Siuslaw High School students return to the classrooms this week, and the football team goes back to the blackboard.

The Vikings will chalk up last Friday's loss to Elmira as a learning experience as they prepare for this Friday's nonleague game at Pleasant Hill.

Kickoff is 7 p.m.

"We need to move on to next week, work on sustaining drives and not taking breaks," Siuslaw coach Jamin Pool said after the Elmira game, an unexpected 35-14 thumping at the hands of the Falcons. Elmira is coming off a 2-7 record in 2015.

"There were no surprises (from the Falcons), and that's one of the frustrating things. From (watching Elmira on) film and from studying and scheming and what-not, we were there."

The Vikings showed flashes of good play, especially on offense.

Junior quarterback Jared Brandt threw for 276 yards, junior tight end Trent Reavis caught 9 passes for 172 yards and junior running back Quincy Rusk rushed 16 times for 54 yards, according to new team statistician Natalie Blankenship.

"Jared looked raw, but just like everybody else, he had flashes of greatness," Pool said. "I understand why he's quick to get out of the pocket or he's quick to jump around a little bit, because he's being hit, quite a bit.

"(His execution of the offense) will develop with time and experience. The game started to slow down for him toward the end, which was nice."

The Vikings' new spread offense, designed to get the team's playmakers in space, produced one notable result, an 80-yard TD pass from Brandt to Reavis with just over a minute to play in the first quarter. Junior Evan Teter converted the extra point and the game was tied, 7-7.

"The goal, the whole idea around spreading the field, is to open up holes so we can have bigger plays," Pool said. "We can get down by a couple touchdowns, but it takes one or two plays and we're back in it."

On defense, the team was missing a couple of projected starters due to injuries, but Pool wasn't using that as an excuse as the Falcons rolled up 353 yards on the ground and scored five rushing touchdowns.

"We had a couple of things we had to move around, but nothing too drastic," he said. "We should still be able to execute, to get people in the right positions. We need to do that on a consistent basis."

There was one thing Pool was unequivocally pleased with.

"Crowd support was awesome," he said. "Hearing them cheering and stuff got me fired up. It got the players fired up."

It's been a recurring theme for Pool.

"The support I've had, and the support I've continued to have, is nothing but phenomenal," he said. "There's nothing I can state to adequately describe the support I've gotten from the community."

NOTES

Pleasant Hill opened its season with a 46-0 loss at Dayton. Siuslaw beat the Billies at Hans Petersen Field, 24-6, last season, and will host Pleasant Hill in the second game of next season. ...

The Class 3A Billies lost their first six games in 2015, then ran off three wins in a row to make the state playoffs. Pleasant Hill lost its playoff opener to finish 3-7 for the season. ...

Top returnees for the Billies include junior QB-DB Kaleb Miller, senior WR-DB Trevin Hoyt and senior WR-DB Vance Pierce. Junior offensive lineman Colton Hazel finished eighth in the Class 3A state track and field championships in the 200 meters. ...

Elmira plays at Newport this Friday. Siuslaw hosts Newport the following Friday in the Vikings' home opener. ...

Elmira is No. 1 in the current Oregon School Activities Association 4A rankings. But, then, so are 12 other schools. Siuslaw is ranked No. 24, as are a dozen other schools. The rankings help the OSAA set its 24-school 4A football playoffs pairings. ...

Natalie Blankenship has inherited the Vikings' statistician role from Bob and Jo De Hylton, who were recruited in Tim Dodson's first season, 1996. Blankenship is the attendance secretary at Siuslaw High School and the wife of Vikings assistant coach Mike Blankenship. ...

Pool's weekly Quarterback Club gathering is 11 a.m. Friday at the high school's lecture hall A. The coach breaks down film from both the past game and the upcoming game. The public is welcome. ...

Coast Radio (FM 106.9) will carry Friday's game live, with Bob Sneddon doing play-by-play and Ethan Dougherty the color, starting with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m. ...