After years of climbing higher, Campbell just needed one more win. One more series.

One more yard.

The Sabers banked their season on a fourth-and-1 play from their own 29-yard line with 3 minutes remaining, and Isaac Hurd came through to help close out a tough 13-7 win over Aiea on Saturday night before roughly 2,000 fans at the Sabers’ field.

An interception by linebacker Donovan Poniatowski sealed the victory for No. 5-ranked Campbell (8-1, 6-1 league).

Campbell advanced to the semifinals of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red playoffs and will meet Farrington on Friday at Aloha Stadium. The Sabers now have two chances to qualify for the state tourney. A win next week gives them an automatic berth. A loss would put them in a third-place game for the final OIA state berth.

Either way, they’re feeling a little lucky and a whole lot relieved. The battle between mentor — Aiea’s Wendell Say — and pupil was another cliffhanger. Campbell coach Amosa Amosa, a former standout offensive lineman at UH, made the call with his team at its 29-yard line late in the game.

"They’re talented at every position skill-wise. You have to account for every one of them like Leilehua, across the board," Say said. "It was short yardage and they had big boys pushing across the line. We stopped the middle, but (Hurd) slipped right off."

Amosa had no doubt, having Hurd, who alternated with Justin Tago-Su‘e at quarterback, go under center for the first time all night.

"Sometimes we’ve got to gamble. I always believe that our offensive line can get 1 yard if we need it," Amosa said. "We tightened all the splits. Aiea, every year, has an awesome defense. They’re almost a mirror image of us, what we do defensively. Isaac has a big body and he can create his own (yardage)."

Hurd found a seam on the side of his line’s surge and got the first down. That forced Aiea to burn its final two timeouts, and after Campbell punted, Na Alii had just 1:18 left at its 42-yard line.

That’s when Poniatowski stepped into a seam for a clean pick on a pass by Aiea’s Isaiah Fonoti.

"Coaches told us leave the flats and backpedal, stay back and watch the 2 guy come inside," the junior said. "I watched the guy coming in and there was the ball."

Fonoti, facing a zone, double-clutched before tossing his only pick of the game.

"I went to flat a little bit, but I came back and picked up the curl," Poniatowski said of his first interception as a varsity player.

It was a heartbreaking, season-ending loss for Aiea (4-6, 2-5), which met Campbell a few weeks ago and lost 22-18 in regular-season play. This time, Na Alii picked off Hurd and Tago-Su‘e three times, and the Sabers’ potent aerial attack managed just 101 passing yards.

"It’s tough, it’s tough. It’s the playoffs, anything can happen. We were hoping things would fall our way, but it didn’t," Say said.

Campbell burned Aiea for one long play all night, on the first snap from scrimmage. Tago-Su‘e raced out of the pocket and lobbed a lead pass to Keoni Piceno, who hauled in the spiral and raced to paydirt for a 66-yard touchdown. It was the last time Piceno got that open; he didn’t get another reception until the fourth quarter, and he was gang-tackled for minus-21 yards on seven carries.

The Sabers looked elsewhere and drove 82 yards in 10 plays to open a 13-0 lead in the second quarter. A pass interference penalty coupled with an unsportsmanlike conduct call hurt the visitors, and Campbell scored on a 5-yard burst on the right side by Aries Pihi with 5:21 left in the first half.

The Sabers went for two on the PAT, but Aiea stuffed the play in the backfield.

A mess of three turnovers by the teams in the final 1:38 left Aiea with a huge opportunity. After a sack of Hurd and a fumble recovery by Sheldon Williams at the Campbell 34-yard line, Fonoti went to work with 20 seconds left. He hit Kamakana Apelu for 18 yards, then found Jarrel Chaviera in the back of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 5.4 seconds remaining in the half.

The closest Aiea came to scoring again was late in the third quarter, with a march to the Sabers’ 9-yard line. A delay of game penalty and a sack left Aiea with a 40-yard field goal try by Jae Won Huh that came up short.