HONOLULU – The Hawai'i football team came up just short of taking back the Island Showdown Trophy, falling 29-27 in a tightly-contested game that was decided on the final drive Saturday at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.
 
Brayden Schager led the Rainbow Warrior offense with 324 total yards and three touchdowns. Schager finished with a game-high 282 passing yards on 14-of-35 passing, while adding a team-best 42 yards on the ground.
 
Jonah Panoke led the UH receivers with 90 yards on six grabs, while catching two of Schager's touchdown passes. Dekel Crowdus caught Schager's first TD on a 74-yard pass, his only catch of the game. Nick Cenacle added 70 yards on just two catches, including a 62-yard reception that set up Panoke's second touchdown catch.
 
UNLV took an early 10-0 lead after scoring on each of their first two drives. The Rebels picked off Schager on the second offensive play of the game, leading to a Caden Chittenden field goal for the first points of the afternoon.
 
The Rebels scored again on their next drive, moving the ball 58 yards on three plays and scoring on Hajj-Malik Williams' 23-yard run.
 
Hawai'i cut the deficit back to three just two plays later. Schager found Crowdus deep for a 74-yard Schager bomb touchdown pass. The two-play scoring drive made it 10-7 UNLV.
 
The Rebels pushed their lead back up to 12-7 to finish the first quarter after blocking a UH punt out of the end zone for a safety. UNLV ran back the ensuing free kick for a 63-yard score, but it was called back for holding. The Rainbow Warrior defense forced a Rebels punt on the following drive.
 
Hawai'i's defense kept the momentum going, holding UNLV scoreless in the second quarter. The UH defense was aided by a pair of missed field goals by the Rebels. Meanwhile, Kansei Matsuzawa nailed a 41-yard field goal for Hawai'i to cut the deficit to 12-10 at the halftime break.
 
UNLV opened the second half scoring with a 32-yard field goal to go up 15-10. UH responded with a 4-play, 75-yard drive to take the lead for the first time. Schager threw up a deep pass to Panoke, who came back to make the catch before turning and running into the end zone for a 49-yard score.
 
Panoke's long touchdown was matched by a 37-yard UNLV touchdown, as Williams connected with Ricky White III to put UNLV back in the lead. A 33-yard Matsuzawa field goal capped off the third quarter.
 
Jai'den Thomas broke free for a 32-yard touchdown run with 6:03 left in the fourth quarter to give the Rebels a two-score cushion.
 
Hawai'i responded with a 6-play, 75-yard scoring drive to get back within two points. After gaining just eight yards on the first four plays, Schager broke the drive open with a 62-yard pass to Cenacle. Schager finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Panoke in the back-left corner of the end zone.
 
UNLV picked two first downs on the final drive of the game to seal the 29-27 win.

The Rainbow Warriors hit the road next week to take on Utah State Saturday at 10 a.m. HT.