For a team that head coach Timmy Chang has praised for its unselfishness all year, it was finally time for the University of Hawai‘i football team to get greedy on Saturday night.
The Rainbow Warriors, who already qualified for a bowl game and were simultaneously out of the Mountain West Conference race prior to Saturday, had one more trophy to play for in its regular season finale against Wyoming on Saturday night: The Paniolo Trophy, which goes to the annual winner in the series.
The Paniolo Trophy, established in 1979, was donated to the two schools by a group of Hawai‘i residents with Wyoming roots. Paniolo translates to "Cowboy" in the Hawaiian language, while Wyoming is known as the Cowboy State.
In a turnaround season in which the 'Bows clinched their first winning regular season since 2019, UH was itching to reclaim the trophy, which the Cowboys kept home in Laramie in two previous matchups.
Led by a dominant defensive performance, the Rainbow Warriors snatched the trophy back with a 27-7 victory in front of a turnstile sellout crowd of 13,116 at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. Following the game, members of the team ran to the Wyoming sideline to get what was theirs.
After members of the team took turns taking pictures with the trophy, the program honored its 26 departing seniors as part of senior night festivities. At the end of each senior walk, Chang shared a long hug with each player.
"Guys could have easily just walked away in this day and age of NIL and transfer portal. But they stayed," Chang said. "They stayed because they wanted to play with their brothers, and stay because they wanted to play for the state. They gave their all. ... They all just really bought into each other. They bought into us as a program, as a state, and I couldn't be prouder for them. ...Tthey love playing here at the University of Hawai‘i, and that's what I'll always remember about these guys."
Despite the final score, Wyoming got on the board first with a 50-yard Jones Thomas interception returned for a touchdown with 8:58 remaining in the first quarter. That would be all the scoring the Cowboys did on Saturday, as Hawai‘i's defense allowed 256 yards, led by the efforts of star safety Peter Manuma, who had 11 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup. The Rainbow Warriors also racked up 10 tackles for loss as a team.
Offensively, Micah Alejado completed 17 of his 24 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns, 153 yards of which went to Jackson Harris, including a 78-yard score in the second quarter.
Running back Cam Barfield had two touchdowns for Hawai‘i. His first was a 19-yard reception in the first quarter, while his second was on a 41-yard scamper, the longest rush of his collegiate career.
A damper was put on Hawai‘i's victory when Kansei Matsuzawa missed his first field goal of the season near the end of the third quarter. He had previously made 25 in a row, tying an NCAA record for consecutive made field goals to start a season. He finishes the regular season 25-for-26 on field goals and 37-for-37 on extra points.
Despite the miss, a teary-eyed Matsuzawa expressed gratitude towards his coaches and teammates following the game.
"I've been here like three years, and it's always like highs and lows, but every moment to spend time with my teammates, the coaches, it's amazing," Matsuzawa said.
All signs point to Hawai‘i (8-4, 5-3 Mountain West) receiving and accepting a bid to the Hawai‘i Bowl, which would be the first time Hawai‘i has played in the game since 2019 against BYU at Aloha Stadium, the last UH game played in front of fans at the old Aloha Staidum. The Rainbow Warriors were selected to the 2021 game against Memphis but withdrew due to a COVID-19 breakout within the team.
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
