Waianae had trouble holding on to the ball in the first half of Friday’s game against Campbell.

After the break, the Seariders maintained control of the ball, then took command of the contest in a 28-14 OIA Red West win over the 10th-ranked Sabers.

The Seariders offense turned the ball over four times in the first half, with one leading directly to a Campbell touchdown. Trailing 14-7 at halftime, Waianae rode a punishing ground game to score 21 unanswered points and evened its record at 2-2 in the division and 3-3 overall.

“Pretty much that was the bottom line. We just needed to take care of the ball and we were lucky to be down just by seven,” Waianae head coach Danny Matsumoto said. “We felt we could move the ball, so we just needed to hang on to the ball.”

Waianae’s running back tandem of Jeremy Willes and Alakai Kealoha combined to rush for 258 yards and accounted for all of the Seariders’ scoring.

Willes ran for 140 yards on 31 carries — 23 of those attempts coming in the second half — and scored three touchdowns. Kealoha finished with 118 yards on 19 carries and caught a game-tying touchdown pass in the third quarter.

“We’ve been practicing basically what we did tonight,” said Willes, who was quick to credit the Seariders offensive line for opening the way for the backs.

Although the game was played on Campbell’s field, Waianae was the designated home team and wore its dark jerseys for the first time this season.

Waianae ran 37 plays in the second half, and kept the ball on the ground on 35 of those. Quarterback Kekoa Kaluhiokalani’s first throw of the third quarter was a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kealoha that tied the game at 14.

Kaluhiokalani spent most of the half deftly operating a triple-option attack and Willes then capped a 13-play drive with a 6-yard TD to give the Seariders the lead with 9:07 left in the game.

After the Waianae defense forced a Campbell punt, the Seariders took over with 6:37 left and kept possession until Willes scored his third touchdown with 36 seconds left in the game.

“We’re not a fancy team. We’re fortunate our offense was able to move the ball. Our offensive coordinator (Anthony Sandobal) called a great game and the boys executed when they needed to,” Matsumoto said.

Waianae’s ground game kept the Campbell offense on the sideline for the vast majority of the second half. The Sabers ran just 13 plays after the break and the Waianae defense — led by lineman Kennedy Tuliasealii — held

Campbell to 29 yards and two first downs.

“Our defense worked hard tonight; they gave us opportunities,” Campbell coach Amosa Amosa said. “They gave us a touchdown and two fumbles and we didn’t capitalize. The inconsistency on offense is hurting us right now.”

Waianae’s offense had turnover issues in the first half, giving the ball away on three of its first four possessions with the last resulting in the game’s first score as Campbell linebacker Donovan Poniatowski returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown at the 8:13 mark of the second quarter. The Seariders held on to the ball on their next drive and capped a seven-play march with Willes’ 2-yard run.

Campbell regained the lead on its next drive when quarterback Justin Tago-Sue’s pass over the middle sailed over a Sabers receiver and into the arms of teammate Amosa Amosa Jr. for a 30-yard TD and a 14-7 lead.

OIA WHITE

Kalani 34, Roosevelt 7

Noah Brum completed 18 of 27 passes for 222 yards and four TDs as the Falcons beat the Rough Riders.

Ikona Mamiya had seven receptions for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Blaise Manabe and Tyler Ho each hauled in one TD pass.

Kaiser at Nanakuli
No score was reported.