Playmakers make plays, sometimes even in the quietest ways.

That’s what Penitito Melei does week after week. The soft-spoken senior had two of his team’s four sacks and hauled in a touchdown pass as No. 3-ranked Leilehua fought off a resilient Waianae squad 34-20 Friday night before 2,500 fans at Raymond Torii Field.

It was the second touchdown catch of the season for Melei, who makes most of his plays at defensive end. Leilehua’s occasional double-tight-end set gives him a chance to put his hands to work.

“We played together,” the 6-foot-2, 210-pound two-way player said.

Kenan Sadanaga passed for 236 yards and two touchdowns as the visiting Mules improved to 5-0 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red West (6-0-1 overall). They led by four touchdowns before Waianae rallied in the second half.

“They came back, but we stuck it out,” said Sadanaga, who eluded the pass rush often and was sacked just once.

Leilehua has already secured a first-round bye in the playoffs, which will follow a matchup with rival Mililani next week.

“We played against a really good, well-prepared Waianae team and we were able to battle all four quarters,” coach Mark Kurisu said. “They have a great running game with those two guys (Leighton Panui and Jaylen Mitchell). We tried to do something that they weren’t comfortable with. As you saw, they were able to move the ball. Those two touchdowns were actually on passing drives, so they did a good job these past two weeks, gameplanning stuff. It’s a credit to Waianae.”

Waianae slipped to 2-3 in league play (2-5 overall) with the homecoming loss but is still in position to qualify for the playoffs. Mitchell battled for 90 of his team’s 121 rushing yards, scoring the Seariders’ first two touchdowns.

All in all, however, it was Leilehua’s quick-paced, no-huddle offense that took a toll on the Waianae defense, especially with its offense unable to sustain drives.

The Seariders did their best to control the clock by grinding out drives with their wing-T offense. Leilehua simply made big plays to take a 19-7 halftime lead.

Sadanaga’s first touchdown strike, a 25-yard pass to Andrade on a fake screen to the other side of the field, gave the Mules a 7-0 lead with 9:27 to go in the first quarter.

After an interception by defensive back Alan Ibanez, the Seariders drove 48 yards and scored on Mitchell’s 5-yard burst up the middle to tie the game at 7 with 4:02 left in the first quarter.

From there, Waianae’s offense struggled to move the chains consistently via the ground game. The Mules regained the lead on Allen Racette’s eye-popping 30-yard touchdown. Racette caught a short pass from Sadanaga, spun out of a tackle and sprinted another 20 yards to the pylon, and Leilehua led 13-7 with 7:39 to go in the first half.

The Mules drove 58 yards in six plays for their third touchdown on the next series. Sadanaga’s 3-yard play-action toss to Melei opened the lead to 19-7 with 3:02 remaining in the half.

Leilehua opened the second half with a rapid eight-play, 65-yard drive. Sadanaga connected with Mikal Peyton (seven catches, 101 yards) and Andrade for three completions in a row before Cole Decorte scored from the 1 up the middle for a 26-7 lead with 7:58 to go in the third quarter.

Three plays later, Leilehua linebacker Reece Acohido picked off a pass by Kekoa Kaluhiokalani to set up a short scoring drive for the Mules. Andrade hit Peyton on a halfback option pass for 28 yards, followed by a 3-yard scoring run by Decorte. That gave Leilehua a 34-7 lead with 6:34 remaining in the third.

Waianae drove 80 yards and scored on a 1-yard run by Mitchell with 2:48 left in the third.

After Josiah Hoopii returned a fumble 27 yards to paydirt, the Seariders were within 34-20 with 10:12 left and their homecoming crowd came back to life.

Mitchell’s 47-yard punt return gave Waianae good field position, but Kaluhiokalani fumbled at the goal line on a sneak try and Robert Siavii recovered for the Mules with 3:40 to go, ending Waianae’s comeback attempt.