MILILANI - It is not often that teams face a must-win game just a month into the season, but that was just what the Wai'anae Seariders were up against Saturday night.

Led by the play of brothers Puletua and James Wilson on offense, Wai'anae picked up its first win - a 42-28 win over host Mililani - and avoided its first 0-4 start in school history. The Seariders produced five scores and 269 yards on 50 rush attempts before a crowd of about 1,600 at John Kauinana Stadium to improve to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's Red West Conference. Mililani, which entered the contest ranked No. 2 in this week's ScoringLive.com/OC-16 Power Rankings, suffered its first loss and fell to 3-1 and 1-1.

"It was a big game, we needed this win badly," Wai'anae coach Dan Matsumoto said. "I'm glad that the boys secured the ball tonight and they played hard, but there's still a lot of mental things that we did wrong tonight so we still need to make a lot of adjustments."

Puletua Wilson, a senior quarterback, ran in two touchdowns and threw for another while James, a senior running back, also found the end zone twice on the night. Wilson guided the Seariders' Wing-T rushing attack to 22 first downs, including 18 by run. Wai'anae was 6-of-10 on third-down conversions and did not turn the ball over all game.

"He did a pretty good job leading the offense, he spread the ball around and kept Mililani's defense on its heels," Matsumoto said.

Wai'anae's Bryson Panui led all players with 67 yards on 11 rushes. James Wilson had 58 yards on seven carries, Jaylen Mitchell added 51 yards on nine attempts and Puletua Wilson finished with 45 yards on 10 rushes.

"Since Monday we've been working on our game plan for Mililani," Puletua Wilson said. "We thought that we would be able to run the ball against them and our line came tonight, opened some big holes for our backs. When we run the ball, we try to make the defense work and keep them guessing what we're doing."

The Seariders' ability to run the ball was evident from the onset. After Eldridge Kuie'e returned the opening kickoff 51 yards, Puletua Wilson quickly led his team on a seven-play scoring drive, which ended with a 3-yard plunge into the end zone by 6-foot-1, 300-pound Kennedy Tulimasealii. The play was set-up by an 8-yard quarterback keeper by Puletua Wilson on the previous play.

Mililani returned the favor, driving 80 yards on 12 plays to tie at 7 on its first offense drive. Trojans' quarterback Trent McKinney found Hassan Richardson on a 4-yard TD pass after Bryson Calma ran a crossing pattern in front of his fellow receiver and took the defender with him.

James Wilson's 18-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter capped a nearly six-minute drive and Shaughn Spencer's PAT gave Wai'anae a 14-7 lead, but Mililani tied it just minutes later on a 34-yard run by Zachary Payomo.

Wai'anae, however, capitalized on a special teams miscue by the home team on its next drive. After three consecutive incomplete passes, the Seariders punted away on fourth down, but the Trojans muffed the return and Leighton Panui recovered for the visitors at the Mililani 20-yard line. A person foul moved the ball back to the 35, but Waianae needed just five plays to find the end zone. On third down-and-2 from the 7-yard line, Puletua Wilson kept on a triple option to the right and gave his team a 21-14 halftime lead.

Mililani again evened the score on the first drive of the second half. McKinney engineered a 10-play, 82-yard drive that included three third-down conversions and was highlighted by his 17-yard scoring strike to Richardson.

But the Seariders were running on all cylinders offensively and scored the next 21 points to put the game out of reach. With 4:25 left in the third quarter, Puletua Wilson scored his second rushing touchdown, a 2-yard sneak. Mililani then went three-and-out and minutes later Puletua Wilson connected with Lawrence Akana on a 42-yard, play-action pass on third-and-9 to make it 35-21 early in the fourth quarter.

McKinney's first interception of the season came soon after and Wai'anae recycled the turnover into a score on a 16-yard James Wilson run. On the scoring play, he took the handoff and ran a sweep off left tackle and broke four tackles on his way to the end zone. Spencer's PAT extended the Seariders' lead to 42-21 with 6:56 to play.

Mililani got a late score on a 20-yard TD pass from McKinney to Calma. McKinney finished 21-of-34 passing for 244 yards. Calma led all pass catchers with 107 yards on eight grabs while Richardson added eight receptions for 103 yards.

Although the Trojans' notched 314 yards of offense, it was their defensive struggles that were the determining factor, Mililani coach Rod York said.

"Their rushing attack was the difference tonight, definitely," said York, a first-year head coach. "We didn't tackle well, but you have to give credit to Wai'anae, they did what we expected."

Puletua Wilson said the win gives Wai'anae new life in the ultra-competitive Red West.

"This game was very important," he said. "This is like the first step to a new beginning."

Wai'anae hosts Aiea Friday while Mililani looks to rebound against No. 8 Campbell.