Mids fall behind, can’t catch up
Rainbow Warriors race out to 28-0 lead before Navy gets into gear in its opener
HONOLULU — Ken Niumatalolo’s Hawaii homecoming only got worse after botching the coin flip.
The Navy coach and University of Hawaii alumnus said a miscommunication kept Navy from receiving the opening kickoff after winning the coin toss for the season opener against the Rainbow Warriors at Aloha Stadium.
That put Hawaii’s offense on the field first, which was not a good thing for a Navy team that gave up more than 500 yards in a 59-41 loss that ended early Sunday morning on the East Coast.
“It’s not very fun to come this far and get your butts whipped,” said Niumatalolo, who attended Radford High just down the street from a stadium he has yet to win in as Navy’s coach.
“We were kind of shellshocked to get down 14-0 that quickly,” he added. “I did a bad job communicating. We won the toss. We wanted to take the ball. Somehow that got mixed up. That’s my fault. I’ve got to make sure because like I said they have a really potent offense.”
An expected high-scoring affair between two contrasting offenses came to fruition, but only after the Mids spotted the home team a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Hawaii quarterback Cole McDonald threw for 428 yards and six touchdowns. The 436 total passing yards given up were the third most allowed by a Navy defense under Niumatalolo.
“It was a chess match the entire game and their skill players are capable of doing whatever is necessary and a quarterback at the helm that knows what he’s doing,” Navy senior safety Sean Williams said. “We knew what kind of challenge we were getting into.”
Navy had a chance to watch Hawaii play last week and upset Colorado State on the road as an 18-point underdog. That sneak peek didn’t seem to help the Midshipmen on defense.
Even with seven days to prepare, Navy allowed Hawaii to score touchdowns on five straight drives to start the game. Fourth down was especially brutal for the Midshipmen as the Rainbow Warriors converted all three times when going for it in the first half and twice scored touchdowns as a result. Hawaii wide receiver John Ursua (5) dives over Navy linebacker Elan Nash (8) to score a touchdown in the second half.
McDonald connected with Jojo Ward on a 34-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-4 to give Hawaii a 21-0 lead. McDonald then went up top to John Ursua for a 50-yard scoring strike on fourth-and-1 as the Rainbow Warriors took a commanding a 35-7 advantage with 4:17 left before the break.
The Midshipmen also gave up a blocked punt for a touchdown and turned the ball over going for it on fourth-and-2 to open the second quarter when quarterback Malcolm Perry was blown up for a 5-yard loss.
“We couldn’t stop them,” Niumatalolo said. “That was a bad play to make but I go by feel and I felt like we could not stop those dudes. We had to try to do something.”
Navy accounted for 115 of its 177 yards in the first half on two plays. Fullback Nelson Smith’s 40-yard run set up a 3-yard score by Zach Abey (Archbishop Spalding), who took over at quarterback in short-yardage and goal-line situations. Perry then broke off a 75-yard touchdown run as the Mids trailed 38-14 at halftime.
Navy chipped away at the lead in the second half with Perry getting the offense rolling.
Abey scored the second of his four rushing touchdowns to cap a 12-play drive to start the second half, but the Mids still needed a big play or two on defense.
They got it two plays into ensuing drive when outside linebacker Nizaire Cromartie strip-sacked McDonald and defensive end Josh Webb fell on the loose ball at the Hawaii 9. Abey’s 7-yard touchdown cut the deficit to 38-28.
“First game of the season guys are trying to figure things out,” said Perry, who finished with 108 rushing yards. “I’d say about three drives in we started picking things up and we got rolling from there.”
The 59 points were the most given up by Navy since the 2012 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl against Arizona State.
Hawaii is 3-1 all-time against Navy. All three of its wins in the series have come in Honolulu.