 43.
