Colleges
Rainbow Warriors taken down by Aztecs, 28-7


Spencer Honda | ScoringLive
October 29, 2017, 12:49am

  


Sat, Oct 28, 2017 @ Aloha Stadium [ 12:00 am ]

San Diego St.

28

Hawaii

7

Final 1 2 3 4 T
San Diego St. 7 7 7 728
Hawaii 0 7 0 07
Dru Brown 160 yd
Christian Chapman 83 yd 1 TD
Isaiah Bernard 47 yd
Mikah Holder 55 yd 1 TD

HALAWA — It was touted to be a showdown between not only two of the top running backs in the Mountain West Conference, but also in the entire nation.

In the end, it was Rashaad Penny and the San Diego State Aztecs (3-2 MW, 7-2 overall) getting the best of Diocemy Saint Juste and the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (1-4 MW, 3-5 overall), taking the home team down, 28-7, Saturday night in front of a crowd of 23,018 at Hawaiian Tel FCU Field at Aloha Stadium.

Coming into the game, Saint Juste was at the top of the conference and fourth in the NCAA with 156.3 yards per game on the ground. The 5-foot-8, 200-pound senior's racked up season total of 1,094 yards was second in the Mountain West and fifth in the country.

On the other side, 5-foot-11, 220-pound Penny was first in the conference and third in the nation with 1,115 yards, and second in the MW and fifth in the country with 139.4 yards per game.

Penny ran the ball 30 times to reach a career-high 253 yards and two touchdowns. The Norwalk, California-native sealed the victory in the RB battle by taking a toss left and going untouched for a 63-yard scoring dash at the start of the fourth quarter.

Saint Juste finished with 17 carries going for only 40 yards — a 2.4 yard average.

Aztecs QB Christian Chapman only attempted 11 passes, completing five of them for 83 yards and a touchdown. Early in the fourth quarter, he lofted an errant throw on a screen pass attempt that landed in the arms of UH junior defensive lineman Zeno Choi (Kaiser '15).

SDSU's Rashaad Penny (center) ran for a career-high 253 yards on 30 carries. John Lujan | SL    View image

The Rainbow Warriors went three and out on their first three drives to fall into a 14-0 hole.

At the start of the second quarter, the Hawaii offense finally got moving and drove the ball into SDSU territory in the red zone, but Alex Trifonovitch (Punahou '15) missed a 37-yard field goal attempt.

Hawaii got the ball back with just under seven minutes remaining in the half, and aided by a penalty on two separate fourth downs, quarterback Dru Brown orchestrated a scoring drive capped off by taking it in himself and diving into the end zone from one yard out.

The offense would only run two plays in SDSU territory the rest of the game.

For the Aztecs' defense, senior Dakota Turner (Mililani '13) and junior Ronley Lakalaka (Punahou '15) each finished with three total tackles. Freshman Andrew Aleki (Kamehameha '17) had two tackles.

With the season-ending injury to top Hawaii receiving target John Ursua, redshirt freshman WR Kumoku Noa (Kamehameha '16) got an opportunity in the receiver rotation. He was targeted three times, hauling in two receptions for nine and six yards.

His second reception came mid-way through the fourth quarter on a hitch route on the right sideline in which he was taken down by former high school teammate Aleki.

The Rainbow Warriors go on the road to Las Vegas to take on UNLV (2-3 MW, 3-5 overall) before returning home against Fresno State (4-1 MW, 5-3 overall) on Nov. 11.


Reach Spencer Honda at [email protected].




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