WAI'ANAE — Cody vonAppen gave all No. 6 Wai'anae could handle, but it wasn't enough as the Seariders' defense came up big at the end to hold off Kalaheo, 12-6, last night in an O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red quarterfinal at Raymond Torii Field.

The Seariders (7-2) will play Kapolei (7-3) in one semifinal Saturday at Aloha Stadium. Wai'anae beat Kapolei, 28-7, two weeks ago during the regular season. The Hurricanes stunned No. 2 Kahuku, 14-7, in another quarterfinal last night.

All of the scoring came in the first half as the defenses held tough in the second half. Twice the Seariders started series near midfield and came away empty. The Mustangs' last drive to the Wai'anae 23 was their deepest penetration of the second half. In fact, it was the closest either team came to scoring.

With 8:41 left in the game, the Mustangs took over from their 17 and marched into Seariders' territory some eight minutes later. But on fourth-and-9 from the Wai'anae 23, quarterback vonAppen pitched the ball right to running back Phil Tauai, who fired to the right corner of the end zone for Bruce Andrews, but the ball fell incomplete with 11 seconds left on the clock.

The Seariders downed the ball to kill the remaining time. Kalaheo's season ends at 5-4.

"We have six two-way players and these boys strapped it up and hung in there with this team for four quarters," Kalaheo coach Chris Mellor said. "They played good. I'm proud of them to the end."

To keep their drive alive, the Mustangs converted on fourth-and-1 at the Seariders' 38 with a 1-yard run by Max Karsten. They moved as close as the 24 with 1:51 left, but linebacker Josh Iriarte came up with two big sacks on successive plays for losses of 7 and 10 yards, bringing cheers from the Wai'anae crowd. On third-and-27 from the Wai'anae 41, Karsten ran for 3 yards, but a personal foul penalty against the Seariders made it fourth-and-9 from the 23, setting the scene for Tauai's incomplete pass that preserved Wai'anae's lead and the game.

"It's sad that we won't play again," vonAppen said. "They're a really good team, but I thought we had this game. We just didn't come out with the 'W.' "

VonAppen passed for 150 yards and rushed for 57. He was up to 74 before the two sacks by Iriarte.

"I'd like to thank my defensive line and my whole defense for keeping me up," Iriarte said. "They kept me up because, obviously, I wasn't playing such a good game (earlier)."

During the postgame handshakes, a number of Wai'anae players acknowledged vonAppen's performance, calling him out to tell him he played a good game.

"He was shifty," Iriarte said. "I just didn't break down and make tackles."

"He's tough to defend," Wai'anae coach Dan Matsumoto said of vonAppen. "He's a great athlete. He can do everything. He can run, pass. His scrambling is a scary thing to see when he breaks the line of scrimmage and heads down field."

The Mustangs wasted little time, taking the opening kickoff to their 35, driving down in 10 plays with running back Max Karsten scoring from 1 yard. The PAT failed to keep it 6-0 just 4:55 into the game.

Nathan Johnson's ensuing kickoff sailed into the end zone for a touchback, but the Seariders traveled 80 yards in 11 plays with Danny Kekoanui scoring from 2 yards out to tie the game with 1:42 left in the first quarter. The Seariders also missed the PAT.

Wai'anae scored midway through the second quarter to take the lead, moving 57 yards in nine plays with Kekoanui scoring on an 14-yard shovel pass from B.J. Jelf to make it 12-6. Wai'anae's 2-point conversion run was stopped.

The Mustangs were driving in the closing minute of the half, but Matt Ibanez intercepted vonAppen's pass at the Wai'anae 10 to stop the threat.

Kekoanui led all rushers with 70 yards on 14 carries.

KALAHEO (5-4) 6 0 0 0— 6

WAI'ANAE (7-2) 6 6 0 0—12

Kalah—Max Karsten 1 run (kick failed)

Wai—Danny Kekoanui 2 run (kick failed)

Wai—Kekoanui 14 pass from B.J. Jelf (run failed)

RUSHING—Kalaheo: Cody vonAppen 14-57, Karsten 8-17, Larry Soto 6-13, Bruce Andrews 1-7, Team 1-(minus 23), Phil Tauai 1-11. Wai'anae: Jelf 5-10, Kekoanui 14-70, Johnathan Abell 9-24, Ben McQuown 2-3, Team 2-(minus 4).

PASSING—Kalaheo: vonAppen 14-24-1—150, Tauai 0-1-1—0. Wai'anae: Jelf 5-16-0—102, Kekoanui 0-1-0—0.

RECEIVING—Kalaheo: Andrews 5-55, Soto 2-15, Kao Malama-Custer 5-68, Karsten 2-18. Wai'anae: McQuown 1-43, Justin Chongtim 1-7, Abell 2-38, Kekoanui 1-14.

JV SCORE: WAI'ANAE 21, 'AIEA 6

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.