From looking at the scoreboard at the end of the third quarter and Grant holding onto a narrow 7-0 lead, you'd have thought Redmond was in this game and had a shot. Then the speedy Generals decided to do what they do best. So they turned on the afterburners and with a 'meep meep' raced into the drizzled night with a 28-0 shutout.

The constant sheets of drizzle and rain and looking out onto the downtown Portland city skyline made the evening look like a backdrop for the movie 'Bladerunner' as a football tripleheader went down at PGE Park. In the earlier contests, Lincoln, the number three seed from the PIL and 5-5 on the season moved past David Douglas 19-7 in the 2pm game and the 5pm game saw Central Catholic stun Grants Pass early to build a 21-0 halftime lead before coasting home with a 28-19 win over the Cavemen who entered the contest without star running back Chriss Bowen who was suspended early this week. This sets up a great quaterfinal matchup next week between Grant and the Rams, two neighborhood rivals who are both peaking and playing their best football. The General's Andre Broadous and CC's Nick Green are as good as two Oregon quarterbacks you'll find.

The late game had all the earmarkings of a defensive struggle and for much of the first half, it was a game of moving between the 20's for Grant and moving between the 40's for the Panthers. The first quarter ended with a scoreless tie and it wasn't until midway in the second quarter that Grant moved down for a 37 yard field goal by Gabe Miller that just missed. Redmond missed a golden opportunity to capitalize on a punt that was fumbled and the Panthers recovered on the General's 37 yard line but only gained a yard from there. Grant took over at their 20 yard line and proceeded to mount the first successful drive of the evening, a nine play drive when with 47 seconds left before halftime, Broadous ran in for the games first score from four yards out to give Grant a 7-0 lead. For the half, Redmond had gained a total of 36 yards of offense. Grant had rolled up 163 yards of which Broadous and Paul McCoy accounted for 151 of those yards thanks to McCoy having four catches for 41 yards and an 11 yard run.

The second half started out much like the first half. However, if a pattern was emerging, it was that Grants offense was on the field much longer than Redmonds and the Panthers were wearing down. For the quarter, Grant ran 17 plays to Redmonds six. (the game lasted just a hair over two hours. no TV timeouts are a wonderful thing!) Then the first really big explosion play happened two plays into the fourth quarter when Broudous pitched to Karl Acker who threw a gorgeous pass to Bryan Butcher on a 57 yard halfback option play that gave the PIL Champs the first bit of breathing room all night and a 14-0 lead. Redmond would try to answer the bell and quarterback Cody Johnson was finding a little success finding receiver Nick Aguas and running backs Chris Hass and Austin Gonzales were able to always find a few yards pounding it up the middle but Grants team speed was fatal to the Panthers everytime Johnson was flushed or the running backs tried establishing a lateral game which often resulted in a tackle for loss.

As the teams headed midway through the fourth quarter, it was evident that Grant was gaining steam and Redmond had lost the battle. While earlier in the contest it was McCoy and Broadous had been covering for the rest of the team, the rest of the General's were getting in their jollies as the "Brothers Acker' had gotten into the act as well as Alex Melson who hauled in a pretty 26 yard touchdown pass from Broadous with 3:49 left in the game to give the Generals a 21-0 lead. With 1:28 left, Karl Acker broke into the open for a 50 yard touchdown run giving him a TD pass and a TD run for the night. All told, it was a productive night for the elusive Broadous who had 99 yards rushing at the half and finished with 182 yards on 20 carries. As a team, Grant would amass a whopping 497 yards to Redmonds 97. The usuallly effecient Johnson struggled all evening hitting on just 3 of 12 passes for 52 yards with an interception. Meanwhile Broadous was 9 for 15 with 134 yards and one interception. However, when Broadous makes snap decisions and gets the rest of the team going, they're like a runaway roadrunner. Next weekend, Coach Diallo Lewis and the Generals will find out if they've met Wiley Coyote (or Wile E. Ram?) or met their match. The Panthers finish the season a respectable 8-4 for Coach Craig Ruecker.