Gold Beach will be playing on artificial turf for the third straight week in the playoffs on Saturday, though the Panthers have to travel a little farther from home this time.

The Oregon School Activities Association scheduled Gold Beach’s semifinal game against Regis for 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Cottage Grove High School.

North Bend, meanwhile, hits the road for the first time in the playoffs this fall, traveling to Astoria for a 7:30 p.m. game Friday.

Gold Beach is familiar with Cottage Grove’s stadium. That’s the same location where Gold Beach beat Rainier last year in the semifinals on the road to winning the state title. Two years ago, the Panthers also played at Cottage Grove, losing to Santiam Christian in another semifinal matchup.

Gold Beach has beaten Warrenton and Umatilla at Marshfield High School in the first two rounds of this year’s playoffs. Regis advanced to the semifinals by dominating Bandon and Willamina, not giving up an offensive touchdown in either game.

Gold Beach and Regis met in the second round last year, with the Panthers winning at Willamette University.

The winner of Saturday’s game meets the winner of the other Class 3A semifinal — between Grant Union and Cascade Christian. That game also will be played Saturday, at Summit High School in Bend.

Cascade Christian, which finished second to the Panthers in the Sunset Conference, is the only remaining Class 3A team that didn’t win its league this year.

In Class 4A, North Bend and Astoria meet in a battle of league champions — the Bulldogs shared the Far West League title with Douglas and the Fishermen won the Cowapa League.

North Bend enters the quarterfinal matchup with two losses — to Marshfield in the endowment game back in August and to South Umpqua during the Far West League season. Astoria, on the other hand, is unbeaten on the season and ranked No. 2 in the final media poll (North Bend was tied for 10th). The Fishermen have scored at least 45 points seven straight weeks and beat La Pine in their playoff opener on Friday.

The winner moves onto the semifinals and a likely matchup with top-ranked Central, the only other unbeaten team in Class 4A. The Panthers play Gladstone on Friday night in a game scheduled for Western Oregon University. The other two quarterfinals include Estacada hosting North Valley and Marist traveling to Banks.

The Class 5A and 6A playoffs also move into the quarterfinal round this week, with all the games scheduled for Friday night. The Class 2A and 1A playoffs are in the semifinals, with games set for Saturday. A complete listing can be found in today’s Scoreboard section on Page B2.

Admission for the semifinals is $7 for adults and $5 for students. Admission for quarterfinal games is $6 for adults and $4 for students.