WAI'ANAE — Playing with a sense of urgency, No. 7 Wai'anae slammed 'Aiea, 46-0, last night in a quarterfinal of the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red football tournament at Raymond Torii Field.

The Seariders (6-3) will play Mililani (7-2) in a semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday at Aloha Stadium. Na Ali'i (4-6) are done for the year.

The 35-point differential mercy rule set off the running clock at the start the second half with Wai'anae leading, 39-0.

"I think they knew they had to (win to) go on," Wai'anae coach Danny Matsumoto said of his players. "It was scary (after the loss to Kapolei). It was intense. Nobody wanted to end the season now."

The Seariders entered the game having lost their regular season finale to Kapolei, spoiling a perfect regular season. But last night the defense set the tone with four interceptions and a fumble recovery. Each led to a score, one directly when cornerback Bronson Panui returned an intercepted pass 70 yards for a touchdown. He had two picks, and Preston Ayala and Chris Santiago-Yoshioka had one apiece.

"I like thank my D-line and my whole defense," Panui said. "Without them putting pressure ... I wouldn't have got that."

The domination by the Seariders shocked Na Ali'i.

"It was a tough game," 'Aiea coach Wendell Say said. "I don't know what to say ... They played a lot better than we did."

The Seariders held Na Ali'i to 139 yards. 'Aiea's deepest penetration was to the Wai'anae 32, where the Seariders stopped quarterback Lofa Li'ili'i twice for no gain after third-and-1.

'Aiea took the opening kickoff, but just three plays into the series, Ayala returned an interception off Alfredo Higa 22 yards to the 'Aiea 18. After a 5-yard encroachment penalty on 'Aiea, quarterback Ben McQuown rolled right and hit Kelemeke Maifea coming across from the left for a 13-yard TD pass. William Duesigneur's PAT made it 7-0 with 10:10 in the first quarter.

On its ensuing possession, 'Aiea drove to the Wai'anae 39, but on third-and-10, Panui made his first interception, returning it for a touchdown that made it 14-0.

After the short-yardage stance by Wai'anae at its 32, the Seariders put together a 10-play (all rushing), 68-yard drive that was capped by David Ferreira's 18-yard scoring run on third-and-15 with 9:38 left in the half.

Panui's second interception at the 'Aiea 36 also was cashed in for a score, a 10-yard run by Roy DeMello that made it 26-0 with 8:32 left in the half.

The Seariders took a 32-0 lead when McQuown hit Don Medeiros on a 52-yard TD pass with 4:19 left in the half.

Later, Wai'anae inherited good field position when 'Aiea punter Josh Chung was dropped for a 4-yard loss on fourth down at the 'Aiea 36. That set up running back Justin Kauwalu's 1-yard TD run with 1:19 left in the half to make it 39-0.

Wai'anae nearly scored again before the half, when defensive lineman Noah Halemanu returned a fumble 42 yards for an apparent touchdown, but the play was nullified by an illegal block with 16 seconds left in the half.

Santiago-Yoshioka's interception in the third quarter led to the final score of the game. And to show that the ball literally was bouncing Wai'anae's way all night, DeMello fumbled on third-and-goal at the 'Aiea 1, only to have teammate Joe Abell pick the loose ball and run it in from the 1 to make it 46-0 with 2:29 left in the third quarter.

'AIEA (4-6) 0 0 0 0 — 0

WAI'ANAE (6-3) 14 25 7 0 — 46

Wain—Kelemeke Maifea 13 pass from Ben McQuown (William Duseigneur kick)

Wain—Bronson Panui 70 interception return (Duseigneur kick)

Wain—David Ferreira 18 run (kick failed)

Wain—Roy DeMello 10 run (pass failed)

Wain—Don Medeiros 52 pass from McQuown (kick failed)

Wain—Justin Kauwalu 1 run (Duseigneur kick)

Wain—Joe Abell 1 fumble recovery (Duseigneur kick)

RUSHING—'Aiea: Alfredo Higa 1-0, Lofa Liilii 15-54, Team 1-(minus 4), Alan Fonoti 1-(minus 3). Wai'anae: McQuown 2-11, Danny Kekoanui 4-16, Joe Abell 6-50, Ferriera 4-20, J. Kauwalu 5-15, DeMello 6-41, Cranston Newman 1-(minus 3), Togamalu Brown 1-(minus 5).

PASSING—'Aiea: Higa 8-15-4—59, L. Liilii 5-14-0—33. Wai'anae: McQuown 4-5-0—110, Togamalu Brown 2-3-0—10.

RECEIVING—'Aiea: L .Liilii 3-15, Fonoti 2-14, D. Liilii 2-25, Crenston Ioapo 1-10, Ezra Knight 2-10, Aldodius Colquitt 1-7, James Buchanan 2-11. Wai'anae: Kelemeke Maifea 1-13, Nathan Malaki 2-45, Don Medeiros 1-52, DeMello 1-0, Tyson Ranada 1-10.

JV: Wai'anae 6, Farrington 0

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.