Campbell WR BJ Halmos caught this 35-yard pass from QB Isaac Hurd to put the Sabers ahead for good. Sherwin Acidera | Special to SL

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Campbell Keoni Piceno had a game-high 103 yards receiving and two scores in the win over Aiea. Sherwin Acidera | Special to SL

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'Aiea LB Douglas Tautua led the Na Ali'i defense with two fumble recoveries returned for touchdowns. Sherwin Acidera | Special to SL

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Campbell QB Isaac Hurd threw two TD passes, including the game-winner, in relief of starter Justin Tago-Su'e. Sherwin Acidera | Special to SL

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Fri, Oct 7, 2011 @ Campbell [ 7:00 pm ]

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Aiea

18

Campbell

22

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Aiea (4-6-0)	0	0	18	0	18
Campbell (8-3-0)	0	7	8	7	22

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Isaac Hurd 101 yd 2 TD

Isaiah Fonoti 60 yd 1 TD

Paul-Andrew Rhoden 22 yd

Michael Taliulu 16 yd

Keoni Piceno 103 yd 2 TD

Jarrel Chaviera 44 yd

EWA BEACH-With its division second seed clinched for the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red tournament, Campbell could've played it safe after quarterback Justin Tago-Su'e went down with an elbow injury.

Instead, the Sabers showed their home crowd some gumption that could carry them through the postseason by rallying to beat Aiea, 22-18, Friday night to close out the regular season in spectacular fashion.

Na Alii (3-5 overall, 2-4 Red West) were denied clinching a playoff berth outright and will have to wait until Saturday's Waianae at Radford game. Aiea, Mililani, Kapolei are tied at 2-4. Unfortunately for the 1-4 Rams, the trio will be pulling for Waianae (2-3) so they can avoid a a five-way tie for four remaining playoff berths in the West. If the there is a five-way tie, a coin toss will dictate who's out.

If Waianae wins, Radford is eliminated, but Aiea, Mililani and Kapolei will still have to do a coin toss to determine seeding rank because each beat one, but not the other.

Campbell (7-1, 5-1), ranked fifth in the ScoringLive/OC16 Power Rankings, refused to die after watching Aiea overcome a 7-0 deficit with an incredible scoring spree of three touchdowns within a 25-second span in the third quarter to take an 18-7 lead. This came after Tago-Su'e injured his left (throwing) elbow just before the end of the first half. But sophomore Isaac Hurd, who has played several series in nearly all the games this season, was up to the challenge, firing two second-half TD passes, the last with 1:24 left, a 35-yard strike to BJ Halmos to complete the comeback.

Campbell coach Amosa Amosa was proud of how his team never let up.

"For us to come back the way we came back, I told the boys, it's another big sign to me that we're coming together as a team," Amosa said. "This is something that will help us in the playoffs. I'm really proud of the kids. We didn't have to win the game... It's like every game we play is like a championship game."

The Sabers were trailing 18-15 when they took over from their 28 with 2:08 left after Na Alii punted. After two incompletions, a third by Hurd was nullified by a pass interference call against Aiea, giving the Sabers new life.

After a two-yard rush by Triston Perbia, Hurd hit Keoni Piceno over the middle for a 20-yard gain to Aiea's 35. On first down, Hurd rolled right, but the slotback in the right flat was covered, so he fired deep into the right side of the end zone where Halmos made the catch.

"He's young and he stepped up when our starter got hurt," Halmos said of Hurd. "I'm just so proud of him for sucking (it) up."

It wasn't an easy situation for Hurd, going against an Aiea defense that was just as tenacious as the Sabers. Hurd was 10 of 19 for 101 yards and was intercepted once. He also overthrew some passes. But he was on the money with Halmos.

"My team, they pumped me up," Hurd said of the encouragement he received from his teammates. "I just believe in God, my team and my line. They came through for me."

"Coming in a situation like this, against a tough defense, I thought he did real well," Aiea coach Wendell Say said of Hurd. "For a backup quarterback, he'd start for a lot of teams."

It was a defensive battle all night. The Sabers caught a break when Aiea didn't get off a good punt after some trouble with the snap, giving Campbell possession at the Aiea. 42. On first down, Tago-Su'e hit Piceno over the middle for a 42-yard TD pass to give Campbell a 7-0 lead after Jaelan Subia-Etrata's PAT.

On Aiea's ensuing series, Na Alii moved their 32 to the Campbell 30, but the drive was stalled by an interception by Faamanulaga Vee's interception to the Sabers' 30. Campbell moved to the Aiea 25, but Subia-Etrata missed a 40-yard field goal try before the half. It was during that series that Tago-Su'e injured his elbow, which is expected to be ready by the playoffs in two weeks, Amosa said.

Aiea took the second-half kickoff and were quickly aided by a pass interference penalty and eventually scored on Isaiah Fonoti's 15-yard TD pass to Kamakana Apelu, but Elijah Spriggs-Kahalewai missed the PAT, as Na Alii pulled to within 7-6 with 11:19 left in the third quarter.

Then an incredible sequence of events turned the game around.

On Campbell's ensuing series, defensive end Max Maafala-Maiava stripped Hurd of the ball, which rolled all the way to the end zone, where Douglas Tautua landed on it for a TD with 11:04 in the third quarter. A 2-point conversion pass failed, but Aiea took a 12-7 lead.

After touchback on the kickoff, the Sabers fumbled on first down and Tautua had to earn his keep this time, returning the fumble 10 yards for a TD with 10:54, or 25 seconds after Aiea's first TD. A 2-point try on a run failed to keep it 18-7.

Meanwhile, Campbell's defense was stumping Aiea's offense long enough for Hurd's one-yard TD pass to Piceno with 3:59 left in the third quarter. Hurd hit Paul-Andrew Rhoden on a pass for the 2-point conversion to pull Campbell to 18-15.

Aiea's offense continued its woes until the Sabers won it on Halmos' TD reception.

"It's the story of our season," Say said. "We can't expect our defense to be on the field a long time and be successful. Good teams like Campbell, they'll find a way. Our defense played soild; we just have to do a little more offensively. The problem was, we couldn't generate offense and (our defense is) on the field too long."

Meanwhile, the Sabers will need to cut down their penalties. They were called 15 times for 125 yards. Eight were for encroachment by the defense. Fonoti was using a hard count, an inflection of his voice during the cadence, to neutralize the Sabers.

"Against the defense we have, with the blitzing and timing, that Fonoti kid did a good job of drawing us offside," Amosa said. "But we need to clean that up. We're averaging more than 100 yards in penalties."