Against cross winds up to 30 mph and a defiant Delaware State football team, quarterback Brayden Schager willed Hawaii to a 35-14 victory at the Ching Complex.
A crowd of 10,279 saw Schager pass for two touchdowns and run for two more to help the Rainbow Warriors win their first season opener in Timmy Chang’s three-season tenure as head coach.
“The kid’s tough,” Chang said. “Schager’s a good football player. I love that kid. He’s tough, he’s competitive, and he can throw the ball. He was challenged tonight. He was challenged with the elements, the gusts. And he’s cutting it through the wind. He did awesome. As he goes, we go.”
Despite a 14-point push from the end of the second quarter to early in the third, the Hornets endured the trip from heck.
The Hornets were scheduled to arrive in town on Tuesday afternoon, with two practices, an excursion to Pearl Harbor and a luau on the pregame itinerary. But the Wertz Motor Coaches’ problems in picking up the team at the Dover campus on Tuesday morning and then finding the correct route to John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, N.Y., resulted in the 110-member travel party missing the 101⁄2-hour, non-stop flight to Honolulu.
By Thursday afternoon, the last of the Hornets’ four travel groups arrived in town.
But the Hornets did not bring along a system allowing direct communication between the coaching staff and a quarterback. Because each team is responsible for supplying their own system, Chang was able to transmit plays to Schager’s helmet while the Hornets had to rely on hand signals and signs.
But the Hornets’ biggest problem was stirring Schager, who was a pedestrian 8-for-20 for 72 first-half yards. Three of his to-the-numbers passes were dropped.
The Hornets tied it at 14 on quarterback Marqui Adams’ 10-yard scramble with 10 seconds remaining in the first half and Jaden Sutton’s 6-yard scoring run on the opening drive of the third quarter.
But the Warriors answered on the ensuing possession, going 67 yards on eight plays to take a 21-14 lead they would not relinquish. Schager went the final 15 yards on a keeper that he emphatically finished with a left-handed stiff arm to defensive back Amir Anderson.
“I always knew we were going to go down and score,” Schager said. “I was mad we put ourselves in that situation. But there was never any doubt in my mind that we weren’t going to win the game. It was something we have to clean up and do better in.”
Schager credited associate head coach Chris Brown, who oversees the weight-training program, for his jab near the goal line.
“He helped with that (stiff arm), getting me in the weight room,” Schager said of Brown. “I think that’s important. I have confidence in myself running the ball. I think I’m athletic enough and good enough to add that aspect to my game. I was happy to be able to do that.”
Schager averaged 5.0 yards on nine non-sack scrambles and keepers.
The Warriors increased the margin to 28-14 when Schager lobbed a 29-yard pass to Dekel Crowdus, who was a blur along the right sideline.
“Me and Brayden were getting that connection in practice,” said Crowdus, who transferred from Kentucky this year. “We were checking it out on the field today. I sold it because we were running hitches all game. They were playing off. The play before we ran a hitch. And then we ran a hitch and go. I knew I was going to be open for the touchdown.”
In the fourth quarter, Schager released a pass — it soared incomplete — and then was clobbered late by defensive lineman Marquise Brunson. Brunson was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty. Through the communication system, Chang called for a run-pass option in which Schager would keep the ball. Schager ran for 5 yards — symbolic of his willingness to rebound.
“You take a hit like that, you lower your shoulder (the next time),” Schager said. “It shows my commitment to the team. It shows I’ll do whatever it takes to help us win. If it means running the ball, and lowering my shoulder, that’s what I’ll do. I just want to win.”
Four plays later, Schager spotted a wide-open Pofele Ashlock in the end zone. But Schager’s pass was caught in the wind, and Ashlock caught it on his knees at the 1 for a 29-yard gain.
“Definitely in a normal atmosphere that was a good ball,” Schager said. “I have to be able to deal with it and make a good throw.”
On the next play, Schager powered his way for his second touchdown.
The Warriors also dominated the punt/return phase. Tylan Hines fielded Nathan Wilson’s bouncing punt at the DSU 44, cut across the coverage to the left sideline and raced the rest of the way for the touchdown to give the Warriors a 14-0 lead with 10 seconds left in the first quarter.
“I trusted my God-given ability. Once I caught it, I saw the hole open up, everybody had their block, and I just made a play. It’s a thrill. I was thinking about going full speed.”
Lucas Borrow, who transferred from Ball State this summer, placed three punts inside the DSU 20, including one that Spencer Curtis knocked out of bounds at the 1.
“It was tough conditions, for sure, but both teams have to go out and do it,” Borrow said. “We practice for those situations with the wind here in Manoa. In the mornings, when we go out at 5:50 to punt (in practices), it’s not beautiful weather at all. To be able to go out there in certain occasions is really important. It played a big role in the game today.”