California Golden Bears Athletics
California
7-6 , 4-4
Hawai'i
9-4 , 5-3
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 7 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 31 |
| Hawaii | 0 | 10 | 3 | 22 | 35 |
Bears Fall In Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl
12/24/2025 9:30 PM | Football
Late Touchdown Seals Victory For Rainbow Warriors
After failing to hold on to a 21-0 second-quarter lead, the Golden Bears (7-6) fell behind 28-24 midway through the fourth period before coming back to go in front 31-28 on a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele with 1:57 to play. But the Rainbow Warriors pulled out the victory by scoring a touchdown with 10 seconds remaining.
Wide receiver Jacob De Jesus made history in the defeat, catching nine passes for 137 yards and a touchdown to become Cal's all-time single-season receptions leader with 108 for the year. That also ties him for second place in history for an ACC receiver.
Sagapolutele, who hails from Ewa Beach, Hawai'I, completed 28-for-39 passes for a career-high 343 yards and a touchdown. Sagapolutele finished his true freshman season with 3,460 passing yards – which ranks No. 6 on the program's all-time single season list.
Senior Trond Grizzell finished with eight catches for 105 yards.
The Bears played in their third consecutive bowl game Wednesday night and finished with a winning overall record for the first time since 2019.
"We jumped on them, which was a great start for us," Cal interim head coach Nick Rolovich said. "We talked about it – they were not going to give up. This meant too much to them midway through that game. And they came back and fought hard."
De Jesus got Cal on the board with a 41-yard touchdown catch from Sagapolutele midway through the first quarter and Kendrick Raphael's 19-yard scoring run on the first play of the second period put the Bears up 14-0. True freshman Anthony League, who recorded his first career start, also registered his first career touchdown on an 8-yard run with 9:38 to play before halftime to put Cal up 21-0.
The Rainbow Warriors scored 21 unanswered points of their own before a 22-yard field goal by Chase Meyer gave the Bears the lead once again with 8:56 remaining. The teams then traded touchdowns to close out the game, with Hawai'I notching the game-winner in the game's final seconds.
Players Mentioned
Team Stats
CAL 7, HAW 0
CAL - De Jesus,Jacob 41 yd pass from Sagapolutele,Jaron-Keawe (Meyer,Chase kick) 8 plays, 87 yards, TOP 04:11
CAL 14, HAW 0
CAL - Raphael,Kendrick 19 yd run (Meyer,Chase kick), 8 plays, 68 yards, TOP 03:02
CAL 21, HAW 0
CAL - League,Anthony 8 yd run (Meyer,Chase kick), 8 plays, 49 yards, TOP 03:13
CAL 21, HAW 7
HAW - Ashlock,Pofele 13 yd pass from Alejado,Micah (Matsuzawa,Kansei kick) 12 plays, 75 yards, TOP 05:41
CAL 21, HAW 10
HAW - Matsuzawa,Kansei 29 yd field goal 7 plays, 21 yards, TOP 01:18
CAL 21, HAW 13
HAW - Matsuzawa,Kansei 39 yd field goal 13 plays, 61 yards, TOP 06:20
CAL 21, HAW 21
HAW - Ashlock,Pofele 3 yd pass from Alejado,Micah (Barfield,Cam pass) 8 plays, 53 yards, TOP 03:41
CAL 24, HAW 21
CAL - Meyer,Chase 22 yd field goal 10 plays, 71 yards, TOP 04:54
CAL 24, HAW 28
HAW - White,Brandon 17 yd pass from Alejado,Micah (Matsuzawa,Kansei kick) 4 plays, 59 yards, TOP 01:27
CAL 31, HAW 28
CAL - Sagapolutele,Jaron-Keawe 1 yd run (Meyer,Chase kick), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 05:22
CAL 31, HAW 35
HAW - Cenacle,Nick 22 yd pass from Weaver,Luke (Matsuzawa,Kansei kick) 10 plays, 68 yards, TOP 01:42
