Waipahu remained in the thick of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II football race with a 38-0 victory over McKinley on Saturday night at the Aiea High field.

The Marauders (4-1, 3-1) moved into a second-place tie with Waialua (3-1, 3-1) and trail the only team they lost to — the Pearl City Chargers (4-1, 4-0).

With the steady hand of Braden Amorozo at quarterback, a stable of running backs and a stout defense, Waipahu went up early, grabbed a 32-0 halftime lead and never looked back.

“It was good to get the ‘W,’ but we still have a lot of work to do,” Marauders coach Bryson Carvalho said. “We haven’t played our perfect game yet. That could either be good that we haven’t played it yet and it’s coming or we gotta be honest with ourselves and say we’ve got to fix the things we need to put everything together. We just haven’t had it yet. We’re looking for consistency. We’re hot and cold.”

AJ Contado was money at receiver for Waipahu, grabbing two Amorozo touchdown passes. Amorozo, who went 17-for-25 for 221 yards, also scored a rushing touchdown.

The Tigers (0-4, 0-3) got past midfield twice in the first half and only three times in all, but Noah Lowe fumbled the ball away on one of those drives after a short pass completion from quarterback Elyjah Badua and Waipahu’s Dhenton Bandonill recovered. Altogether, McKinley punted six times, never had prime field position and lost the turnover battle 2-0.

In the yardage war, the Marauders outgained the Tigers 430 to 66. Waipahu showed off its balanced attack, with 209 yards on the ground to go with Amorozo’s 221 through the air.

“We’re getting better every day,” McKinley coach Sam Cantiberos said. “We have a lot of young players who have never played football. Every day, we’re trying to get better. We’ve got four games left and as a coaching staff we’re happy with our progress. Waipahu is a really, really great team. They only run a few plays, but they have great execution on them all, which is awesome.”

Touchdown runs of 13 yards by Breden Natividad, 15 yards by Alfred Failauga and 4 by Amorozo, along with Contado’s two TD catches, gave the Marauders that 32-0 halftime lead. Lafo Seiuli-Sanchez, a 6-foot-4, 320-pound defensive lineman, came in on offense to get the team’s final touchdown in the fourth quarter with a 2-yard run.

“Altogether as a team, I thought we played pretty great,” said Failauga, who gained 86 rushing yards on 15 carries. “I can’t thank that offensive line any more for what they do, and that goes for the pass game, too. We’re sticking as one team and I’m glad we lost to Pearl City because it gave us a head’s up on what we need to do to fix our mistakes.”

Carvalho lauded the play of the offensive line, which he said was anchored on this night by Khaine Viliamu and Alii Siu-Aelua.

“The offensive line has been the key to our whole season,” he said. “I like the way we ran the ball tonight. On offense, you’ve gotta be able to do both.”

Badua had an accurate night for the Tigers, completing 14 of 19 passes, but he finished with just 66 yards passing and was sacked three times. McKinley’s positive running yardage was wiped out completely by its negative running yards for a total of zero yards on the ground.

“It was a tough game,” said McKinley linebacker and running back Frank Steffany, a transfer from Waipahu who had a 19-yard gain on offense with multiple tackles on defense. “We gave it our all and honestly played our hearts out and left it out on the field. It’s not the outcome we expected, but it is what it is. We’re improving.”

Kaimuki 45, Kalaheo 25

Jordan Solomon tossed four touchdown passes and the Bulldogs improved their position for an OIA Division II playoff berth with a rout of the Mustangs.

Ieke Seei-Cleveland rumbled for 136 yards and two scores for Kaimuki, while receiver Daniel Nguyen had one receiving and one rushing touchdown.

Kalaheo quarterback Mark Lehrner tossed four touchdowns against two picks in the loss.

At Aiea

WAIP—AJ Contado 7 pass from Braden Amorozo (Isaiah Harris kick)

WAIP—Breden Natividad 13 run (kick failed)

WAIP—Amorozo 4 run (run failed)

WAIP—Alfred Failauga 15 run (kick failed)

WAIP—Contado 11 pass from Amorozo (Harris kick)

WAIP—Lafo Seiuli-Sanchez 2 run (run failed)

RUSHING—McKinley: Frank Steffany 3-12, Jonah Stephens 7-3, Noah Diaz 2-0, TEAM 1-(minus-3), Noah Lowe 1-(minus-4), Elyjah Badua 10-(minus-8). Waipahu: Failauga 15-86, Natividad 6-52, Messiah Bailey 7-48, Amorozo 4-12, Seiuli-Sanchez 3-11.

PASSING—McKinley: Badua 14-19-0-66. Waipahu: Amorozo 17-25-1-221.

RECEIVING—McKinley: Braxton Lane 4-14, Stephens 3-24, Diaz 2-9, Lowe 2-4, Kepoo Amina 1-8, Sonee Taylor 1-8, Ronny Vuong 1-(minus-1). Waipahu: Contado 4-40, Ezekail Kai Kapanui Reyes 3-56, Isaac Yamashita 3-49, Failauga 3-31, Cody-Andres Paguirigan 2-24, Brysen Tomas Ignacio 2-21.

Junior varsity—Waipahu 43, McKinley 6

At Kailua

KAIM—Daniel Nguyen 4 pass from Jordan Solomon (run fails)

KAIM—Ieke Seei-Cleveland 15 run (run fails)

KALH—Tristan Thulin-Marsh 28 pass from Mark Lehrner (kick fails)

KAIM—Nguyen 20 run (Seei-Cleveland pass from Solomon)

KALH—Damien Veerman 75 pass from Lehrner (Thulin-Marsh kick)

KALH—Nathaniel Gribbons 21 pass from Lehrner (kick fails)

KAIM—Seei-Cleveland 19 pass from Solomon (kick blocked)

KAIM—Andries Toussaint 20 pass from Solomon (kick fails)

KAIM—Seei-Cleveland 20 run (run fails)

KAIM—Bailey Uehara 21 pass from Solomon (Mana Manukeu kick)

KALH—Gribbons 10 pass from Lehrner (pass fails)

RUSHING—Kaimuki: Seei-Cleveland 20-136. Alfred Bualuay 19-73, Calton Joseph 6-42, Nguyen 1-20, Solomon 3-18, Ricci Moon 1-14, Kyle Viyavong 1-2. Kalaheo: Anthony Camacho 3-1, Justice Neufeldt 1-1, Josiah Akau 3-0, Team 1-(minus 2), Lehrner 8-(minus 39).

PASSING—Kaimuki: Solomon 21-36-2—258. Kalaheo: Lehrner 14-24-2—236.

RECEIVING—Kaimuki: Nguyen 7-58, Uehara 3-47, Seei-Cleveland 3-30, Viyavong 2-26, Saia Maiava 2-24, Joseph 1-22, Toussaint 1-20, Tyace Sarcedo-Drennon 1-19, Bualuay 1-12. Kalaheo: Thulin-Marsh 6-63, Gribbons 5-86, Veerman 1-75, Camacho 1-8, Akau 1-4.

JV score—Kalaheo 43, Kaimuki 6