Moanalua made a remarkable comeback to beat Campbell 28-20 and clinch a spot in the Oahu Interscholastic Association football playoffs.

Led by a stout defense and the offensive fireworks of quarterback Alakai Yuen and Michael Feliciano, Na Menehune (3-4, 2-4 OIA Blue) fought back from a 20-7 halftime deficit after being outplayed for the first 24 minutes.

And the final result was never in the bag until the final play, when the visiting Sabers (1-6, 1-5) had the ball at the Moanalua 14 with four seconds to go. Backup quarterback Siaosi Soto gained 11 yards to the 3, where he was met by three Na Menehune players — Nehemiah Saovao, Tyler Soucie and Kyle Bender. Game over.

“We needed it,” Moanalua coach Jason Cauley said with a sigh of relief after the frantic finish. “We told the guys at halftime that we were doing the right things in the game and that we were only down by two scores. They came back and they came back hard.”

The Sabers let it slip away but can still make the playoffs. They’ll be in if Aiea loses to No. 10 Kapolei next week. Campbell finishes with a game against No. 6 Farrington at Aloha Stadium.

“In the first half, we played inspired football,” Sabers coach Amosa Amosa said. “We tried to finish it in the second half because Moanalua has always been a comeback team. But we made mistakes on defense and didn’t execute on offense.”

Amosa said Soto was told to throw the ball into the end zone on the final play.

“He decided to run it instead and he almost made it,” the coach added.

Yuen, who had a slow first half, hit Feliciano with a screen pass for a 64-yard touchdown that was helped along by a key block from Rodson Kealohi. That made it 20-14 in the third quarter and started the ball rolling for Na Menehune.

Feliciano’s 8-yard touchdown run with 11:40 to go and Kawaiola Anderson’s extra point put Moanalua on top for good at 21-20.

With a little more than four minutes to go, Yuen was hit hard as he let go a pass that was caught by Kaimi Kinni for a 31-yard gain. It led to Yuen’s 20-yard scoring toss to Brandon Bender for a 28-20 lead with 3:55 left.

“Alakai started rough,” Cauley said. “But he’s got the resilience of a winner. I jumped on him bad at halftime. He can take it. He kept it moving and if it wasn’t for him (we would have lost).”