The undefeated Tigard Tigers met up with the also undefeated Central Catholic Rams today in the O.S.A.A. 6A football semifinals at Jeld-Wen field. The Tigers had their eyes set on a repeat of the 2003 state championship game, nearly a decade ago. Unfortunately, they fell short of their goalof making it to the finals with a disappointing 49-83 loss.

On Tigard’s first play of the evening they fumbled the ball, leaving room for the Rams to score twice early in the first quarter. With 3:03 left on the clock, senior A.J. Hotchkins finally put the Tigers on the board. However, it wasn’t long till the Rams scored another touchdown. At the end of the first quarter the Tigers trailed 7-21. In the second quarter, the Tigers scored twice with runs by senior Daren Rodrigues and junior Tyler Walker. Although it wasn’t as impressive as the Rams 28 point quarter. At halftime Central Catholic continued to lead the Tigers with a score of 49-21.

Going into the second half, the Tigers were hopeful. In the third quarter Walker scored his second touchdown of the night at 2:21. It wasn’t enough. Central Catholic continued to run past the Tigers over and over again. The Tigers were behind 35-63 going into the fourth quarter. The Tigers continued to chase after the Rams. Walker managed to pull out his third touchdown for the night but the Rams scored three more touchdowns before the end of the game. Hotchkins finished off the night and his high school football career with a 20 yard touchdown run.

Central Catholic won the night with a total of 83 points.