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The Denver Pioneers were chosen to
play in the Pineapple Bowl in 1951 in spite of a 2-7-1 record.
Denver and Hawaii were no strangers to each other as they had
played 9 times since 1928. After the initial shock of have been
selected wore off, the Pioneers began to prepare for their two
games on the island, the Christmas Day game against the Hawaiian
All-Stars and the New Years Day game with the Roaring Rainbows.
Denver crushed the All-Stars 76-7 before 4000 fans as a prelude
to the big game.
The game was played on a
mud-soaked field in Honolulu before 12,000 fans. The Rainbows
marched off to a twenty point lead and then spent the rest of
the afternoon trying to fend off the oncoming Pioneers. Hawaii
opened with a huge thrust early as they scored three times in
the opening period, twice on interception returns. Following an
interception, Quarterback Jimmy Asato passed three yards to Bim
Wilson for the Rainbow’s first score. With only seven minutes
gone, Sadao Matsukawa hit Wilson for another touchdown on a 45
yard pass play. Three minutes later, following another
interception, Asato hit Pete Wilson from eight yards out and the
score was 21-0.
Denver seemed to come to life
after that and held the Rainbows in check until late in the
second quarter when Asato took a pass from Matsukawa and raced
77 yards for a touchdown. Denver finally responded when Hal
Pfeifer broke loose down the sidelines and raced 30 yards to
make the score at half, 28-7.
In the third period, Sam
Etcheverry tried to bring Denver back. First, he hit Chuck
Spagnoli with a 30 yard scoring toss. Moments later, Andres
carried it over from six yards out to close the score to 28-19.
Early in the fourth quarter, Spagnoli scored again, this time on
a 34 yard touchdown run. That was Denver’s last scoring threat.
The final score of the day came on a safety, the result of an
intentional grounding call in the endzone against Hawaii. The
final score was 28-27. Denver fell victim to poor kicking as two
missed PAT’s cost them the game. |
