RAINIER — They outgained Santiam Christian by more than 100 yards. They sacked the quarterback four times. They dominated nearly every aspect of the game. And the Rainier Columbians still lost.

It was Sept. 11, at home, second game of the season. Santiam Christian, a perennial state contender in Oregon Class 3A football, came calling in a nonleague matchup at Chris Corl Field.

So what happened? Allow Rainier head coach Thor Ware to explain.

“We fumbled twice on the (Santiam) 1-yard line, once on their 9, threw an interception on their 4 … our first five drives ended inside their 20,” Ware said, recalling each agonizing detail of the defeat. “We were inside their 20 seven times for the game — and we lost.”

The Columbians lost, all right, without giving up a touchdown.

Santiam got a 29-yard field goal from Josh Read in the closing seconds of the first half, and made it stand up for a 3-0 victory.

Ware and the Columbians knew there would be a chance for a rematch if both teams took care of business in their respective leagues. They’ll get it Saturday night when fifth-ranked Rainier (9-2) takes on the fourth-ranked Eagles (10-1) in the Class 3A state quarterfinals on the Field Turf at Corvallis High School.

Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. KPPK (98.3 FM) will carry the game live, starting with the pregame show at 4:40.

In other Oregon 3A quarterfinal action, upstart Clatskanie (5-6) travels to McMinnville High School to battle second-ranked Amity (11-0) at 7 p.m. tonight. The Tigers stunned Toledo, Ore., 21-6 in their state opener last weekend.

Rainier is coming off a 62-6 thrashing of Glide at home in its first-round state contest, a game in which the Columbians’ defense allowed its first touchdown in six weeks.

Ware expects his defense to be tested a lot more against Santiam’s spread passing attack, which was flying high last week in a 40-6 playoff win over Sheridan. Junior quarterback Brian Kessi, who managed just 72 yards through the air in the earlier meeting with Rainier, completed 15-of-29 tosses for 296 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception.

Kessi distributed the ball to six different receivers.

“I’m really excited to see how our secondary does against them,” Ware said. “We didn’t have Marshall (Dean) in that game and Carson (Skeans) got hurt. They throw a lot. They run the spread, they’ll go trips, offset I-formation, straight I-formation. We’re not worried about their run. We have to stop their passing game.”

Dean, a sophomore, was sidelined with an injury for the first half of the season. He has been a terror in the secondary ever since, and intercepted two passes in the win over Glide.

“I want to see how Marshall does against them,” Ware said. “They haven’t seen him before.”

The Eagles had 73 rushing yards in the first meeting and four total first downs, three coming on the drive at the end of the half when Read booted the field goal.

Lucky Lovell, a quick 210-pound senior, will try to add to his team-leading 14 1/2 sacks when he and his defensive line mates attempt to make life extremely difficult for Kessi.

Offensively, the Columbians are a different team compared to the one that lost to the Eagles in September. Ware took Brad Tripp, a 205-pound sophomore, out of the backfield and sent him to the offensive line at right guard. He added sophomore speedster Matthew Cathcart to the backfield, giving depth to a stacked unit that already included Dean, Skeans and workhorse fullback Curtis Kauffman (team-leading 1,638 yards).

Cathcart was the rushing standout last week against Glide, piling up 211 yards and four TDs. Kauffman ran for 89 yards and four more touchdowns, all in the first half.

“They haven’t see some of our guys,” Ware said. “We are definitely peaking at the right time.”

The winner of Saturday’s game meets the winner of the Gold Beach-Vale contest in the semifinals on Thanksgiving weekend.

On the Radio

KPPK-98.3 will carry the game live, starting with the pregame show at 4:40 p.m.