Vikings climb to No. 10 in OSAA poll


The Siuslaw Vikings football team may be in for a more vigorous week of practice as they prepare for their Far West League opener Friday night against the visiting South Umpqua Lancers.

Kickoff is 7 p.m.

"Practice speed and game speed are two different things," Vikings coach Tim Dodson said. "It's taken us awhile to figure out the difference between them."

The Vikings slipped into an early hole each of the past two Fridays. Two weekends ago it was Pleasant Hill taking a 6-0 lead just 1 minute, 37 seconds into the game. Friday, Hidden Valley needed 2 minutes and 13 seconds to post a 7-0 lead.

"We just have to ramp it up a bit more in practice," Dodson said. "We'll look at game film (from Siuslaw-Hidden Valley). We got a little bit better and we executed better, (but) we've got a lot of work to do."

He was pleased with Friday's play of senior lineman Michael Mason.

"I thought he did a nice job up front on our lines," Dodson said. "We were kinda able only to run the ball to one side, and Michael Mason was the guy that was able to do that for us."

With the victory, the Vikings completed nonleague play 3-0 and ranked No. 10 by the Oregon School Activities Association, up from No. 20 the previous week. Hidden Valley, which had been No. 4, dropped to No. 12.

Dodson offered a caveat about the win as well as the record.

"(The win) should teach us some lessons," he said. "Sometimes, when you lose, you learn them a bit faster than you learn them when you win.

"The scoreboard doesn't matter. We're talking about high school kids trying to become young men, and take a look at 'Life's good: How do I make my life better?' Instead of 'Life's good: I can kinda hang.'"

The Vikings won't be able to "kinda hang" against South Umpqua, which upset them in 2014 at Myrtle Creek, 21-14.

The Lancers are just 1-2, but their losses have been to No. 2 Banks, 20-7, and No. 4 Phoenix, 23-12. Their one win was over North Valley, 58-6.

Siuslaw and No. 20 South Umpqua are among 40 schools in the state classified 4A, and 24 make the playoffs.

Teams qualifying are placed in three eight-school groups.

Group A includes automatic qualifiers for the first round of playoffs the weekend of Nov. 6-7. Those teams include the seven league champions and the top league runnerup, based on the rankings.

The 4A leagues include the Far West, Cowapa, Tri-Valley, Oregon West, Sky-Em, Skyline and Greater Oregon.

Sixteen schools will qualify for the play-in round the weekend of Oct. 30-31 as either Group B (host) or Group C (visitor). Each league is guaranteed a play-in home game, with those teams hosting the next eight best teams, based on the rankings.

Siuslaw finished the 2014 regular season as a Group C qualifier, going 3-0 in nonleague games and 2-3 in the Far West League. The Vikings shut out Marshfield, 14-0, in Coos Bay in the play-in game, then lost their first-round game to Mazama, 42-12, at Klamath Falls.

For answers to frequently asked questions about the OSAA ranking system, go to

http://www.osaa.org/help/rankings

HOW THEY FARED


How Siuslaw's 2015 opponents fared on Friday night, Sept. 18

    •    Newport (0-3) lost to Marshfield, 64-7. Next: at Stayton.
    •    Pleasant Hill (0-3) lost to Cascade Christian, 47-8. Next: at Lakeview.
    •    Hidden Valley (2-1) lost to Siuslaw, 35-13. Next: vs. Phoenix in Grants Pass.
    •    South Umpqua (1-2) lost to Banks, 20-7, at Myrtle Creek. Next: at Siuslaw, 7 p.m., Hans Petersen Field.
    •    North Bend (1-2) lost to Marist, 47-0, in Eugene. Next: at Douglas in Winston.
    •    Marshfield (3-0) beat Newport, 64-7, in Newport. Next: vs. Brookings-Harbor in Coos Bay.
    •    Douglas (1-2) lost to Mazama, 62-0, in Klamath Falls: Next: vs. North Bend in Winston.
    •    Brookings-Harbor (1-2) lost to Yreka, Calif., 33-6, in Brookings. Next: at Marshfield in Coos Bay.