Broncos overpower the Rainbow Warriors

FINAL BSU 59 UH 37

7 minutes of game time into the first quarter and the Broncos held a 14-0 lead. The Bronco defense came out strong, forcing a 3-and-out against the Rainbow Warriors and promptly marched down the field, lead by a long pass from Bachmeier to Hightower. The following UH possession ended abruptly with a Kaniho strip and fumble recovery, ending in a Bachmeier-to-Hightower touchdown.

Hawaii quickly answered back on their next possession with a 46-yard pass and 17-yard touchdown strike. The Broncos drive down the field, but stall after a holding penalty and a dropped pass. Hawaii follows that up with a 3-and-out of their own, helped by penalties (totaling 8 for 68 yards). After some penalties of their own, the Broncos settled for 3 on their ensuing drive, increasing the lead to 17-7.

After some back and forth, (and an injury to Hank Bachmeier) the Broncos struck pay-dirt after a forced fumble. Cord hit Khalil Shakir on 33-yard pass for 6. On the very next drive for Hawaii, the receiver fumbles AGAIN and the Broncos recover. With a bit if trickeration, or as I like to say great play calling, Mahone ran it in from 13, increasing the lead to 31-7.

In the longest half of any game ever played ever, the Warriors score on a 21-yard pass to make it 31-14 with 40 seconds to play. Hightower brings the ensuing kickoff out to the 37 yard line, giving the Broncos 30 seconds to score before the half. Unfortunately, they can’t get into the end zone. Broncos end the first half up 31-14.

The Broncos opened up the second half with some power and some points. Cord connected on a couple of passes to CT Thomas, with the help some Mahone running, capping the drive off with a 42-yard TD pass to Hightower, putting the Broncos up 38-14.

Also of note, the attendance record was broken tonight with a sold out crowd of 36,902. Thank you Bronco Nation!

The Bronco defense brought it as well, forcing a 3-and-out from Hawaii. The Broncos promptly marched down the field, making it 45-14 on a pass from Jaylon Henderson (3rd string rock star) to true freshman George Holani for 25 yards. All 3 quarterbacks threw for a touchdown in this game, Cord on top with 2.

The Rainbow Warriors were able to put together a drive late in the 3rd quarter, capped by a run from McDonald to bring the score to 45-21. The Broncos put together a really nice drive themselves following the score, ending in a broken-play-turned-touchdown from Cord to Holani. What looked like Cord throwing the ball away was actually a pass to Holani for the 8-yard touchdown, putting the Broncos up 52-21. The last time we broke 50 was against Colorado State last year on October 19th.

Hawaii got the 4th quarter going at 11:21pm with a sustained drive resulting in a 3-yard touchdown pass, making it 29-52 after the successful 2pt conversion. The Broncos stalled on their next drive and had to punt the ball away, giving the Warriors 7:39 for their next drive. The Bronco D holds strong and force a turnover on downs deep in Hawaii territory at the 29. The refs seemed to have called it in on this game as they called a 4th and one sneak by Henderson dead well before they should have, resulting in a turnover on downs for the Broncos.

The Warriors put together one last touchdown drive on a 50 yard pass for a touchdown. They followed it up with a 2-pt conversion to make it 52-37 with 2:44 left. On what looked to be a run-it-out drive by the Broncos, Holani would not be denied and ran it in from 40 yards, putting the Broncos up 59-37. The Rainbow Warriors continued to drive, and for some reason kept passing and, not looking to give up a last touchdown, the game ends on an interception.

A solid win against a high powered offense for the Broncos. Up next for the Broncos is a trip to Provo to take on the Cougars, a game we fans have all been waiting for. Sleep up and GO BRONCOS!