<I>Contributed photo/Elizabeth Shelley</I><R>Grant Union's Connor Smith carries the ball during the Prospectors 28-14 win against Gold Beach Saturday, Nov. 29 at Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro. Smith's granduncle Ken Scott played on the 1943 Grant Union team that won the state championship.

HILLSBORO – Many things have changed in 65 years, but some longtime Prospector fans know a few things that haven’t when it comes to state football titles.

The Grant Union football team took home the Oregon School Activities Association 3A championship with a 28-14 win against Gold Beach Saturday, Nov. 29. The state title was the first for a Prospector football team since Grant Union beat Taft 12-6 on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, 1943 at the Grant County Fairgrounds.

The semifinal and final playoff games are now held at neutral stadiums instead of being played at a home team’s school.

This year’s team had to travel to Hillsboro rather than play in their own back yard. There have also been numerous changes to rules, and the championship is no longer split to pit the East versus the West. In this case, the final game still came down to an Eastern Oregon team against a Western Oregon team.

Bill Thomas of John Day remembers watching the 1943 game as an eighth-grader.

“It feels really good to see Grant Union do it again,” Thomas said. “It happened 65 years ago and I still remember it. There’s people who are around now who’ll remember this for the rest of their lives.”

The 2008 team has its own direct connection to the 1943 team as well. Connor Smith, a 2008 Grant Union running back and defensive back, is the grand nephew of 1943 Grant Union halfback Ken Scott.

Smith said he was unaware of his tie to the 1943 team until recently.

“I didn’t even know about it until like a week before the game,” Smith said. “It surprised me.

“The whole thing hasn’t sunk in. The connection or being champions. It probably will after the first day of school when I don’t have football practice.”