Jaren Ulu passed for two touchdowns and No. 7 Waianae rushed for 255 yards to overwhelm Kaiser 62-27 on Friday night at Raymond Torii Field.

The win lifted Waianae to 6-0 in OIA Red play (6-1 overall) and sets up a showdown with unbeaten Kahuku next week.

"We’re just trying to move our guys around within the same offense, with a few wrinkles," first-year Seariders head coach Walter Young said. "Kaiser is a very, very strong team, but we know they don’t have depth. We’ve got the numbers and we kind of lean on that."

Kaiser dropped to 3-3 in the OIA Red (3-4 overall) despite an ironman effort by its linemen and running back Jensen McDaniel. The senior rushed for 147 yards and three touchdowns behind a front five led by Michael Eletise. Quarterback Nic Tom rushed for 65 yards, but left the game in the third quarter after a head injury at the end of a run.

"Oh, McDaniel and Tom were real tough. You key on one guy and the other guy makes a play. But we had a little more depth and I’m proud of our defense. Even though they gave up points, they helped us come back with those turnovers," Young said.

Kaiser doesn’t know Tom’s status for sure, but coach Cameron Higgins is confident his quarterback/kick returner/cornerback will be OK to play next week.

"He was itchy to get back in the game, but we felt it would be better for him to stay out," Higgins said of the injury. "Waianae played hard. They’re a tough team and we tried to keep fighting. We’re short on numbers, but our guys have heart and fought to the end."

As usual, the Seariders relied on a ground-and-pound attack to pile up yardage. Young’s team ran the ball 42 times and averaged 6.1 yards per carry. Jurick Valdez carried 10 times for 66 yards and Kade Ambrocio scored on runs of 1 and 38 yards in the second half as the home team pulled away on homecoming night.

Eleven different Seariders carried the ball as they wore down Kaiser’s thin defense.

Kaiser finished with 222 rushing yards on 48 carries, but Waianae came up with two fumble recoveries and two interceptions.

Waianae took a 7-0 lead on a 28-yard strike from Ulu to Isaiah Freeney on its first series. After Solofua Grey recovered the ball on a pooch kickoff, Royce Carrick raced around left end for a 21-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 Waianae lead.

The visitors got on the board late in the first quarter on a 3-yard run by McDaniel. Kaiser stopped Waianae on fourth-and-1 near midfield, but Tom was pressured by a heavy rush and threw an interception three plays later. Mosiah Brame’s pick set up a six-play, 65-yard scoring drive. Javen Towne scored on a 4-yard run to give the Seariders a 21-7 lead with 7:54 lead. Moments later, a Kaiser shotgun snap sailed over Tom’s head and out of the end zone for a safety, and after Waianae drove for a TD on a 21-yard, fourth-down pass from Ulu to Towne, Waianae had a 30-7 lead with 3:04 left in the half.

Tom returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a TD, but the Cougars never got closer than 13 points the rest of the night.