Panthers advance to 2A final.

Byline: Adam Jude The Register-Guard

COOS BAY - Carrying a plastic bag full of ice and a stern look on his face, Ray Boon wasn't in the mood to celebrate Saturday.

Content, but cleary not overjoyed with helping Gold Beach defeat Bandon in an OSAA Class 2A semifinal game, Boon walked off the field at Marshfield High School knowing his team had more to give.

"We're happy, but we're not playing up to our potential," said Boon, a senior linebacker whose fourth-quarter interception helped seal the Panters' 32-18 victory over their Big Fir League rival Tigers.

As Gold Beach players and parents hugged and posed for pictures near midfield, Gold Beach coach Kevin Swift walked over to Boon and offered encouragement.

"Hey, enjoy the moment," Swift said with a grin.

Two years removed from an 0-9 season, Gold Beach advanced to the Class 2A final behind a fourth-quarter rally and two stellar runs by senior Jebb Curtis.

"It feels great," Gold Beach senior quarterback Nic McNair said. "To go from 0-9 to this ... it makes it that much more fun."

The No. 7 Panthers (11-1) will face No. 4 Lost River - which defeated Vale, 31-18, in the other semifinal Saturday - in the 2A final at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Autzen Stadium.

"I'm still in a state of shock," Swift said. "But it's not over yet. We still got a job to do."

Curtis scored on his first two touches in the first quarter on runs of 61 and 59 yards as the Big Fir champion Panthers seemed poised for a repeat of their 44-14 regular-season win over Bandon.

"The line gave me the hole and the receivers gave me a couple crack blocks and I just made it to the outside," Curtis said.

The Tigers (9-4), the No. 3 seed from the Big Fir, answered with a big first quarter of their own.

Simon Fraser opened the scoring for Bandon with a 21-yard touchdown run at the 6:54 mark of the first quarter, but an unsportmanlike conduct penalty forced a long extra-point attempt, which was missed, helping Gold Beach cling to a 7-6 lead.

On the first play of the Panthers' next drive, Curtis took a handoff and cut to the outside again for his 61-yard score, putting Gold Beach up 14-6.

Bandon sophomore quarterback Marc Rogers dove in for a four-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 14-12 with four seconds left in the first quarter.

Scott Brose kicked a 34-yard field goal to boost the Gold Beach lead to 17-12 at halftime.

Darren Stolz' six-yard scamper into the end zone gave Bandon its first lead with 2:20 left in the third quater.

But that's as close as the Tigers would get.

Sophmore Matt Manuele returned the ensuing kickoff to the Bandon 36-yard line, and Gold Beach responded with a 10-play drive for a touchdown, capped off the McNair's one-yard scramble. Curtis rushed to the outside to add the two-point conversion.

Rogers tried to spark a rally for the Tigers, but his third-down pass was intercepted by Boon at the Bandon 35. Nine plays later, MacKenzie Lee added an insurance touchdown for the Panters on a one-yard run.

Rogers finished 3-of-13 passing with three interceptions, including two by Brose, a defensive back.

McNair attempted just two passes (with no completions) while rushing for 74 yards and one touchdown.

Curtis finished with 140 yards on 13 carries, including 136 yards in the first half. In three playoff games, he has rushed for 540 yards and six touchdowns.

"If he's not an all-state running back, I don't know what you have to do to be all-state," Swift said.