This is more than just one game. This is a shot at the ultimate prize, a chance for Ridgeview to prove itself as the top team in the state.

Since the first official football state championship in 1940, Central Oregon has produced 16 state title winners. But never before has a team from Redmond advanced this far — to the state final.

This morning, Ridgeview has an opportunity to stamp an exclamation point on an outstanding 2013 season. At Hillsboro Stadium, the Ravens (12-1) will face Cottage Grove (10-2) for the Class 4A crown, to bring the 17th state championship back to Central Oregon.

“Most people never get this opportunity,” Ridgeview coach Andy Codding says. “The fact that we’re getting it is special in itself. We’re enjoying every bit along the way this week.”

In just their second year of existence, the Ravens, seeded No. 4 in the 16-team bracket, ride an 11-game winning streak into the state final, including a 49-17 semifinal rout of previously unbeaten and top-seeded Philomath last week.

Preparation for that semifinal matchup was in-depth and extensive as Ridgeview readied itself to face the run-heavy wing-T offense of Philomath. During the ensuing week, the Ravens returned to the drawing board in anticipation of the spread offense of No. 2 Cottage Grove.

“It’s a completely different preparation for us,” Codding says. “They’re a spread, wide-open aerial attack that likes to utilize the open running lanes that it provides. We’re having to change gears and think about defense a little differently.”

Ridgeview’s defense, which ranks second in 4A with a mere 13.2 points allowed per game, has piled up 26 tackles for a loss and 27 sacks while forcing 30 turnovers (16 interceptions, 14 fumble recoveries). But Codding expects Cottage Grove to spread the field and create passing opportunities as well as avenues to run up the middle.

The Ravens’ primary focus, according to Codding, will be the Lions’ Scotty Hitner. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound senior quarterback has completed 57.4 percent of his passes for more than 2,900 yards and a total of 38 touchdowns. Not only that, Hitner is Cottage Grove’s leading rusher, having run for nearly 800 yards and 16 scores.

Ridgeview will also have its eyes on wideouts Brad Bonds and Oscar Rauda, the top two targets for Hitner, combining for 153 receptions and accounting for about 75 percent of Hitner’s passing yards.

As a team, the Lions have scored the second-most points in 4A. Pretty good considering the offensive scheme’s reception when Cottage Grove coach Gary Roberts took over in 2008.

“When I first came to Cottage Grove, all I heard was, ‘Cottage Grove will never build to run the spread, we’ll never be able to throw the ball, we’ll never be able to score enough points,’” recalls Roberts, whose team is making its first state championship appearance in school history. “But it helps that we’ve got three (offensive) linemen that have started since they were sophomores, two receivers that have started since they were sophomores, a quarterback that started from halfway through his sophomore year. That’s helped us.”

Today’s matchup involves a pair of high-octane offenses — Ridgeview is fourth in 4A in scoring — but each attack, as Roberts puts it, is “polar opposite” of each other, what with the Ravens averaging about 341 rushing yards per game and Cottage Grove relying mostly on the aerial attack.

But in the grand scheme of things, each program is on a similar path.

“I think we’re two programs that are both going in the right direction,” Roberts says. “We’re both getting better. We’re both establishing ourselves, hopefully, as premier programs like some of the others — looking at Marist and Sherwood at the 5A level, and for us at the 4A level, something like a Baker. That’s something we’re looking to build towards.”

Especially after seeing Ridgeview post a season-high 49 points on No. 1 Philomath last week, and especially with the Lions having allowed more than 30 points in each of their three state playoff games, defense is an area of concern for Roberts.

“We’ve struggled stopping the run,” Roberts says, noting the 166 rushing yards per contest by Boomer Fleming as well as the 113 yards per game by Tanner Stevens. “It’s not that we don’t work at it. A lot of kids play both ways, and we went up against some really good run offenses the last three weeks. … It’s a concern. We know that this week we don’t have a large margin for error. If we do, Boomer and Tanner Stevens, they could be gone if we don’t do our jobs.”

Neither team, Codding points out, carries much size. Instead, it will be speed vs. speed this morning at Hillsboro Stadium. But with a lockdown defense, one that has allowed 20 or fewer points in 10 of its 13 games this season, and a powerful run attack, Ridgeview is looking to bring back Central Oregon’s 17th football state title.

“We’re going for a state championship,” Codding says. “Regardless of what other teams have done in the past, this is about us this year, and we’re doing what we can to cement ourselves in history as 4A champions.”

—Reporter: 541-383-0307, glucas@bendbulletin.com.