LA GRANDE — La Grande last weekend topped a team in Pendleton it has played frequently in the regular season, but never before met in the postseason.

This weekend, the Tigers will meet another first-time playoff opponent as they seek a second trip to the 4A championship game in four years.

La Grande, fresh off a 28-13 home win over the Buckaroos Friday, Nov. 11, in the 4A quarterfinals, will meet Tillamook in the state semifinals in a game to be played Nov. 19, at Barlow High School in Gresham.

While the Tigers are in familiar territory — they have been in the state semifinals twice in four years and in the quarterfinals each of the past five seasons — the Cheesemakers are making a rare semifinal trip. It’s just the fourth time Tillamook has been this far in the playoffs, with the last time in 1989 when they played in the Class AA semifinals and lost to Hood River Valley. At 9-2, Tillamook boasts its best record since also going 9-2 in 1998, and is seeking its first 10-win season since 1988. In the last 25 years, the program has reached the quarterfinals just three times — 1998, 2019 and this season.

Tillamook enters off a 28-6 home win over Gladstone in the quarterfinals. The No. 6 seed enters with the best defense of the remaining teams in the 4A playoffs and, after top-seeded Mazama surrendered 28 points in a stunning loss in the quarterfinals, the best defense in the classification at 11.6 points per game. The Cheesemakers, who are on a nine-game winning streak, have held all but one opponent to fewer than 20 points, and in the last five games are surrendering just 8.2 points per game.

La Grande, which also enters at 9-2, is on an eight-game winning streak after defeating the Buckaroos for the second time this season. Its defense, while maybe not putting up the same numbers as Tillamook in terms of points (the Tigers have allowed 16.2 points per game in 10 games played on the field) is still wreaking havoc on its opposition. The Tigers scored on a Myer Whitmore fumble recovery in the win over Pendleton and led 28-0 before the Buckaroos added two late touchdowns. Logan Williams scored three rushing touchdowns, and the quarterback amassed 173 yards on the ground in the quarterfinal win.

La Grande is hoping to make it to the championship game for the first time since winning it all in 2019, and seeks its fifth title-game appearance of all time. Tillamook, meanwhile, has only won once in the semifinals, that being in 1977 when the team reached the AA championship before losing to South Umpqua.

The contest is slated for a 5 p.m. kickoff in Gresham. The winner meets either Estacada or Scappoose Nov. 26 in the 4A championship game.