In the short time since the Class 6A football coaches opted to develop a two-tier system for the state playoffs, it’s taken a bit of an adjustment for all involved to fall in line.

There isn’t a team out there that wouldn’t rather make the top bracket — dubbed the 6A Open state championship and featuring all six conference championships plus the six highest remaining teams in the state power rankings.

Still, North Medford is getting a taste of what South Medford enjoyed last season in the lower bracket and finding it very much to its liking just as the Panthers did a year ago when they made a run to the Columbia Cup final, which is now simply named the 6A state championship.

South Medford and North Medford made up the top two seeds in the lower-tier bracket at Nos. 13 and 14, respectively, when the playoffs were announced and fittingly find themselves the last ones standing as they enter Saturday’s championship game at Spiegelberg Stadium.

“I think we took it for what it’s worth,” said North Medford head coach Nathan Chin of being placed in the lower bracket for the first time since its inception in 2022. “As (South Medford head coach Bill Singler) said last year, it’s about opportunities to be able to continue to coach your team and be around your team and get four extra weeks of playing football. In football you don’t get that. You can’t go play a pickup game real easily so having these opportunities and taking advantage of these opportunities is precious, for sure.”

North Medford had a chance to potentially eke into the 6A Open bracket entering the final week of the regular season, but a 33-30 loss to South Medford prevented that and put the Black Tornado on a different course they have since come to relish.

Last year, North Medford lost 56-0 to Central Catholic in the first round of the state playoffs in the upper bracket. This year, the Black Tornado is playing past Thanksgiving for the first time since finishing as state runner-up in 2003.

“They’re loving this and loving being around each other with the extended season and being able to continue to play,” Chin said of his players. “It’s been a lot of fun and the theme of it is about earning another week, and they have taken that to heart. They’ve wanted to keep playing as many games as they possibly can play, and we got to that point.”

Saturday’s 5 p.m. showdown will be part of a doubleheader at the stadium, with No. 3 seed Henley taking on No. 1 Marist for the 4A state championship at 1 p.m., and mark the first time since Medford High split into two large-class schools in 1986 that the football programs will meet twice in one season.

All other sports regularly meet more than once per season in the crosstown rivalry, but the trajectory in football has never led up to the Panthers and Black Tornado meeting again in the state playoffs.

“This is great for the fans and all that kind of stuff,” said Singler. “It’s tough on the football coaches because it is tough in football to play another team twice, but at least we have one win under our belt and we’re going to line up and give it our best shot. We know they’re going to be very, very excited to play us again so we have to bring our best. They’re playing really well right now.”

By virtue of their higher seeding, South Medford will be the designated home team and North Medford will be the designated visiting team. Tickets are available at osaa.org/tickets at $12 for adults and $6 for students, and you can contact your respective high school if you have further questions.

Both teams enter the championship game with 8-4 records. South Medford is coming off its second shutout in three playoff games — a 17-0 win over Newberg played in Roseburg — while North Medford showed poise and resolve in a second straight nail-biter last Friday with a 42-32 win over Jesuit in Eugene to reach the final.

In their Nov. 1 meeting, the Panthers built a 20-7 halftime lead and found themselves ahead 26-7 about 2 ½ minutes into the second half to put the Black Tornado on their heels and ultimately trim their crosstown series deficit to 20-19.

North Medford was able to mount a thrilling comeback effort that just fell short in the 39th Black & Blue Bowl when South Medford recovered a final onside kick with just over two minutes remaining and was able to run out the clock.

The Panthers played one of their best games on that night, posting 280 yards rushing and turning an interception and a fumbled kickoff into 14 points.

The Black Tornado got off to a slow start but really picked up steam in the fourth quarter, with Cameron Nix rushing for 112 yards and scoring three touchdowns (two running and one receiving), Traeger Healy passing for 236 yards with two TDs and Nolan Kelly notching nine catches for 116 yards.

“We’ve already played against each other once, we know what they do and they know what we do,” said South Medford senior Michael Duclos, who had three interceptions last Friday against Newberg. “It’s just going to be a battle of who wants it more at the end of the day.”

For the Panthers, Saturday marks a second straight season of reaching the lower tier championship game after being in the upper bracket in 2022. South Medford lost 34-21 to Sunset in last year’s Columbia Cup final, and will have played 13 games in each of these last two seasons when all is said and done after the 2024 Black & Blue sequel.

“Not a lot of kids get to play this many games,” said Panthers senior Grady McQuillan after last Friday’s win. “We’ve played 25 games now in two years and it’s just so much fun. To have this be my senior year and be this way, it’s just such a blessing.”

Singler agreed that this newfound opportunity — when you take away the elite Portland-area teams that so often dominate the playoffs and feature more athletes moving or transferring around with open enrollments to create juggernauts — has been one to embrace.

“We’re really happy with where we are,” he said. “We’ve won eight games this year and we’ve played 25 games in the past two years, and now we’re going to play 26. You can’t play any more than that, so that’s pretty cool. For these seniors to play as many games in two years as you possibly can play, that shows we’re playing pretty good football.”

Friday’s 6A Open state championship will pit No. 1-seeded Lake Oswego against No. 2 West Linn at 12:30 p.m. at Hillsboro Stadium. The Lakers won 33-24 over No. 5 Central Catholic in last week’s semifinals, while the Lions won 28-21 over No. 3 Sheldon.

The three lowest seeds in the 6A Open bracket — No. 10 Nelson, No. 11 Clackamas and No. 12 Ida B. Wells — lost their first-round games by an average score of 40-16.