Fresno State takes down Hawaii, 41-38, in walk-off win
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno State (4-4) took down Hawaii (5-4) 41-38, in Honolulu Saturday night.
Fresno State learned a lesson from last week's Homecoming game where they found themselves down 14-0. The Dogs took the early lead. Buchanan grad Jalen Cropper threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Zane Pope.
Hawaii responded in the second quarter, on the opening drive Cole McDonald converted back-to-back first downs to Jason-Matthew Sharsh. The drive would leave to McDonald scoring on a six-yard run to tie the game at 7 with 9:23 left to play in the quarter.
Fresno State would have to punt on their next drive. Hawaii would strike again, on their ensuing drive 3rd & 1 Fred Holly III would take off 32 yards. With 3:35 left to play in the second Holly III would later finish off the drive with a one-yard rushing score to give the Rainbow Warriors the lead 14-7.
The Bulldogs would lean on their freshman wide receiver again late in the quarter. With 1:06 left, Jalen Cropper scores Fresno State's second touchdown of the game a 53-yard run to cut into the lead 17-14.
Head Coach Jeff Tedford said the Dogs' needed to be able to shut down Hawaii's big plays in order to be successful. With just 23 seconds left in the second quarter, McDonald throws a 48-yard touchdown pass to JoJo Ward to go into the half leading 24-14.
Fresno State came out of the locker room, ready to close out the game. They scored 24 points unanswered points to take the lead 38-24. With less than 3 minutes left to play, Hawaii would score back to back touchdowns to tied up the game at 38. Fresno State's Cesar Silva would kick a 37-yard winning field goal. The Bulldogs take down Hawaii 41-38 and improve their win streak on the Island to 6 games.
Jorge Reyna completed 17 of 27 for 188 yards and a touchdown. He was the second-leading rusher for Fresno State with 96 yards on the ground.
Fresno State is now 4-4 on the season, 2-2 in Mountain West play. The Bulldogs will host Utah State on November 9th.
