Hawaii holds off Louisiana-Monroe, 28-26


Ikaika Woolsey rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another score as Hawaii fended off a pesky Louisiana-Monroe squad, 28-26, in the season finale before 15,001 fans at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium Saturday night.

The Rainbow Warriors snapped a nine-game losing on Senior Night to finish the year with a 3-10 record.

Woolsey ran for an 8-yard touchdown in the second quarter and found the end zone on a 6-yard run in the third. He also threw a 5-yard scoring strike to Harold Moleni late in the second quarter.

Paul Harris rushed for 166 yards on 27 carries before leaving the game in the second half with a head injury. He opened the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

Harris eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark on Hawaii's first scoring drive, becoming the first UH player to do so since 2010 and the ninth in school history. He finished the season with 1,132 rushing yards and tied a school record with four consecutive 100-yard rushing games.

Earnest Carrington threw for 234 yards on 27-of-44 passing. He threw touchdown passes of 3 and 13 yards to Xavier Brown and Ajalen Holley, respectively.

Craig Ford converted field goals of 30 and 25 yards for the Warhawks, who dropped their 10th straight to fall to 1-11.

Louisiana-Monroe scored the final 16 points of the game and had a chance to tie it on a two-point conversion following Lorenzo Jackson's fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown with 3:03 remaining. However, Carrington's pass on the two-point try was incomplete and Hawaii was able to run out the clock.

Ne'Quan Phillips and Marrell Jackson had nine tackles apiece to lead the Rainbow Warriors on defense.

It was the final game for interim coach Chris Naeole and rest of the coaching staff after taking over for Norm Chow, who was fired after a 58-7 loss to Air Force on Oct. 31.

Hawaii athletic director David Matlin announced the hiring of former UH quarterback and current Nevada offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich, who will be introduced at a press conference on Monday.

"I think it's a good thing," Naeole said of the season-ending win. "These guys know the direction they're going with coach Rolo coming in. I wish him nothing but the best. We got a win for these guys going into next year."

The Rainbow Warriors will open the 2016 season against the University of California in Sydney, Australia on Aug. 27.