Sports Writing

Hawaii Win Defines Utah State Football

This season the Aggie football team has struggled in the last quarter of several games. The team has had five possible victories stolen from them by the ‘fourth quarter blues', losing in the final seconds of the game.

Recently the Aggies traveled to Hawaii to play the Rainbow Warriors. The Aggies had a slow start and trailed the Warriors by 21 points at halftime. The Utah State Aggies had to turn things around in order to win.

Freshman quarterback Chuckie Keeton was carted off the field with a neck injury, and senior strong safety Walter McClenton suffered a broken foot. With two starters out of the game, a victory seemed doubtful. Keeton was taken to the hospital and rumors of him being paralyzed began to circulate; hopes of a successful season seemed out of reach for Aggie fans.

“It looked like a pretty bad hit," said linebacker Bobby Wagner, "I got to see it up close and personal, so I was pretty scared for him."

Having never played one game the entire season, junior quarterback, Adam Kennedy, entered the game in Keeton’s absence.

“We felt confident with Adam and knew that he would make the right play calls,” Wagner said.

Junior wide receiver Matt Austin said he was worried with two starters out, but remained hopeful throughout the game. Austin encouraged his teammates not to give up or let the injuries affect the rest of the game.

Kennedy was able to rally his team and threw the winning touchdown in the last 14 seconds, beating the Warriors 35-31.  The win in Hawaii is the first since 1966.

"Coach talked to us and told us to put those losses in the fourth quarter behind us and move on," Kennedy said. "Make this second half of the season memorable. I think the guys really bought into that, believed in it and believed we were going to win."

“It feels great to get the win and our main focus was the fourth quarter as you can tell,” Austin said.

 Wagner said that he knew his teammates were tired of the close games and losing in the fourth quarter.

"We came out second half with the mindset of playing as hard as we could and seeing what would happen,” Wagner said.

Since the Aggies’ win in Hawaii, the team beat San Jose State and seems to have turned the season around. The Aggies still have to face Idaho, Nevada and New Mexico State. Players remain confident and believe that the Hawaii defeat was a defining moment in the season.

“If we continue winning and go to a bowl game," Wagner said, "I truly believe the Hawaii game was the game that turned the season around. We got fed up with losing in the last seconds and now we are winning in the last seconds.”


D. Van Dyke