Kickoff Return Goes Long Way for Hawaii : College football: Harding’s 97-yard runback puts Rainbows ahead for good and they hold off Fresno State, 47-45.

Freshman Matthew Harding returned the second half kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and Travis Sims rushed for 180 yards in 28 carries Saturday night to lead Hawaii to a 47-45 victory over Fresno State.

Harding’s return put the Rainbows ahead for good, 34-30, as they improved to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the Western Athletic Conference.

Hawaii increased the margin to 44-30 at the end of three quarters, but the Bulldogs (3-4, 1-2) rallied with touchdowns on a 34-yard pass play from Trent Dilfer to Michael Ross and a one-yard run by Anthony Daigle with 10 seconds to play.

Fresno State’s last two touchdowns were sandwiched around a 32-yard field goal by Jason Elam that provided the margin of victory.

Fresno State led, 23-8, after one quarter. Lorenzo Neal scored on runs of one and 31 yards, Charlie Jones returned a punt 86 yards for a touchdown and Derek Mahoney kicked a 24-yard field goal.

The Rainbows scored in the second quarter on touchdown runs of four yards by Michael Carter and six yards by Sims, and Elam’s 23-yard field goal. Fresno State countered with a 20-yard scoring run by Ron Rivers for a 30-27 halftime lead.

Harding’s dash turned it around for the Rainbows, with Elam adding a 43-yard field goal and Ivin Jasper scoring from one yard out.

Hawaii, with Sims doing most of the work, rolled up 347 yards on the ground and only 17 in the air on one completion in eight attempts. The Bulldogs had 457 yards in total offense.