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It only took one look at the Hillsboro tape for Maryville football coach George Quarles to come to a realization.

"They have speed," he said. "You put on the film, and that's the first thing that jumps out at you, is how fast they are."

Henry County got a taste of it last week in the semifinals. Despite playing against two Division I prospects and being a heavy underdog, Hillsboro beat the state's second-ranked team in Class 4A, 31-24.

The victory put the Burros (12-2) in the title game against four-time defending champion Maryville (14-0) on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. It will be the fourth time the two squads have faced each other for the championship in the last eight years. The Rebels won all three previous meetings.

That doesn't faze Hillsboro coach Scott Blade said.

"Until someone beats them, I think we are underdogs," Blade said. "Is that going to motivate us? No. We're going to try and get a little bit better than we were last week and try to put up a good showing."

And that starts with Eric Gordon. Rated by Rivals.com as a four-star college prospect who's considering Alabama and Tennessee, Gordon scored a touchdown against Henry County and has been a catalyst for the Burros all season. He has 502 rushing yards to go along with 757 receiving yards, helping No. 3 Hillsboro win 10 games in a row after starting the season 2-2.

Besides Gordon, Hillsboro has plenty of offensive firepower that has allowed the Burros to average 35 points per game. Running back Alex Crutcher has 992 yards on the ground, and wideouts Jarret Blihovde and Corey Jordan have combined for more than 1,200 yards receiving. Quarterback Keith Perry, who likely will start in place of the injured Greg Young, has 551 passing yards with a 60-percent completion rate.

"We're going to whip the ball all over the field," Blade said. "We put the athletes out in space and try to create mismatches. We don't have the interior offensive line to just line up and go toe-to-toe to run you over, so we've got to use misdirection to get the kids out in open space and let them do their thing."

Gordon, who might be better as a cornerback, where he's being touted to play in college, is also the main player on a Burros defense that has given up 13.5 points a game. It has kept five opponents under 10 points and, more impressive still, held Henry County -- the highest-scoring team in the state -- to 20 points below its average.

"There's not a whole lot of glitz and glamour to (the defense)," Blade said. "We line up and, whatever the formation is, that's how we align."

That caused Quarles to come to another conclusion about Hillsboro.

"They're really well-coached," Quarles said. "It would be one thing if they were running around wild and had no idea where they were going, but they have (their athletes) lined up in the right spots."