Brandon Boice expects Saturday’s Class 3A championship game between Gold Beach and Vale to be a gridiron classic.

“The best two teams are playing on Saturday, in my opinion,” said Boice, the offensive and defensive coordinator at Cascade Christian High School.

Boice is familiar with both teams. They each beat Cascade Christian during the year — Gold Beach to win the Sunset Conference and Vale in the Class 3A quarterfinals.

The game will feature what Boice considers to be the top offense in the state — Gold Beach — against the best defense — Vale.

“I definitely think it’s going to come down to each team’s strengths,” Boice said.

For Gold Beach, that means the offense, led by quarterback Jeffrey Knox and fullback Travis Moore, not to mention speedy back Herbie Smith and talented receivers Nathan Moore, Brandon Harding and David Bonotto.

The receivers haven’t seen much action the past two weeks. Knox has thrown just seven passes — one long completion called back by a penalty — in wins over Regis and Rainier.

“They don’t have to throw ... until you stop those kids in the backfield,” Boice said. “They’re going to make you stop them and nobody has.”

While much of the attention has been on Knox and Moore, Boice sees the real key to Gold Beach’s success being the offensive line, the best he’s seen.

“They have outstanding pad level and they block well,” he said, adding that the linemen are quick off the ball and run the team’s scheme extremely well.

“As a defensive coordinator, it gives you fits.”

Standing in the Panthers’ way will be the state’s top defense, Boice said.

“They’re very aggressive,” he said. “They don’t make mistakes and they don’t miss tackles.

“Everybody always talks about size. They’re not big. They’re definitely solid. They don’t have any weak kids on that side of the ball. They take you out of what you do well, and that’s a challenge. They will make Gold Beach run east-west. That’s a difficult task to do.”

In their quarterfinal game, Cascade Christian drove to Vale’s 3-yard line in the first quarter, but fumbled on fourth down. The Challengers never threatened again until scoring late in the game after a Vale turnover when the Vikings held a 20-0 lead.

“We had our chance to score on the first drive,” Boice said. “That’s what killed us.

“We didn’t show up, but at the same time, we got beat by a better team, just like Gold Beach.”

While Gold Beach’s offense and Vale’s defense stand out, Boice said both teams are outstanding on the other side of the ball as well.

“Gold Beach’s defense — they fly around,” he said. “They’re athletic.”

As for Vale’s option offense, “they’re not sophisticated,” Boice said. “They’re simple. Simple wins out.

“They just don’t want to make mistakes, and let their defense win the game for them.”

Boice would like another shot at both the Panthers and the Vikings. Cascade finished the season ranked No. 3, but he said his squad lost to better teams.

“Gold Beach’s offensive line had a lot of success against us, and Vale’s defense had a lot of success against us,” he said. “In the trenches was the difference in both games.

“I felt our team speed matched up with both of them, but you’ve got to have the speed up front. That’s why those two are still playing.”

Boice said both schools boast outstanding programs.

“For me, as a young coach, I have a lot of respect for both programs,” he said. “What Gold Beach has done — yes, they have great athletes, but they have a system in place where they do everything right.”

While Boice wouldn’t predict a score for the game, he did pick the Panthers to win. Of course, he has a rooting interest in the Panthers since he graduated from Gold Beach, but he said on a neutral field the South Coast school has an edge.

“They play different football over there,” he said, referring to Vale’s toughness. “But, then again, I think Gold Beach can handle it. They have great team speed. They have great systems in place.”