Campbell’s Jaynalyn Sotelo (1) caught a touchdown in the end zone in front of Mililani’s Nahealani Choy Foo (3) to give the Sabers the first score of the night during the second quarter in the inaugural Hawaii Dental Service/HHSAA Girls Flag Football State Championships semifinals at Mililani’s John Kauinana Stadium. CJ Caraang | SL

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[email protected] - CJ Caraang | SL

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MILILANI - Campbell's 1-3 punch - No. 1 Jaynalyn Sotelo and No. 3 Shaleah Moore - knocked out Mililani, 14-0, in a semifinal of the Hawaii Dental Service State Flag Football tournament Friday night at John Kauinana Stadium.

In a battle of unseeded West powers, the Sabers (10-2) will take on Leilehua (10-2) for the inaugural state title, 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the same site. The Mules beat Punahou, 18-12, in their semifinal.

Campbell avenged an OIA tournament semifinal loss to Mililani, 25-14. The Sabers were held to 14 points, but this time did not give up any in part due to the big plays by Sotelo and Moore.

"I felt we worked very hard to get this win," Moore said. "I feel very excited and happy, and hope we can take this home and win this."

Sotelo, a safety/linebacker, set the tone when she intercepted Brooke Kurasaki's pass after the Trojans started the game with the first possession. It was the first of three by Sotelo, who raised her season total to 12 picks. She's had an interception in every game she has played, except the quarterfinal win against Kamehameha Thursday night. She also missed some games because of club basketball; she was a second-team All-Hawaii selection. Her basketball skillset shows in her defense and on offense as a receiver. At 5 feet 9, she generally has a longer reach than those defending her. She caught a 13-yard TD pass from Maya Gonsalves in the second quarter.

"Jiji on the offensive side of the ball, what a weapon to have," Campbell coach Will Naboa said. "Somebody who can go up there and get (the ball), in traffic, so we love having her here."

Moore, the blitzer, had only four flags pulled, but all were sacks. She also deflected two passes and was credited with three QB hurries, which might have led to the three interceptions off of Kurasaki, normally a receiver, but pressed into action at quarterback for Zenn Nelson, who was injured the night before.

"Obviously, it hurts (the Trojans not having Nelson)," Naboa said. "Zenn is a great player, Mililani's a great team, so for us, we already had our game plan regardless of who they had at quarterback. We were going to stick with what we had the whole time."

Mililani's offensive series either ended with a punt (five times) or an interception (three) . Campbell possessed the ball for 28 minutes, 1 second to Mililani's 19:59. Offensively, Campbell was methodical in holding the ball with high-percentage passes and counter runs. They milked the clock between plays; anything to keep the Trojans' explosive offense on the sideline.

"We were definitely deliberate when we had to be, we opened it up when we had to," Naboa explained. "The key thing is we looked at our stats throughout the season, we're a balanced offense, so we're kind of unpredictable -- even pass, even run -- and we like it that way."

The game stats showed Campbell throwing 33 times and rushing 18. The key was how it mixed those plays.

Advancing to the state title game means a lot to Sotelo. Her Campbell basketball team has made state tournaments, but would be ousted before the title game. This past season, the Sabers were eliminated in the semifinals.

"I've never made it this far in basketball, so it's a great feeling,' Sotelo said.

She scored the first TD of the game on a 13-yard pass from Gonsalves. Sotelo used her 5-foot-9 height and jumping ability to tower over the Trojans' defenders. Gonzales then connected with Jyzelle Gorion for the 1-point conversion to give Campbell a 7-0 lead into the half.

Sotelo dropped the dagger on the Trojan in the third quarter when she returned an interception 33 yards for a TD - her third pick-6 of the season. Gorion again caught a Gonsalves pass for the 1-point conversion that made it 14-0 with 8:33 left in the third quarter.

Gonsalves had a season-high of 20 completions from 32 pass attempts.

Like Sotelo and Gonsalves, Moore pulled double duty by catching a team-high six passes for 43 yards. Sotelo had three receptions for 28 yards. Gonsalves led her team with five pulled flags.