HONOLULU (AP) — Brayden Schager threw two touchdown passes to Pofele Ashlock and ran for another TD to help Hawaii beat Air Force 27-13 Saturday night and hand the Falcons their first Mountain West Conference loss of the season.
Hawaii (4-7, 2-4) took 7-plus minutes off the clock with a 12-play, 75-yard opening drive that culminated when Schager hit Ashlock for a 5-yard touchdown and the Rainbow Warriors led the rest of the way.
The Falcons (8-2, 5-1), who lost 23-3 against Army last week, fell into a tie with UNLV (8-2, 5-1) atop the conference standings. Air Force plays host to the Runnin’ Rebels for sole possession of first next week.
Schager scored on a 1-yard run with 2 seconds left in the second quarter that made it 13-3 when the PAT attempt was no good. Dylan Carson ripped off a 35-yard touchdown run about 2 minutes into the third quarter that cut the deficit to three points but Hawaii answered when Ashlock caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Schager with 7:20 left before the fourth.
Jalen Smith forced a fumble by Jensen Jones that Meki Pei recovered for a 32-yard scoop-and-score that made it 27-10 with 11:09 to play.
Air Force converted three third downs and two fourth downs on a 20-play drive in the first half that took 11 minutes, 49 seconds off the clock that resulted in a 25-yard field goal by Matthew Dapore, who also kicked a 21-yarder that capped the scoring with 6:20 remaining.