UMPQUA BASIN – The high school fall sports season is drawing to an end. The prep football playoffs have entered the second week and three local teams are preparing to get one step closer to a state championship.

Here’s a look at which teams are still left standing, how they got here, and what the next match-up will bring.

SOUTH UMPQUA LANCERS (4A)
The South Umpqua football team played an extremely difficult regular season schedule. The Lancers faced five teams that finished in the top 20 in the OSAA power rankings, three of which were in the top 10. The non-conference portion of the season prepared South Umpqua for a difficult league slate and probably helped the team gear up for its biggest win of the regular season, a 42-20 victory over Marshfield.

The Lancers remained in the chase for the Far West League title until the final week. Despite their best efforts, the Lancers didn’t get the breaks they needed and finished second behind the state’s top-ranked team North Bend. Even still, South Umpqua’s power ranking was the highest of the second place teams in the 4A classification and the Lancers received a bye into the first round of the state playoffs.

An extra week of practice time appeared to pay off. South Umpqua’s first round contest against the Baker Bulldogs of the Greater Oregon League ended as a blowout. Playing on a sloppy field, the Lancers went to the air and relied on their defense to earn a 28-0 win and advance to the 4A quarterfinals.

Up next, South Umpqua will face defending state champion Cascade. The Cougars finished in a three-way tie for first in the Oregon West Conference, but earned the top seed and a bye through the play-in round. Cascade defeated Mazama 40-21 last week to move on in the playoffs.

While Cascade may be the lower seed in the match-up, don’t let that fool you. Last year the Cougars were the No. 9 team in the 16-team bracket and pulled off upsets in every round to win the school’s second state title.

South Umpqua and Cascade will kickoff on Friday at 7 p.m. The contest will be played at Roseburg High School on the turf field. South Umpqua’s natural turf field is too torn up after a full season of use.

NORTH DOUGLAS WARRIORS (1A)
The North Douglas football team finished the regular season with just one loss on its record. That defeat came in the season opener against Powers, which finished as the top team in the 1A classification rankings. From that point on, it’s been smooth sailing for the Warriors.

North Douglas ended the regular season as the No. 3 team in the state and on a nine-game winning streak. Over that span, the Warriors averaged 49.3 points per game. That figure is particularly impressive since one of those victories came as a forfeit. While the North Douglas offense has been impressive, so has the defense. The Warriors have held teams to less than 10 points on three occasions, including one shutout victory. North Douglas is allowing an average of 21.5 points per game, which is a low number in the high-scoring world of 8-man football.

The Warriors won a league playoff game over Triangle Lake to claim the top-seed from Special District 3. North Douglas then dispatched Echo in the first round with a 50-28 victory.

Up next, North Douglas will face Sherman on Friday night. Both teams lost first round playoff match-ups a year ago, but overcame those shortcomings in 2016 with convincing wins in the opening round. Sherman nearly doubled-up Triad in a 66-34 win at home.

The Huskies also suffered just one loss in the regular season. Sherman dropped its season-opener against Crane and then went undefeated the rest of the year, finishing on an eight-game winning streak. The Huskies won the Special District 4 title and ended the regular season ranked 6th by the OSAA.

North Douglas and Sherman will square off on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will be played at North Douglas High School.

DAYS CREEK WOLVES (1A)

To get to the 1A state semifinals, Days Creek will need to defeat the defending state champion. Although, tough competition won’t scare the Wolves, who have seen a number of top teams this year.

Days Creek finished the regular season with a 6-2 record. Those two losses came against the No. 1 and No. 3 teams in the state. The Wolves had wins over top 10 programs Powder Valley and Camas Valley. So, there have been a lot of tough tests for Days Creek this year.

The Wolves finished as the third seed out of the Special District 2 standings. Days Creek finished the regular season ranked fourth, according to the OSAA formulas and started the playoffs with a commanding 56-12 win over Arlington/Condon.

Days Creek is on a roll. The Wolves have won six straight, but they face the Dufur Rangers in the second round, a team that got hot at the right time last year and could be in line to do so again this season. Dufur, the No. 5 team in the state, prevailed in a 74-72 slug-fest against Yoncalla in the second round last year. The Rangers rode that momentum all the way to the title game, where they upset Crane 36-32.

A strong defense has been the name of the game this year for Dufur. The Rangers allowed an opponent to score more than 20 points only once this season and shutout teams on three occasions. Last week Dufur won in the first round 54-2 against Falls City.

Days Creek will have the home field advantage when the second round match-up against Dufur kicks off at 1 p.m. on Saturday.