Hermiston's Samuel Colbray rushes the ball in the Bulldogs' 30-13 win against the Marist on Saturday in Hillsboro.

The Hermiston Bulldogs entered another chapter into their storybook season on Saturday.

Behind a dominant defensive effort, the fifth-ranked Bulldogs ran over No. 8 Marist in front of a rabid crowd at Hillsboro Stadium, walloping the Spartans 30-13 to tread new ground into Saturday’s state championship game.

“This is what we’ve been working for for seven years,” said seventh-year Hermiston coach Mark Hodges, still jubilant after the team’s semifinal win. “We looked the part tonight, we really did.”

The story is yet to be finished. The climax will come against No. 2 Silverton at Hillsboro Stadium in Saturday’s 5A state championship game.

“It would mean the world. It’d be the coolest feeling in the world,” senior quarterback Chase Knutz said of the possibility of winning a state championship. “It’s what we’ve worked for every day.”

The Hermiston (11-1) defense kept Marist (8-4) off the scoreboard for three and a half quarters and added style points with six sacks and four turnovers. The Spartans had just 55 yards of total offense through the half, and 54 came on a single run by Seth Thoreson.

It was just the latest in a series of three playoff games controlled by the Bulldog defense.

“People talk about Silverton’s defense, but there’s a defense in Hermiston that isn’t too bad either,” Hodges said.

Luis Medina led the way on the defensive front with five tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, while defensive back Cory Adams had two interceptions.

The Bulldog offense finally found its postseason stride, reaching the end zone three times and bolstering the scoring total with three Medina field goals.

Nothing was easy early, however. Hermiston came up scoreless on its first five drives, but a Carson Morter interception gave the Bulldog offense momentum and the field position advantage.

The sturdy legs of running back Sam Colbray were all that were needed next, as the 5-foot-11 junior motored in for a pair of first-half touchdowns — the first to break a scoreless tie with 8:28 left in the second quarter, the second to earn Hermiston a 17-0 halftime edge.

“It did (take time), and it always does, but once we got one drive, we know we’re going to keep getting drives,” Colbray said. “If something goes good, we have to keep sticking to what we’re doing.”

On Saturday night, that was Knutz handing Colbray the ball, and they rarely went off script. Colbray carried it on 34 of the Bulldogs 67 plays, finishing with 158 yards.

“Sam Colbray played outstanding today,” Hodges said. “He just played like a man. You can put that in the paper.”

Morter added to the lead with a 62-yard touchdown reception on the second half’s third play, catching the ball near the line of scrimmage before outracing the Spartan defense down the right sideline.

“To us, it never felt comfortable. We knew it wasn’t over,” Knutz said. “It was 0-0 to us when we came back (in the second half). It was a semifinal game. Nothing is over until it’s over, but that play really did help us. It gave us a little more cushion that we needed.”

Knutz finished 16-for-26 for 202 yards and the passing hookup with Morter.

Marist added a pair of late scores — including a touchdown reception with less than a minute to go — but the Bulldogs left little to doubt as they exited Hillsboro Stadium Saturday.

“We proved we were one of the top two teams,” Hodges said. “There’s still improvement, and we’re going to work on it this week, but we’re in it to win it.”

“Definitely, history-wise, it’s very overwhelming,” Colbray added. “We’re all very elated, but we have to keep ourselves in check and do what we need to do.”

Silverton completed its regular season as 5A’s only unbeaten team and has cruised through three playoff games, including Saturday’s 31-14 trouncing of third-ranked Springfield in the other semifinal.

Neither team has lost to a team within the state borders. Hermiston’s lone loss came to Coeur d’Alene.

The teams share three common opponents: Marist, Springfield and Pendleton. The margins of victory against each are remarkably similar.

The Foxes defeated Marist by 21 during the regular season. Hermiston took down Marist by 17 on Saturday. Hermiston defeated the Buckaroos by 49 points in its rivalry game. Silverton got the better of Pendleton by 48 in the first round of the playoffs, and Silverton eliminated the Millers by 17 on Saturday, while Hermiston bested them by eight points in a meeting at Kennison Field in September.

The Foxes have the state’s best scoring defense. They’ve allowed just 72 points in 12 contests this season. Only Springfield and South Albany have reached the end zone twice against them this season.

The state championship game is at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hillsboro Stadium.