COVINA — The Northview girls flag football team pulled out a dramatic win in overtime on Tuesday, beating Artesia 18-12 to advance to Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Division 5 semifinals.

After stopping the Pioneers on their first possession in overtime, the Vikings clinched the victory with their first opportunity.

Freshman quarterback Alexis Sierra hit senior Shaniya Moreland over the middle for a 7-yard, walk-off touchdown to break a 12-12 tie.

“I didn’t see (her open) right away, but my instincts kicked in,” Sierra said.

Moreland was ready for the pass.

“I was going slow and then I went faster and low-key thought I dropped it for a second, but I caught it,” Moreland said.

Northview (11-7) will take on Kaiser, a 32-18 quarterfinal winner over Azusa, in the semifinals Saturday at Covina District Field at 5 p.m.

Vikings coach Ed Sierra said they were looking to get the ball to Moreland on the final play.

“She was open the whole game and we were trying to get it to her, but they had a pretty good pass rush,” Ed Sierra said of the final play. “Our quarterback kind of hesitated getting the ball to her earlier, but she got it there when it counted.”

Alexis Sierra threw for 156 yards and two touchdowns, with both TD passes going to Moreland.

Sierra’ 45-yard touchdown pass to Moreland in the first half gave the Vikings a 6-0 lead, but the Pioneers scored on the final play of the half on Yuliana Ortiz’s 4-yard touchdown run to make it 6-6.

Artesia’s misdirection offense and double handoffs gave the Vikings fits, but the Pioneers were able to take the lead on a fourth-and-goal pass. Quarterback Adela Saucedo threw a 28-yard pass up for grabs that Alea Medina came down with to give the Pioneers a 12-6 lead with 11:13 left.

Northview’s defense came up clutch when Jayleen Sifuentes grabbed an interception with 6:47 left, stopping a potential game-clinching drive for the Pioneers.

That interception eventually set up the game-tying score. Northview’s Julianne Fernandez juked a defender and scored on a 7-yard touchdown run to tie the score, 12-12, with 4:17 left.

It looked like Artesia might win it on the final play in regulation. The Pioneers called a timeout with one second left on the 9-yard line. Lanyiya Clark caught a short pass for the Pioneers and was racing in for the game-winning score when the Vikings’ Jayiene Esteves grabbed her flag at the 3 to send it to overtime.

“That was big, we changed our defense to a man-to-man,” Ed Sierra said. “We were fortunate to see some game film on them and we knew they would run that type of play at the end. It was a big stop that gave us a chance.”

TUESDAY’S SCORES

QUARTERFINALS

DIVISION 2

Trabuco Hills 25, Sonora 24

DIVISION 3

ML King 33, South Hills 18

Troy 24, San Dimas 22

DIVISION 4

Schurr 20, Cajon 14

DIVISION 5

Kaiser 32, Azusa 18

Northview 18, Artesia 12

Covina 42, Chaffey 20

SATURDAY’S SEMIFINALS

DIVISION 4

Santa Monica at Schurr, 5 p.m.

DIVISION 5

Covina at Antelope Valley, 5 p.m.

Northview vs. Kaiser at Covina District Field, 5 p.m.