UH Close Season With Win Over South Alabama

The Hawaii seniors pose for a group photo following their Senior Walk Saturday at Aloha Stadium. Photo by UH Athletics.

By Rodney S. Yap

The University of Hawai’i Warrior football team sent out its senior class in style with a 23-7 victory over South Alabama Saturday night in the season finale at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium.

The Warriors (3-9) closed out head coach Norm Chow’s inaugural season with victories in their final two weeks of the season. Prior to the game, each Warrior senior was introduced to the crowd and in continuing with the tradition, the group took part in the traditional Senior Walk following the game.

“I enjoyed these seniors,” Chow said. “They did a great job. They bought in to what we were trying to do.”

The Warriors generated a season-high 410 yards of total offense while placekicker Tyler Hadden booted three field goals – all over 40 yards becoming the first Warrior kicker to achieve that feat since Jason Elam against UTEP in 1991.

“Our (special) teams did well,” Chow said. “We missed some scoring opportunities. We need touchdowns instead of field goals. The effort was there and it was nice to see the seniors go out this way.”

Quarterback Sean Schroeder passed for 131 yards and one touchdown while running backs Joey Isosefa (97), Will Gregory (71), and Sterling Jackson (68) sparked the team’s season-high 229 yards on the ground.

The Warriors opened the game with a bang as Iosefa – serving as the quarterback in the wildcat formation – connected with Billy Ray Stutzmann for a 50-yard gain. After an 18-yard rush by Iosefa, Sterling Jackson scored from 1-yard out giving the Warriors a 7-0 lead.

UH added a field goal on its next possession as Hadden connected for a 41-yard field goal. Hadden made good on two more field goals in the half – from 42 and 40 yards as the Warriors entered the break with a 16-0 lead.

Hawai’i tacked on another score in the third quarter – UH’s only points of the second half – as Schroeder found Chris Gant for a 26-yard scoring strike and a 23-0 lead. South Alabama finally got on the scoreboard with Wes Saxton’s 3-yard touchdown reception from C.J. Bennett in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors’ 3-9 record, marks the program’s fourth non-winning record in the last five years.

“We have a tremendous amount of work to do; recruiting, getting stronger and making sure we finish strong in the classroom. There are a lot of things we have to do and there are a lot of things we have to fix.”