North Medford's Easton Curtis looks for extra yards after making an interception against Tigard Friday evening.

Easton Curtis had already gotten plenty of fulfillment in his return to the football field for North Medford prior to Friday night’s Class 6A state championship quarterfinal against Tigard at Spiegelberg Stadium.

He now has one more memorable story to add to what has already been a very successful family history with the Black Tornado.

Curtis hauled in a 38-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring for North Medford and the senior added a game-sealing interception with 2 ½ minutes remaining to help the Black Tornado carve out a 15-8 victory in frigid conditions.

“I missed the last couple years because I wanted to focus on other things — baseball and basketball — but I’m so happy that I came back and played for this program,” said Curtis. “Just the people all over — the coaches and the players — it’s an amazing program and I’m so happy that I did it.”

Curtis has followed nicely in his father’s footsteps since returning to football.

Kerry Curtis provided a guiding force in North Medford’s state championship run in 1993 as a senior, rushing for a single-season record at the time of 25 touchdowns en route to first-team all-state honors in his third year as a starter.

The younger version wasn’t quite ready to suggest he’s been able to make as big of a mark this season for the 14th-seeded Black Tornado (7-4), but there has definitely been a positive imprint.

“Maybe a little bit but I don’t think it’ll live up to what he did,” the senior said in all humility. “It’s awesome being a Curtis — because people kind of know (his father Kerry’s legacy) — but he’s awesome and he was a great athlete. Everything that I’ve done successfully is because of him. It’s awesome to even be a Curtis.”

Friday was an awesome night for everyone involved for North Medford, which won its second playoff game in a season for the first time since 2013 — and it certainly didn’t come easy.

The Tornado and 19th-seeded Tigard (3-8) played to a stalemate until consecutive touchdowns within a 47-second span inside the final three minutes of the first half.

Each team had only two possessions in the second half, with North withstanding a 20-play, 9 ½-minute drive by the Tigers thanks to a blocked field goal by Landyn Meeker and then backing that up with its own 21-play drive that milked just over 8 ½ minutes off the clock and was capped by a 10-yard go-ahead TD run by Cameron Nix with 5:46 remaining.

“I’m proud of our kids,” said North Medford head coach Nathan Chin. “That’s a gritty win against a team that’s really, really talented. They play in the hardest conference in the state so they have to see tough competition day-in and day-out, so I’m just proud of our kids.”

With the win, North Medford secured a spot in the semifinals of the lower tier championship bracket and will next face No. 15 Jesuit, which eked out a 21-20 win over West Salem on Friday.

“Obviously we haven’t really gotten a chance to look at their film at all,” Curtis said of the next round, “but it’s just another great opportunity to play a Portland school and kind of just make a name for ourselves a little bit. I think sometimes we’re disrespected as a Southern Oregon team so I’m super excited just to get a chance to play a solid Jesuit team.”

Next Friday’s semifinal will be played at 7 p.m. at Willamette High in Eugene.

“Regardless of whatever it is, being able to play deep in November is a blessing because not very many teams get to do it,” said Chin of the revised state playoff format that put the top 12 teams in an Open championship bracket and the next 16 teams in a separate championship bracket. “Being able to earn another week and prep for another team, I’m super proud of them.”

Nix ran 22 times for 108 yards in tough sledding against Tigard, with junior quarterback Traeger Healy completing 11 of 20 passes for 116 yards with one TD and one interception.

North’s first touchdown came in an improbable situation, with penalties pushing the team backward to a third-and-25 at the Tigers’ 38. After a timeout, Healy had time in the pocket and lofted a perfect pass to Curtis on a deep post for a touchdown with 2:41 to go until halftime.

“We saw man coverage and I was alone backside so I just think it worked out perfectly,” said Curtis. “There was no safety over the top so kind of off the bat I knew it was going to happen and I knew he was going to be looking my way.”

“It was a great ball by Tra,” he added. “He’s just able to see the field so well and it’s awesome to have a QB like that.”

Chin agreed.

“That was a huge one,” said the coach. “We’ve got playmakers all over and you just have to give them a chance. Easton won a route and Traeger put it out there where he could go get it. You can’t do it without the guys up front, either, to be able to give him just enough time to let that thing develop.”

Tigard, however, had an improbable answer of its own as sophomore quarterback Aris Dimick rifled a pass deep down the sideline on third-and-5 from his own 29 for a 71-yard TD to Colt Ness on a ball that just escaped the reach of a pair of North defenders.

An offsides penalty opened the door for Tigard to attempt a two-point conversion, and running back Owen Wright dipped into the end zone with 1:54 to go to create an 8-7 advantage for the Tigers.

Wright carried 17 times for 127 yards to lead Tigard’s offense overall.

A scary situation followed on a squib kickoff where the ball skipped downfield, took a lazy bounce into the air before Tate Snyder pulled it out of the air and advanced a couple yards amid a mass of bodies before his progress was stopped.

On the play, however, Tigard’s Julius Keymolen suffered a blow to the head that left him initially unconscious. He was quickly tended to by sideline doctors on hand and held immobilized out of precaution before eventually being attached to a backboard, stabilized and stretchered out of the stadium. During the 20-minute delay in play, Keymolen did recover consciousness and full feeling throughout his body, according to North Medford athletic director Piet Voskes, but later underwent X-rays and remained hospitalized overnight as further precaution.

Once play resumed, North was able to move into position for a 40-yard field goal attempt in the final second of the first half but Colton Miller’s effort fell short of its target.

The second half proved to be an even more pronounced tug of war between the teams, with Trey Kennedy-Coleman, Teagan Neron and Cade Pettersen providing key defensive efforts to slow Tigard before Meeker’s block.

Similarly, North’s offense came through with several clutch third-down conversions through the air to Snyder, Neron and Curtis, and on the ground with determined runs by Healy and Nix.

“Both of us possessed the ball twice in the second half and when you only have it that much, you’ve got to take advantage,” said Chin, “and I thought our kids did a really good job of that. That was a tough (scoring) drive because we got into some situations and our kids got out of it on some third downs that were huge for us.”

“We all know football starts with those kids up front and those kids played extremely well on both sides of the ball,” he added. “To play a team like that — that runs the ball downhill — and then to turn around and have to do it for us in a similar fashion, gritty is the best word I can think of for tonight.”

Tigard was able to march into North Medford territory at the 44-yard line before some miscommunication on a route led to Ness cutting inside and Dimick’s pass floating more toward the sideline for an undisturbed interception.

“It was kind of a poor throw but we were in cover three and I was able to just see the ball really well and able to see the QB and read his eyes off the bat,” said Curtis. “It was just a good play to seal the game and it’s awesome, I’m super excited for the team.”

And he’s super excited to keep playing football for North.

“It’s getting cold but it’s awesome and I’m so happy that we’re out here doing it,” said Curtis. “Obviously I’m excited for basketball (season), but we’ve got a couple more weeks left.”

Tigard 0 8 0 0 — 8

North Medford 0 7 0 8 — 15

NM — Curtis 38 pass from Healy (Miller kick)

T — Ness 71 pass from Dimick (Noe kick)

NM — Nix 10 run (Kelly pass from Healy)