Waianae Quarterback, Kekoa Kaluhiokalani Jr. rushes into the endzone for a touchdown in the first Half. Amber Popovich | Special to SL

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Kapolei's Aizon Kahana breaks a tackle from Waianae defenders. Amber Popovich | Special to SL

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Waianae's Jemery Willes makes his way around Kapolei defenders. Amber Popovich | Special to SL

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WAI'ANAE - Homecoming was a grind for Wai'anae.

The Seariders staved off a second-half assault by Kapolei in a 35-27 thriller for some 2,000 screaming fans at Raymond Torii Field watching the O'ahu Interschoalstic Association Red West contest.

Niko Kala-Mahiai's 25-yard fumble return for a touchdown midway through the third quarter turned out to be the difference for the Seariders (6-2 overall, 4-2 Red West), whose offense went scoreless in the second half.

"I have nothing but respect for that team," Wai'anae senior quarterback Kekoa Kaluhiokalani said of the Hurricanes. "We were very luck to hold on to that win."

The Seariders, No. 8 in the ScoringLive/OC 16 Power Rankings, are assured a share of second place in the division, but their seeding for the 12-team Red tournament is contingent upon Friday's Kapolei at Campbell (3-2) game. If Kapolei wins, Wai'anae will get the second seed by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker. If Campbell wins, it will get the second seed because of its win against Wai'anae.

The top two seeds of each division draw byes in the tournament.

The No. 6 Hurricanes (5-2, 3-2), coming off an incredible come-from-behind win at Leilehua last week, weren't just hurt by turnovers (a second-quarter fumble led to a field goal), but were hampered by penalties, one of which nullified a fourth-quarter TD.

"That was our second problem," Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said. "We had three fumbles; they manufactured one into a score."

Penalties also were an issue. The Hurricanes had an 80-yard kickoff return to the Seariders' 10 nullified in the first half. They also had an apparent 26-yard TD pass nullified early in the fourth quarter because of an improper attempt at a double pass (there were two forward passes, the first occuring behind the line of scrimmage).

"What can you do?" Hernandez said. "It's tough to come back from that kind of stuff."

Hernandez was pleased the way his team tried to rally, but the mistakes hurt.

"We didn't get it done and the three fumbles killed us," he said. "We figured it out too late and by then we were behind the 8-ball."

The Seariders dominated the first half in part to their success running the ball. They scored on their first two series, first on an option keeper by quarterback Kekoa Kaluhiokalani from 24 yards and on his 5-yard TD pass to Mahvan Tau. Consecutive penalties on the PAT against Kapolei let Wai'anae go for the 2-point conversion, which is successfully converted on fullback Ronald Matautia's run to make it 15-0.

An interception by Bryson Hughes on a deep pass from Kaluhiokalani at Kapolei's 48 set up the Hurricanes' only TD of the first half, a 20-yard run by tailback Tristan Pebria toward the end of the fist quarter to pull Kapolei to 15-6.

But Wai'anae continued to control the ground, using a 10-play (all runs), 83-yard drive to increase its lead to 22-6 after Matautia's 1-yard TD with 7:51 in the second quarter.

Following the kickoff, the Hurricanes fumbled on first down, giving Wai'anae the ball at Kapolei's 22. The Seariders managed a 42-yard field goal by Stanton Spencer to make it 25-6 with 5:44 in the half.

Wai'anae cushioned its lead just before the break. It moved from its 11 to its 39 and were looking to punt on fourth-and-10. But the Seariders caught the Hurricanes in transition with their return team. Blocking back Ioane Kaluhioklani, backup QB to his cousin, Kekoa, called an audible for a quick snap and quickly passed the ball to gunner Kala-Mahiai near the left sideline for a 30-yard gain and  first down. That helped set up Spencer's eventual 27-yard field goal to end the half with Wai'anae ahead, 28-6.

"We were lucky on that because I don't think we were lined up," Wai'anae coach Dan Matsumoto said of the fake punt.

Tristan Centeio returned the second-half kickoff 95 yards for Kapolei to pull it within 28-13 just 16 seconds into the half.

But the Hurricanes lost fumbles on their next two series, the second being Kala-Mahiai's game-deciding score.

Kapolei would score again later on Pebria's second TD, an 11-yard run with 4:44 in the third quarter and with 6:01 left in the game after Kazden Reis' 20-yard TD run to pull the Hurricanes to within one score.

Having held the Seariders' offense scoreless, the Hurricanes did not elect to try an onside kick and pinned Wai'anae at its 14. But Seariders managed to milk the final 5:55 left in the game by converting a third-and-4 from their 20 with a 23-yard run by Kekoa Kaluhiokalani and later a fourth-1 at the Kapolei 35 with a 3-yard run by Matautia. The last conversion occurred with less than a minute. Kaluhiokalani downed the ball to work off the rest of the clock.

It was a grind for the Seariders because Tau and running back Jemery Willes were playing despite nagging injuries. Matsumoto said Willes still is nursing a bad ankle and that Tau was hurting all over. They are looking forward to the upcoming bye before the tournament.

"We're hurting," Matsumoto said. "We're playing hurt. It gives us a chance to heal our wounds and come back.

"The boys, I have to give them credit. They're playing with pain right now."