CLATSKANIE — Somewhere under the thick sleeves of mud coating each arm, Eli Pesio had goosebumps.

“Everyone counted us out,” said Clatskanie’s senior left tackle. “Everyone.”

In fairness to “everyone,” they had a point. These were the same Tigers who started the season by losing to Portland Christian, then losing to Willamina, then losing to Culver, then losing to Knappa, then losing to Blanchet.

Also the same Tigers who opened league play by being shut out by rival Rainier.

Wait … these were the same Tigers who smacked Toledo, Ore., 21-6 in the first round of the Oregon Class 3A state football playoffs on Saturday, right?

“Yes,” Clatskanie coach Brian Strong said. “That’s them, right there in front of you.”

They’re still below .500, but the 5-6 Clatskanie Tigers are one of the last eight teams standing in the hunt for a state championship.

The Tigers play second-ranked Amity (11-0) next weekend in the quarterfinals.

“It’s … incredible,” said senior Jaron Cruz. “Early in the season, we weren’t finishing drives. We were fumbling a lot. We weren’t getting it done. But since then, we’ve come together as a team.”

“We’re still climbing that hill,” said senior lineman Brad White. “We’re not there yet. We haven’t reached our peak.”

They key on Saturday was the play of Clatskanie’s offensive line, which put the Toledo defense in a 48-minute choke hold. Cruz and fellow senior running back John Harvey said they were inspired by the play of their linemen. They they certainly ran like it.

Harvey did most of his damage on the left side, following blocks by Pesio and left guard Dustin Hastings, with right guard Connor Hullegaard occasionally pulling into the mix. Harvey hammered out 175 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries.

Cruz, meanwhile, spent his afternoon chiseling away at the right side of the Toledo defense. Hullegaard and right tackle White handled the paving in that direction, with Cruz darting for 117 yards on 21 carries.

“When they work hard, I gotta work hard,” Cruz said of the Clatskanie line.

“There have been games where our linemen get wheel-barrowed and dug out,” Harvey added. “Not today. They were just … moving people out there. They blocked until the whistle.”

During the month-plus of losing football that started the 2009 campaign, Clatskanie seemed to “lack heart,” Harvey said. “It got to the point where we had to get it together. It doesn’t matter that we lost to a bunch of 2A schools. It doesn’t matter what happened five weeks ago. Right now is all that matters.”

Clatskanie had a “right now” sense of urgency from the opening kickoff, as junior fullback Shae Atkins gashed the middle of the Boomers’ defense for a 12-yard gain on Play 1. A 22-yard gallop moved the Tigers deep into Toledo territory, and Harvey plunged in from 2 yards out on his fifth carry of the drive to give Clatskanie an immediate lead.

The Tigers’ defense wasn’t about to be upstaged, and set the tone for an afternoon filled with big-time stands by forcing a quick Toledo punt on the Boomers’ ensuing possession. Toledo did pick up a first down on its first play. But Chase Kinion’s 10-yard run would turn out to be the second-longest Boomers play of the half.

White stuffed fullback Joe Wilson for a 3-yard loss, Toledo quarterback Kyle Retherford misfired on consecutive passes under great duress, and it was time to punt.

Clatskanie took over on its own 17. The ensuing drive eventually stalled out deep in Toledo territory, but not before the Tigers had run 19 plays — and “run” is the operative word — while draining more than 10 minutes of clock.

Five plays later, Toledo was punting again. And on Clatskanie’s first play after retaining possession, Harvey picked his way through the left side of the line, cut upfield and bolted 62 yards to paydirt.

“I try to think that every run is a potential touchdown,” Harvey said. “I just run from color.”

The Boomers did not get past their own 45-yard line on a pair of late-first half possessions, and Clatskanie took a 14-0 lead into halftime.

The first-half statistics testified to the brilliance of the Tigers’ line play. Clatskanie ran 34 plays to Toledo’s 24, amassed 206 yards to Toledo’s 46, and had possession for 16:13, compared to just 6:19 for Toledo.

“Our backs were running hard, holding on to the ball and not going down on the first hit,” Pesio said. “It made us feel like what we were doing was paying off.”

The clinching touchdown for Clatskanie would not come until late in the fourth quarter, when Harvey slammed through the left side (again) from 4 yards out for a 21-0 lead with 4:49 remaining. That score carried more weight thanks to the Tigers’ stellar defensive play in the third quarter, when Toledo finally got its offense humming.

The Boomers mounted three drives to within striking range of the end zone in the third. Each time, Clatskanie swatted them away.

Toledo gave the ball away on downs after having first-and-10 at the Tigers’ 16 on the first drive of the second half. After Clatskanie’s only turnover of the game, Toledo could not score despite a first-and-10 from the 12, as a swarm of Clatskanie linemen and linebackers stuffed a fourth-and-1 dive play.

And on first-and-10 from the 14, Cruz somehow plucked a deflected pass out of the air before it hit the turf, pinning the ball against his knee pad for an interception.

“All season long, people have picked on our defensive backs,” Pesio said. “Today, they stepped up.”

Sophomore cornerback Storm Engen broke up five pass attempts in man-to-man coverage to lead the secondary. Hastings and senior corner Jason Childers each had a pair of tackles-for-loss.

Tigers 21, Boomers 6

Toledo             0      0     0     6 — 6

Clatskanie      7      7     0     7 — 21

Clats — John Harvey 2 run (Ian Anderson kick)

Clats — Harvey 62 run (Anderson kick)

Clats — Harvey 4 run (Anderson kick)

Tol — Chase Kinion 11 pass from Kyle Retherford (run failed)