Which Hawaii Team Will Show for Our Homecoming?

The basic formula for Hawaii football teams has been tough at home and losers on the Mainland. But this year’s Rainbow Warriors have a little different look, and they are sure not following the script in Mountain West games.

Just last Saturday, they lost to New Mexico, 28-21, in the Islands, and also lost to UNLV at home. On the flip side, they pulled off an amazing upset by beating Air Force, 34-27, at AF where the atmosphere and elevation are quite different than Honolulu. So, don’t take anything for granted, Aztecs!

Historically, the Aztecs have been fairly dominant, with a 19-9-2 record, including only 3 losses on the road. Right now, the Aztecs are on a four-game winning streak against the Islanders.

Win or lose, Hawaii has scored points, such as their game with Cal, losing a wild one, 51-31. They have a fairly balanced attack. QB Dru Brown has completed 61.2% of his passes for 1,416 yards. Three good running backs share the ground game load, led by Diocemy Saint Juste, with 691 yards and a 5.6-yard average. Behind him are two other backs, both with 340 yards. Paul Harris, who has averaged 6.7 a carry; and Steven Lakalaka, with a 4.6 average. If that name sounds familiar, his brother Ronley is a good Aztec linebacker who led the defense with 6 tackles at Logan. Will they “meet” on the field Saturday?

The 40-13 win over Utah State was played in heavy rain, so QB Christian Chapman was limited to 9 passes, completing just 4, with one of those to Quest Truxton for a TD. On the other side of our offense, despite some overconfident comments from Aggies who said the Aztecs had not faced a run defense like theirs, we rolled up a nice even 400 net yards. The other way around, Aztec defense limited Aggies to only 71 yards rushing. The two USU TDs were the first given up by our D in MW play.

Not surprisingly, DJ Pumphrey piled up 223 for a 7.0 average. Depending on which system you follow, that moved him up to #5 or #6 in NCAA history, with a good chance to climb even higher with at least four games left. Added to DJ’s big night, was the impressive performance by Juwan Washington. With Rashaad Penny taking it easy after he tweaked his ankle on a 56-yard KO return, Juwan got the #2 call and racked up 137 net yards for a 9.8-yard average, including a 64-yard run and 2 TDs.

Remember, the Hawaii game Saturday, with a 4 pm kick-off, is Homecoming, so be there!

Quest Truxton; Juwan Washington (photos by Ernie Anderson)

GO AZTECS!