WAHIAWA — Danny Kekoanui scored on a 15-yard run with six minutes left to lift No. 7 Wai'anae to a 27-21 upset of No. 2 Leilehua last night.

A homecoming crowd of about 2,500 at Hugh Yoshida Stadium saw the Seariders improve to 4-2, 4-0 in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red West Division. The host Mules fell to 5-1, 3-1 in the Red West and saw their nine-game win streak, dating to Oct. 12 of last year, snapped.

"It's a tough thing to (win at Leilehua), especially with it being their homecoming," said Wai'anae coach Danny Matsumoto. "Leilehua's a great team. We had the ball bounce our way a couple of times, so we were fortunate in some areas, but our offense did a helluva job tonight."

The contrasting offenses — Wai'anae's rushing attack and Leilehua's aerial assault — were kept quiet early on. The game remained scoreless until Leilehua's Rico Newman returned a punt 54 yards for a touchdown with 1:30 left in the first quarter.

After Wai'anae went three-and-out on its ensuing drive, Leilehua quarterback Andrew Manley led the Mules on a 12-play, 70-yard drive, capped by a 1-yard Newman touchdown run with 5:42 left in the second quarter. Manley was 6 of 6 passing on the drive for 61 yards.

Wai'anae got on the board with 2:29 left in the half on a 1-yard dive by Johnathan Ligsay, a 5-foot-9, 205-pound running back. He finished with 110 yards on 14 carries.

On the opening kickoff of the second half, Wai'anae's DJ Ah Wong was able to recover a squib kick that Leilehua muffed. The Seariders scored two plays later on a 20-yard run by Kekoanui, his first of two touchdowns in the game. The extra point was blocked and Leilehua held a 14-13 lead.

The Mules answered on their next play from scrimmage, a 58-yard touchdown pass from Manley to Chevis Aberilla Ramento, who was left wide open down the left sideline.

However, Leilehua was unable to stop the Wai'anae rushing attack, and the Seariders marched 65 yards, scoring in seven plays — all runs. The drive was capped by an 18-yard touchdown by run Ligsay. Wai'anae trailed 21-19 after the two-point conversion rush attempt was no good.

Wai'anae gained 176 of its 263 rushing yards in the second half.

Leilehua was able to move the ball to the Wai'anae 10, but the Mules were flagged for three consecutive false start penalties while attempting a 27-yard field goal on fourth down. On fourth-and-25, Leilehua's offense took a shot, but Manley's pass fell incomplete and the Seariders took over on downs. Kekoanui carried eight times on the following drive, including the winning touchdown, the 13th play of the drive.

"(Our running backs) held on to the ball and extended our drives when we needed them to," Matsumoto said.

Leilehua lost the ball on downs on its final drive, and Wai'anae was able to run out the clock with the help of a questionable call.

Ligsay appeared to be stripped of the football on a running play and Leilehua recovered the loose ball with under 2 minutes left, but the officials ruled the runner was down.

Wai'anae avenged a pair of losses to Leilehua last season. The Mules won at the Seariders' homecoming and in the OIA Red championship game.

"We knew this would be a tough game coming in. We practiced hard all week and came into this game thinking like it was a championship game," Kekoanui said.

WAI'ANAE (4-2, 4-0) 0 7 12 8 — 27

LEILEHUA (5-1, 3-1) 7 7 7 0 — 21

Lei — Rico Newman 54 punt return (Maika Kunioka kick)

Lei — Newman 1 run (Kunioka kick)

Wai — Johnathan Ligsay 1 run (Guyson Amina kick)

Wai — Danny Kekoanui 20 run (Amina kick)

Lei — Chevis Aberilla Ramento 58 pass from Andrew Manley (Kunioka kick)

Wai — Ligsay 18 run (run failed)

Wai — Kekoanui 15 run (Kekoanui run)

RUSHING — Wai'anae: Kekoanui 27-151, Keoni Napierala-Rose 6-15, Ligsay 14-110, Damien Dela Cruz 1-3, team 1-(minus 6). Leilehua: Rico Newman 9-26, CJ Bailey 3-22, Jeremy Suguitan 1-(minus 3), Manley 1-5.

PASSING — Wai'anae: Napierala-Rose 2-7-1—28. Leilehua: Manley 17-30-0—191.

RECEIVING — Wai'anae: Ligsay 1-11, Kalin Sandobal 1-17. Leilehua: Aberilla Ramento 4-88, Edieson Dumlao 5-49, Matt Reyes 5-42, Austin Schmidt 1-(minus 2), Newman 2-14.

JV score — Leilehua 9, Wai'anae 6