Campbell weathered an early miscue to survive the opening round of the OIA Division I playoffs on Friday.

After the eighth-ranked Sabers fell behind on an interception return for a touchdown, they responded quickly and advanced to the quarterfinals with a 24-9 win over Castle in Ewa Beach.

“I’m always worried in the first round of the playoffs. There’s always somebody getting upset, and I was hoping it wasn’t us,” Campbell coach Darren Johnson said.

Campbell sophomore Tyrese Tafai ran for 108 yards and a touchdown and quarterback Krenston Kaipo threw for two scores. The Sabers (6-3) will face No. 7 Leilehua on Oct. 14 in Wahiawa.

“You can see where they’re peaking at the right time,” Johnson said of the Mules. “We have to play good football against them and eliminate penalties.”

Castle closed its season at 3-6.

“Every game our defense has held onto the game, it’s just that after a while our defense becomes tired and our offense is not scoring,” Castle coach John Hao said.

Pokii Adkins-Kupukaa sparked the Sabers by closing the first quarter with a 53-yard punt return to the Castle 5. Tafai scored on a 3-yard run to give Campbell the lead.

Castle picked up its lone first down of the half in an eight-play drive capped by Cheyden Costa’s 41-yard field goal. The Knights took a 9-7 lead when Elijah-Po’o Kekiwi intercepted a pass in the flat and raced 52 yards for a touchdown.

The Sabers reclaimed the lead with a field goal and took possession again when Dylan Ursua recovered a loose ball on the ensuing kickoff. Two plays later, Kaipo connected with Gabriel Colon-Valentin on a 10-yard touchdown pass and the Sabers took a 17-9 lead into halftime.

“We got some things that turned our way,” Johnson said. “We needed some breaks and got some breaks and our defense played solid D again.”

Campbell ran 35 plays for 276 yards in the first half, while Castle was on the field for 18 plays and picked up 54 yards.

Kaipo threw an 18-yard pass to Viliami Vaimoui, who lost the ball just before the goal line. Vernon Etrata-Daite recovered in the end zone for the game’s final touchdown.

Kaipo completed 15 of 25 passes for 246 yards as Campbell racked up 405 yards in total offense while holding Castle to 120.