HONOLULU — Wyoming opened with an early defensive touchdown but couldn’t keep pace with Hawai‘i on Friday night, falling 27–7 in the season finale at the T.C. Ching Athletic Complex. The loss marks the Cowboys’ first defeat in the Paniolo Trophy series since 2021.
Hawai‘i outgained Wyoming 417–246, piling up 289 passing yards and 128 rushing yards. The Cowboys managed 202 yards through the air and 54 on the ground, and struggled to stay on the field, finishing 3-for-15 on third down.
Freshman quarterback Mason Drube saw extended action and threw for a career-high 179 yards, completing 17 of 32 passes. Tight end John Michael Gyllenborg, appearing in his final game for Wyoming, recorded a career-high six receptions. Deion DeBlanc added a career-best four catches for 39 yards.
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“He extended plays, kept plays alive,” head coach Jay Sawvel said of Drube. “He’s a tough kid and a really good athlete. The best part of all this is he got to play a little bit and still kept that year of eligibility on him. When he starts off in the spring he still has four years of eligibility. He’s uber competitive and I expect a lot of growth out of him.”
Linebacker Ethan Stuhlsatz led the Wyoming defense with seven tackles and a season-high 1.5 tackles for loss. Fellow linebacker Evan Eller added six tackles, finishing his career with 311. Safety Andrew Johnson and linebacker Brayden Johnson each recorded five stops.
Wyoming struck first when safety Jones Thomas intercepted a third-down pass and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown. It was his second interception of the season and the Cowboys’ second pick-six of the year.
“It was a really good play by Jones,” Sawvel said. “He read the throw, really good catch, he’s got excellent speed and he showed that off. It was a big play for us but we weren’t able to sustain.”
Hawai‘i answered on the next possession with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Micah Alejado to Cam Barfield, tying the game 7–7 late in the first quarter. The Rainbow Warriors took a 10–7 lead on a 47-yard field goal by Kansei Matsuzwa with 7:33 left in the second quarter.
Alejado extended the lead with a 78-yard strike to Jackson Harris for a 17–7 advantage with under five minutes remaining in the half. Another 47-yard field goal sent Hawai‘i into halftime up 20–7, after Wyoming missed a field-goal attempt in the final minute.
Hawai‘i opened the second half with another scoring drive to push the lead to 27–7. Wyoming answered with a drive into Hawai‘i territory but was stopped on fourth down. The Cowboys’ defense forced Matsuzwa’s first missed field goal of the season later in the third quarter, but neither team scored again.
Alejado finished with 289 passing yards and two touchdowns. Barfield led Hawai‘i with 77 rushing yards and added a receiving touchdown, while Harris totaled 153 receiving yards.
Wyoming closes the season at 4–8. Twenty-four seniors played their final game for the Cowboys.
