With a struggling offense, Moanalua was just trying to stay close.

When Tahi Caldwell returned a fumble 55 yards for Moanalua, the home team was within a field goal of mighty Waianae in the third quarter. But the Seariders held their ground, scoring two touchdowns in a span of 68 seconds early in the fourth quarter to pull out a 26-17 win Friday night.

Waianae gutted it out despite losing five key defensive players for various reasons. Defensive tackle Kennedy Tulimasealii sat out as a disciplinary matter. The Seariders evened their nonconference mark at 1-1. They used their wing-T attack to gain 121 rushing yards, led by Lexun Kamealoha’s 92 yards on 12 carries. Kekoa Kaluhiokalani passed for 192 yards and a touchdown (14-for-28) as the Seariders’ passing game showed improvement.

"It’s nice to get that first win," associate head coach and defensive coordinator Jason Hussey said. "Our defense bent, but didn’t break. We had a lot of personnel out tonight. We saw a lot of younger guys step up against a good Moanalua team."

With first-time starter Micah Kaneshiro at quarterback, Moanalua’s defense carried the load. Na Menehune had just 131 total yards of offense, but Kaneshiro gained confidence in the second half.

The visiting Seariders took a 6-0 lead on Jeremy Willes’ 1-yard plunge late in the first quarter.

Moanalua crossed midfield for the first time in the second quarter, pulling within 6-3 on Landon Ogawa’s 20-yard field goal with 7:24 to go.

A muffed punt return by Moanalua was recovered at Na Menehune’s 18-yard line by Brandon Rojo, and Kaluhiokalani wiggled his way around left end on an option keeper for Waianae’s second touchdown on the next play. Waianae led 13-3 with 1:16 left in the first half.

Caldwell then gave a crowd of about 2,000 a jolt by scooping up an errant pitch by Kaluhiokalani and racing down the left sideline 55 yards to paydirt. Moanalua trailed 13-10 with 8:02 to go in the third quarter.

Three plays later, Chris Owens picked off a tipped pass by Kaluhiokalani and Moanalua had a chance to take the lead. However, Waianae’s defense locked down and Kaluhiokalani’s 17-yard strike to Noa Nakamoto gave the visitors a 20-10 lead with 11:16 remaining.

Kaneshiro then fumbled after getting hit by linebacker Cleghorn Borge, and Sheaven Ferreira-Delima returned the pigskin 2 yards for another Waianae touchdown. The Seariders led 26-10 with 10:08 left.

Moanalua got a 52-yard kickoff return by Chad Aragon and capped a quick drive with a 3-yard play-action pass from Kaneshiro to Jon-Michael Sharsh to pull within 26-17 with 8:26 to go.

But Na Menehune got no deeper than the Waianae 38-yard line the rest of the way. Waianae, in the eyes of head coach Danny Matsumoto, has a long way to go.

"We’re still making simple errors. Moanalua’s a great team. Their defense played tough. But if we continue to make errors, we’re not going to be there," he said.