Anticipation rose tonight as the Tigard football team raced onto the field. The chilling wind of early winter blew as rain began to drizzle and the stadium lights shined. The Tigers played against the Cavemen of Grants Pass on Nov. 15 in the second round of playoffs. This week, Tigard easily outplayed their opponents and kicked Grants Pass out of the running for the state championship with a 62-3 win.

“Every team is different and we had a different game plan this week,” said senior Janak Ward. “We were expecting Grants Pass to come out and punch us in the mouth, they play really well and have a good team.”

The Tigers came out strong in the first quarter, but Grants Pass made an unfortunate fumble on the 20 yard line in their first play. Less than a minute into the game, senior Manu Rasmussen made a 6 yard touchdown, the first of the night. With 6:18 left in the first quarter,  junior Landon Floyd took his turn to put a score up on the board with a 7 yard run. Rasmussen scored the last goal of the quarter with two minutes left, leaving the Cavemen trailing 0-21. Into the second quarter, Rasmussen continued scoring for the Tigers, making two more touchdowns in the third quarter. Juniors Sam Inos and Brady McGetrick also helped their team pull further ahead. With Tigard’s determination it was seemingly impossible for Grants Pass to score but managed a 43 yard field goal with 2:57 left in the first half. Tigard led the Cavemen 41-3 at halftime.

“Grants Pass played pretty good but I think we outworked them,” said junior Jacob Spadafora. “It was a team effort and our strength is working together as a team.”

In the third quarter, Tigard continued to shine with excellent plays from senior Jett Even, Inos, and Floyd. By the end of the quarter, the Tigers were winning with a score of 55-3. The two teams played and uneventful and tight fourth quarter but sophomore running back, Alex Braden, managed to break out of the pack with a 14 yard touchdown. The Tigers won with a final score of 62-3 and will play against North Medford in the quarterfinals next Friday.

“The scoreboard shows that we killed them,” said senior Jake Biglow. “It was awesome.”