By shortening the game with its ground attack, Waianae extended its deepest postseason run since 2010.

In their first appearance in the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division I Football State Championship in five years, the Seariders followed their offensive line to a 21-6 first-round win over Baldwin on Friday at Aloha Stadium.

Waianae scored on its first possession and the Seariders defense protected the lead from there with four takeaways and four sacks to set up a semifinal matchup with top seed and OIA champion Kahuku next Friday at Aloha Stadium.

"It feels good. These kids work hard, they did their jobs, got the task at hand and we’re moving on," first-year Waianae coach Walter Young said.

Waianae (9-3) earned the OIA’s third state tournament berth with a win over Farrington last week and Friday’s victory was the program’s first in the tournament since beating Mililani in the 2010 semifinals. Next week’s game will be a rematch of Kahuku’s 30-0 win on Oct. 3 in the regular-season finale.

"They’re a very good football team," Young said. "It’s going to be a good one, we look forward to it, to face that well-coached Kahuku team."

Waianae generated 239 of its 300 total yards on the ground, with five backs recording at least six carries. Javen Towne led the Seariders with 67 yards and a touchdown on nine attempts.

"That’s the game plan, to try to shorten the game, which we did," Young said. "That last drive we didn’t score, but we were able to take five minutes off the clock, and that’s the game plan."

Quarterback Jaren Ulu opened the game with a 19-yard completion to Kade Ambrocio, who gave the Seariders the lead with a 9-yard touchdown run to punctuate a six-play opening drive.

"It was good blocking from the start," Ambrocio said. "(The linemen) were getting the holes there and we just had to execute, all the running backs. … We rely on them a lot, they’re the ones that push the offense."

Baldwin’s first two possessions resulted in an interception and a fumble and Waianae converted the second takeaway into a five-play scoring drive, with Ulu throwing a 21-yard touchdown pass to Royce Carrick to give the Seariders a 14-0 lead.

"I wasn’t even supposed to run a seam (route)," Carrick said. "I was supposed to run a corner, but the seam was open and I stuck to it and my quarterback put it there. … Every day at practice we work on adjusting to what’s open for us. We just have to recognize it."

Baldwin (8-4) scored its lone touchdown with 55 seconds left in the first quarter when Jonovan-Taje Akaka made a juggling catch in the back of the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown on fourth-and-12.

Akaka finished with 139 yards on nine receptions, but the Waianae defense, led by linebacker Brandon Hattori’s three sacks, didn’t allow the Bears any closer.

"We were prepared for the quarterback (Chayce Akaka) to be scrambling a lot, tried to contain him with a lot of blitzes and contain the edge," said linebacker Noah Kealoha, who also had a sack and recovered a fumble forced by Hattori in the first quarter.

Alexander Quijano and Mosiah Brame had interceptions in the first half and the Waianae offense played keep-away late to close out the win.

"This was a great experience for our team. The penalties and the four turnovers didn’t help, but I thought our defense played really well," Baldwin coach Pohai Lee said.

"This is a very different team than we were (on Aug. 15 in a 53-0 loss to Kamehameha). It took a while for the boys to get going and to jell. They saw the light and started to play together and became competitive. We love playing the teams from Oahu. It’s always a good test."

Waianae 21, Baldwin 6

Wain–Kade Ambrocio 9 run (Tate Ebel kick)

Wain–Royce Carrick 21 pass from Jaren Ulu (Ebel kick)

Bald– Jonovan-Taje Akaka 33 pass from Chayce Akaka (pass failed)

Wain–Javen Towne 19 run (Ebel kick)

RUSHING–Baldwin: Kamaki Gouveia 14-67, Kaylon Santos-Kekona 1-14, La’akea Kahoohanohano-Davis 1-6, Chazzaniel Sa’u 2 -(minus 2), C. Akaka 9-(minus 52). Waianae: Towne 9-67, Jurick Valdez, 12-58, Ambrocio 6-38, Carrick 7-37, Rico Rosario 8-33, Jorell Pontes-Borje 3-4, Brandon Hattori 1-1, Ezekiah Moniz-Hopeau 2-1, Ulu 6-0.

PASSING–Baldwin: C. Akaka 12-30-2-163. Waianae: Ulu 4-11-1-61.

RECEIVING–Baldwin: J. Akaka 9-139, Kaelon Wainui 2-11, Keli’i Kaiama 1-13. Waianae: Kana’i Mauga 2-21, Carrick 1-21, Ambrocio 1-19.

Mililani 62, Hilo 18