Jim Lebeau | SL

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To be sure, Waianae's stable of running backs includes a couple of thoroughbreds.

The Seariders' horses got the job done once again in Friday's 47-31 win over Moanalua. They pounded 297 rushing yards with nine different ball carries, much to the delight of the 1,000 or so fans at Raymond Torii Field.  

Leading the way was junior Rico Rosario, who finished as the team's leading rusher for the third straight week. Rosario made the most of his touches, logging 125 rush yards on eight carries to go with three receptions for 88 yards. He found the end zone twice — on a 77-yard screen pass and a 32-yard run — both coming as part of a 21-point second quarter for Waianae.

Javen Towne had a team-high 10 carries for 77 yards, Kade Ambrocio ran six times for 55 yards and Jorell Pontes-Borje logged three rushes for 42 yards. All three of them ran for a touchdown and Pontes-Borje added a score on a 12-yard reception early in the fourth quarter.

"Waianae is a very, very tough team and a very, very good team," Moanalua coach Savaii Eselu said. "Our thing was we had to try and attack that wing-T, because it's the toughest offense to defend. There's so much options, so much movement in the backfield, and if we're not disciplined on a consistent basis, Waianae is going to nail you."

The Seariders (3-0) rushed for 14 of their 21 first downs — 11 of them by halftime. They picked up yards in large chunks with 13 runs going for 10-or-more yards. Four of those went for touchdowns.

Of Waianae's six scoring drives, none took more than five plays or 1:50 off the clock.

"They just wear you down, wear you down and then here comes a fresh set of legs," Eselu said. "That, for sure, put a big toll on us. There's no question about it."

The offensive line, which featured starters John McFall (left tackle), Leo Cueto (left guard), Mililani Misipati (center), Jonah Maga (right guard) and Wilson Kerisiano (right tackle), deserves a lot of credit for helping the Seariders average 6.9 yards per rush.

"They're just starting to build some chemistry, so we need them to keep on getting better," Waianae coach Walter Young said of the unit. "We've got a big task against Kahuku (Friday), so we'll find out where they're at then. As of right now, they're doing pretty good at getting that chemistry that they need to build and if we can keep that going with the stable of backs that we've got, we can do some good things."

Through three games this season, the Seariders are averaging over 228 rushing yards per game, but Young is trying to keep defenses on their toes. The offense opened Friday's game with a four-wide, shotgun spread on its first series.

"We come out in multiple formations to keep everybody honest, so we're going to try multiple formations, but we try to go back to what works," Young said.

The opening drive was a quick three-and-out that included two of quarterback Jaren Ulu's 16 pass attempts in the game. Waianae went back to the wing-T on its next possession, which covered 81 yards in five plays — all runs — capped by Ambrocio's 15-yard touchdown run up the middle.

After a while it got to be a guessing game on defense for Moanalua.

"We tried to go off of tendencies from various games and try to get a good, well-educated guess on what would happen, but it just goes back to the stable of running backs and o-line. I mean, gosh, they're good," Eselu said.

Rosario, one of three Waianae backs to rush for more than 100 yards on the season, leads all of Division I-best 287 yards on 33 carries, an average of 8.7 yards per carry.

Still, Rosario understands that the Seariders' toughest test to date comes in the form of Friday's road game at defending state champion Kahuku this coming week.

"It's back to work on Monday," Rosario said. "We just take it day-by-day and win each day and by us doing that, I think we should be ready for Friday."

The Red Raiders (2-0) have allowed a total of 21 rushing yards in their first two games. They won both meetings against the Seariders last season by scores of 30-0 and 13-0.