Waianae RB Rico Rosario looks to get around a Kailua defender. Rosario rushed for 133 yards and two scores on 11 carries in the Seariders' win. Steve Erler | SL

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Fri, Oct 7, 2016 @ Waianae [ 7:30 pm ]

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Kailua

12

Waianae

41

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Kailua (3-5-0)	0	6	6	0	12
Waianae (9-5-0)	7	21	0	13	41

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Jaren Ulu 51 yd

Mark Lagazo 50 yd

Rico Rosario 133 yd 2 TD

Mark Lagazo 60 yd

Jorell Pontes-Borje 28 yd

Christian Mejia 24 yd 1 TD

WAIANAE – Trying to seek some balance in its offense, No. 5 Waianae relied on its reliable running game to oust Kailua, 41-12, from the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I tournament Friday night at Raymond Torii Field.

The Seariders (7-2) will travel to No. 10 Mililani (5-2) next Saturday for the quarterfinals. Both clinched state tournament berths, but the winner advances to the Open tournament, while the lose will play in the Division I tournament.

"It feels real good," said Seariders' RB Rico Rosario, who led the team with 133 yards rushing and two TDs. "But first of all, I'd like to thank God, first and always. We just have to come back Monday, back to the drawing boards. Oh-and-oh and just work hard."

The Surfriders (3-5) could not contain the Seariders' ground game, allowing 358 yards rushing and six touchdowns. Kailua's season is done.

"We know what the culprit was, but we just couldn't make the play," Kailua coach Hauoli Wong said. "Sometimes it's like that; they don't make the play for you."

It wasn't pretty for Waianae, which was called for 17 penalties totaling 190 yards, including eight personal fouls. A personal foul and pass interference penalties aided in Kailua's only scoring drive. Four penalties resulted in first downs for Kailua. The Surfriders' other TD came on Leighton Russell's 33-yard interception return in the third quarter to pull Kailua to 28-12.

The Seariders tried to work on their passing game early, but to no avail on their first series. So they kept the ball on the ground to build a lead and later worked in some passes with modest success. Quarterback Jared Ulu was 4 of 11 for 51 yards passing.

"We were trying to be balanced," Waianae coach Walter Young said. "That's our game plan, but we have to stick with what was working at the time and running was working. Our defense did a hell of a job.

"We have a lot of things to clean up: penalties, the turnovers. Playoff time, we have to clean it up."

Waianae's defense was dangerous as usual. It registered seven sacks, three by defensive end Kanai Mauga. Sireadan Sana had an interception.

Kailua also was hampered by penalties with 11 for 103 yards.

"The penalties for us, too (hurt)," Wong said. "We come out a situation and we move us back and we're not able to get down the field. Missed calls here, holding here and there. Can't have that."

Kailua took the opening kickoff and promptly kept the ball on the ground. Although the Surfriders eventually punted, they milked nearly five minutes off the clock.

But Waianae opened its first series by passing and punted after three downs, two being incomplete passes.

Kailua was not as successful on its next series and lost the ball on downs at the Waianae 40. The Seariders used four running plays to move 60 yards, the last on Rosario's 9-yard TD run. Tate Ebel's PAT put Waianae ahead, 7-0, with 2:16 left in the first quarter.

Kailua made it a game early in the second quarter. A personal foul on Waianae on the ensuing kickoff gave Kailua the ball at its own 44. Personal foul and interference penalties on Waianae kept Kailua's drive alive with Mark Lagazo hitting his 6-foot-4 receiver Christian Mejia on a jump-ball, 20-yard TD pass. The PAT hit the right upright and was no good, so Waianae kept its 7-6 lead.

Waianae, though, answered with a five-play, 69-yard drive with Rosario scoring on a 37-yard run to make it 14-6 with 9:01 in the half.

The Seariders also scored on their next two series on Jorell Pontes-Borje's 18-yard TD run on a counter play that Kailua could never figure out. Waianae then scored on its next series on Skyler Kaleohi's 13-yard run to make it 28-6 at the half.

Waianae took the second-half kickoff only to see Russell return an interception off Jaren Ulu's screen pass 33 yards for a TD. Again, the PAT hit the upright and Waianae held a 28-12 lead early in the third.

Trailing by three TDs, Kailua was forced to pass more, but to no avail. Meanwhile, the Seariders added another TD, this time on Kade Ambrocio's 44-yard run on a counter with 10:24 left in the game.

Later, after an interception by Sana, the Seariders recycled that turnover into Javen Towne's 8-yard TD run to cap the scoring at 41-12.