Gold Beach meets a relative playoff newcomer in the Class 3A football quarterfinals on Saturday at Pete Susick Stadium in Coos Bay.

The Panthers battle Umatilla in a 1 p.m. kickoff. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students.

While Gold Beach is the defending state champion and has reached at least the semifinals two other times in the past few years, Umatilla is in the playoffs for the first time since 1996.

Both teams have had standout seasons with just one loss — the Panthers fell to Class 4A North Valley in the second week of the season and the Vikings lost 53-24 to No. 2 Grant Union in a game that determined the Eastern Oregon League champion.

The two squads also have outstanding offenses. Aside from the Grant Union loss, Umatilla has scored at least 34 points in every game and had seven with at least 40 points.

Gold Beach, meanwhile, has dominated every foe since the North Valley game with an offense that has been nearly unstoppable.

Umatilla runs a wing-T attack behind talented quarterback Steven Williams. In the Vikings’ 41-12 win over Colton last week, Williams had two touchdown passes to Nathan Creason and also ran for three scores. Creason scored Umatilla’s other touchdown. The Vikings pulled away in the final two quarters after leading 6-0 at halftime.

Gold Beach, meanwhile, dominated Warrenton 58-0 in a game that gave coach Kevin Swift a chance to give all of his younger kids playoff experience. Gold Beach’s veer attack features three standout running threats — quarterback Jeffrey Knox, fullback Travis Moore and running back Garett Wolford.

Understandably, the Panthers expect a bigger test this week than they got against Warrenton.

“We’re in for a game,” Swift said. “We could get knocked off our throne this week.”

While Gold Beach is used to the playoff atmosphere, it’s all new to Umatilla, which last week won its first playoff game since 1991.

Kelly Allen moved from an assistant job at Hermiston High School to the head post at Umatilla two years ago, taking over a program that had won just five games in the previous six years.

The Vikings went 6-3 last year and took another step up this year with a team led by 12 seniors, including Williams and Creason, the fullback.

“The kids are hungry to win,” Allen said. “They’ve had so much fun. I’ve had them tell me they never thought they’d be in the second round of the playoffs. I’d like to keep it going.

“Of course we come up against a brick wall this week.”

Allen said the Panthers are “the top team in the state” and that his team will have its hands full with Knox, the Sunset Conference’s offensive player of the year.

“The Knox kid wears a cape every time he comes on the field,” Allen said, adding that Knox and Moore are like “thunder and lightning.”

Swift, meanwhile, is wary of Williams, Umatilla’s counterpart to Knox. He has run the Vikings’ wing-T attack efficiently, showing an ability to run and pass.

The Panthers, as they always do, will aim to stop the run with their physical defensive front.

“Our motto is, “If they’re throwing, we’re winning,’” Swift said.

Umatilla is making a long trip to the South Coast for a playoff contest for the second time this year. Last winter, the Vikings beat Bandon in the basketball playoffs to earn a trip to the state tournament.

Allen said 12 to 15 of the current football players were part of that program.

“The senior class is very, very talented,” he said. “They’re going to be tough in basketball again.

“I hope the season doesn’t start Monday.”