The Waianae offense broke out of a scoring drought and the Seariders held on for a breakthrough win over Waipahu on Friday night.

Waianae quarterback Kekoa Kaluhiokalani completed 11 of 13 passes and threw for two touchdowns and the Seariders survived a Waipahu rally in a 23-20 Oahu Interscholastic Association Red West victory.

The Seariders, who are playing all of their games on the road this season, managed nine total points in dropping their first two league games. But they put together a balanced attack to notch the win on Waipahu’s homecoming night.

"We came off a rough couple weeks. Our team needed this and finally got it," Kaluhiokalani said after Waianae improved to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the OIA Red West.

Frantic fourth quarters have become the norm for Waipahu. The Marauders’ past four games have been decided by an average of four points, and, as in a loss to Campbell the previous week, their late push came up just short as they fell to 1-2 in league play and 1-4 overall.

Waianae built a 23-7 lead early in the fourth quarter before Waipahu closed the gap with two Kaimi Paredes touchdown passes: a 47-yarder to Matapua Tulafale and a 35-yard score to Dylan Pakau with 1:23 left in the game.

But Waianae recovered the onside kick and needed all four downs to finally run out the clock.

"Somehow in the last waning minutes, we get one play here and there and get it going, but it’s a little too late," Waipahu coach Eric Keola said.

"Waianae’s a ground-game team. We had a hard time stopping their ground game, and the play-action really tortured us."

Waianae ran for 156 yards and Kaluhiokalani efficiently executed those play-action passes to sustain drives. But it was two deep throws in the first half that sparked the Seariders.

Waipahu jumped ahead on its second possession of the game, running the ball on all eight plays. Isaiah Alama’s 36-yard rush around the left side helped set up Terrance Lauti’s 2-yard touchdown run.

Kaluhiokalani then completed two deep balls to Pookela Nakamoto to put Waianae in position to take the lead.

The first was a 48-yard completion down the seam to convert on third and 19. The Seariders scored five plays later when Kaluhiokalani rolled to his right and completed a 6-yard pass to running back Alakai Kealoha on fourth and goal.

Kaluhiokalani and Nakamoto connected on a 59-yard pass to open Waianae’s next drive. The Seariders got to the Waipahu 7 and Jacoby Cid drilled a 24-yard field goal with 8.3 seconds left in the second quarter.

Kaluhiokalani’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Keanu Chung in the third quarter and Jeremy Willes’ 1-yard run early in the fourth gave Waianae a 16-point cushion.

After Paredes’ touchdown pass to Tulafale, Waianae lost a fumble at the Waipahu 5 with 4:05 left to keep the Marauders’ hopes alive.

Paredes led the Marauders on a 12-play drive, finishing it with the touchdown pass to Pakau, who’d averaged nearly 120 yards over the previous three games but had been held to 1 yard receiving to that point.

After Waianae recovered the onside kick, head coach Daniel Matsumoto still couldn’t breath easy until Kaluhiokalani ran out the final 2 seconds on fourth down.

"We needed to have a win because our goal now is to somehow get into the playoffs, so this is such an important win for us," Matsumoto said. "But Waipahu, what a spectacular team. They can do just about anything. We knew we were going to be in for a battle."