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KAILUA - Taking advantage of its size and its opponent's lack of depth, Waipahu relied heavily on 5-foot-7, 190-pound running back Victor Moananu's 223 yards and three TDs to rally past Kalaheo, 31-20, Saturday night at Kailua High's stadium.

The teams entered the game tied for third in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association White at 3-1. The Marauders (4-1 overall, 4-1 White) moved into sole possession of third, dropping the Mustangs (3-2, 3-2) into fourth.

"It's not me," Moananu said. "I owe it to the O-line. It's all the O-line. That's where it begins."

The Mustangs took a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter, cashing in on two Marauders' turnovers. Kalaheo recovered a muffed punt at the Waipahu 33 and QB Justin Pagan threw a 32-yard TD pass to 6-4 Nainoa Frank on third-and-9. Danielle Ferguson's PAT gave the Mustangs a 7-0 lead two minutes, 40 seconds into the game.

Then an errant toss by QB Mark Bumanglag for a 24-yard loss gave Kalaheo possession at the Waipahu 6. On third-and-goal, Sage Richardson hauled in a five-yard fade pass from Pagan, as the Mustangs increased their lead to 14-0 with 6:45 left in the first quarter.

Waipahu got on the board in the second quarter when it survived a 13-play, 63-yard drive by converting two fourth downs, including on a fake punt that punter Greg Alip gained 19 yards to the Kalaheo 40. Later, Moananu's 11-yard gain on fourth-and-1 moved the Marauders to the Kalaheo 6. Two plays later, Moananu bolted into the end zone and Brysen Kaseli's PAT pulled Waipahu to 14-7.

But the Mustangs, not relying on RB Jesse Carney, went to the air again, scoring on their ensuing series on a 12-yard TD pass from Pagan to Frank. But Ferguson's PAT missed, so Kalaheo's lead remained 20-7.

The Marauders pulled to 20-10 on Kaseli's 37-yard field goal with 6:54 left in the half.

Waipahu kept the ball on the ground in the second half, as Moananu's TD runs of 15 and 35 yards sandwiched a five-yard TD run by QB Bumanglag to make it 31-20.

Kalaheo's Carney had just seven carries for 26 yards, as the Mustangs tried to used their height advantage on the Marauders' secondary. Pagan passed for 227 yards on 13-of-36 passing. Frank was his primary target, as he had seven catches for 139 yards.

"Jesse's not our whole team," Kalaheo coach Chris Mellor said. "I sure hope our whole team is just one man. It's still early and we have some games we have to focus on."

It's only midway for White teams, which play an eight-game schedule with the top four advancing to the White playoffs.

Basically, Waipahu used its brute strength up front to wear down Kalaheo,which lists 34 players and number of two-way performers.

"We had two two-way starters on the line and a linebacker out," Mellor said." It didn't help us. The guys who had a chance to step it up, they did a good job filling in.

"We knew our run would be a little less potent this week with injuries, so we thought we'd open up with the pass. And we did good. We caught 'em by surprise; they made some adjustments."

Waipahu coach Sean Saturnio was impressed with Kalaheo's heart.

"God bless, Kalaheo," Saturnio said. "Those kids played tough. We knew with a team like that, we tried to be as physical as we could possibly be and pick up the tempo. Those kids (the Mustangs) never get off the field. Coach Mellor does a bang up job with these kids because they don't quit."