CORVALLIS — The only wear and tear on the Rainier Columbians following Saturday’s Oregon Class 3A state quarterfinal matchup against Santiam Christian was their tattered, rain-soaked road jerseys.

“We looked like the Bad News Bears,” joked Rainier assistant coach Mike King inside a raucous postgame locker room. “We looked a little ratty.”

Thanks to another lockdown performance by its defense and the meat-and-potatoes running of Curtis Kauffman and Matthew Cathcart, Rainier has an extra week to address its wardrobe malfunction.

The Columbians advanced to the Final Four for the second time in three years with a gritty 20-0 win over Santiam Christian at Corvallis High School, and will take on Vale — the beast from the east — next weekend in the semifinals.

The site and date won’t be determined until Monday.

“It feels absolutely great,” said Rainier head coach Thor Ware, whose fifth-ranked Columbians held the Eagles to 107 total yards — with a grand total of 2 coming on the ground.

“We got a lead, left it up to our defense and chewed the clock on offense,” Ware added. “It’s not often when the game plan you draw up plays out exactly the way you want it. But it did tonight.”

Kauffman, Rainier’s 257-pound wrecking ball fullback, carried the football 34 times for 146 yards behind his massive offensive line. After the Columbians took a 12-0 lead into the second half, Ware called on Kauffman 21 times as the Santiam Christian defense wore down with every snap.

If Kauffman was the meat of the ground game, Matthew Cathcart was the potatoes. The sweet, sweet potatoes.

Cathcart, a speedy sophomore wingback who didn’t even factor into the offense until midway through the season, scored all three Rainier touchdowns. He hauled in a 68-yard pass from Riley Tripp late in the first quarter to make it 6-0, bolted 29 yards in the second period to give the Columbians a 12-0 halftime advantage, and salted away the game on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with three minutes remaining.

Cathcart, who wears No. 23, did it with nearly all of the “3” falling off the back of his jersey and part of his “2” flopping around on the front.

Then again, maybe Cathcart is so fast that his numbers peel off on their own.

“Matthew Cathcart runs faster sideways than most people run straight,” Ware said. “He gives you that extra gear out there.”

Cathcart rushed for 97 yards on a dozen carries, but he had just two touches after halftime as Ware called on Kauffman to pound away at the Eagles.

Offensive lineman Cameron Hall, a 267-pound junior, said it’s a pleasure to pry open holes for Kauffman.

“Curt really brings it. If you get in his way, you’re in trouble,” he said. “This was a tough game. They (the Eagles) played hard. We just played a little harder.”

Especially on defense, where Rainier limited Eagles quarterback Brian Kessi to 105 yards through the air on 11-of-27 passing. Kessi had nearly 300 yards and three touchdowns in a first-round state win over Sheridan last week.

Senior defensive end Lucky Lovell treated Kessi like a rag doll, sacking him three times to bring his season total to 17.

“We knew he (Kessi) would get a few passes against us, but we were confident we wouldn’t give up any big plays,” Ware said.

Although Tripp had the only interception, the Columbians had their hands on countless other Kessi attempts.

Tripp factored into the most exciting play of the night, when he hooked up with Cathcart on a third-and-13 play with 40 seconds left in the first quarter to give Rainier the lead. As The 68-yard catch-and-run was a play that Ware used against Santiam Christian earlier in the season when the Eagles won 3-0 at Rainier.

“It’s a post-wheel combination. We knew it would be there,” he said. “And when Matthew Cathcart catches the ball, not many people are going to catch him.”

Cathcart had to adjust his body slightly to snag Tripp’s left-handed delivery.

“I caught it, turned around and saw a guy running at me,” Cathcart said. “Cody Garrett made a block and I just took off.”

Rainier (10-2) was flagged for one of its 10 5-yard penalties for the game to begin its next possession. But nine plays later on fourth-and-2 from the Eagles’ 29, Cathcart found daylight on an option pitch to the right and blazed in for the touchdown.

The Columbians milked their 12-0 lead until late in the fourth quarter when Cathcart broke outside on fourth down for his third TD. It came after three straight Kauffman runs up the middle netted just one yard.

“We feel pretty confident right now,” said Tripp, whose lone completion in five attempts as his TD to Cathcart. “We’ll get ready for Vale and see what happens. It should be a great game. And we don’t care when or where it’s played. We just want to play.”

Columbians 20, Eagles 0

Rainier                  6      6      0     8 — 20

Santiam Chr.       0      0      0      0 — 0

R – Matthew Cathcart 68 pass from Riley Tripp (run failed)

R – Cathcart 29 run (run failed)

R – Cathcart 1 run (Carson Skeans run)