Hawaii football edged 17-10 by No. 24 San Diego State

HONOLULU, HI – NOVEMBER 6: Greg Bell #22 of the San Diego State Aztecs runs the ball into the end zone to score a touchdown during the first half of an…

HONOLULU, HI – NOVEMBER 6: Greg Bell #22 of the San Diego State Aztecs runs the ball into the end zone to score a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA football game against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors at the Clarance T.C. Ching Athletic Complex on November 6, 2021 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)

by: Christian Shimabuku

Posted: Nov 6, 2021 / 08:23 PM HST

Updated: Nov 6, 2021 / 08:58 PM HST

The University of Hawaii football team fell 17-10 to No. 24 San Diego State on Saturday night at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.

In its first home game on campus with no capacity limits, 5,119 out of a possible 9,000 fans watched Hawaii fall to 4-6 overall and 1-4 Mountain West Conference play, while the Aztecs improved to 8-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play.

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San Diego State got the scoring started on Greg Bell’s 5-yard touchdown run with 6:27 remaining in the first quarter. Hawaii evened the score after a Darius Muasau strip sack was recovered at the SDSU 19 yard line by Isaiah Tufaga, leading to a touchdown pass from Chevan Cordeiro to Calvin Turner on the next play with 2:21 remaining in the first.

The Aztecs scored on a 13-yard run by Jack Browning on a fake field goal attempt to go up 14-7 with 9:43 left in the second quarter, a score that carried into halftime.

After a scoreless third quarter, a 39-yard Matt Araiza field goal gave the Aztecs a 17-7 lead with 7:41 remaining in the fourth quarter. Matthew Shipley’s 22-yard field goal with 3 minutes remaining cut the deficit to 17-10.

After getting the crucial stop it needed, the Rainbow Warriors got the ball back on their own 32 with 1:11 remaining and no timeouts after forcing a punt.

After driving down the field, Cordeiro completed a five-yard pass to Dedrick Parson to the San Diego State 18 that was well short of the first-down marker and in bounds, letting the clock expire before the Rainbow Warriors could attempt one final play on fourth down.

Cordeiro completed 19 of his 34 passes for 175 yards for a touchdown and an interception while rushing for 12 yards on nine carries.

Lucas Johnson completed 12 of his 16 passes for 99 yards and no touchdowns and interception for SDSU, while Bell’s 77 yards on 24 carries were a game high.

Defensively, Khoury Bethley had a game-high 10 tackles for Hawaii, while Kamehameha alumnus Andrew Aleki had a team-high eight tackles for the Aztecs.

Next for the Rainbow Warriors is a road game at UNLV, which begins at 11 a.m. HST.

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