Vikings visit Bulldogs in league showdown
All 11 seniors on the Siuslaw football team introduced themselves at the Quarterback Club meeting Friday at the school. It has been a season of serious ups and downs for defending Far West League football champion North Bend.
The Bulldogs (2-2) were ranked No. 1 in the OregonLive.com 4A poll after Week 1, then fell out of the Top 10 following back-to-back losses to Astoria (22-20) and Marist (47-0).
The Siuslaw Vikings, on the other hand, have opened the season 4-0 as they prepare to battle the Bulldogs at 7 p.m. Friday in North Bend.
The Vikings are No. 9 last week in the OregonLive.com media poll this week. Siuslaw opened Far West League play Friday with a 28-7 victory at home against South Umpqua.
Meanwhile, North Bend got back in the win column with a 41-14 thrashing of Douglas in Winston.
PLAYOFF PREDICTION
Jeff Drumm at OregonPrepSports.net has run a program that spits out these pairings for the play-in games:
- Klamath Union at Siuslaw
- North Marion at Banks
- South Umpqua at Phoenix
- North Bend at Estacada
- Henley at Astoria
- Seaside at Junction City
- Gladstone at Stayton
- Cottage Grove at Baker
http://www.oregonprepsports.net/football/139-football-news/4862-2015-premature-playoff-predictions-week-4
Despite last Friday's big win, North Bend is ranked just No. 29 in 4A by the Oregon School Activities Association, with an RPI of 31 and a Colley rank of No. 24.
Siuslaw, the OSAA's No. 10-ranked team, is No. 18 in RPI and No. 7 in Colley among the 40 schools in 4A.
The Bulldogs' 47-player roster includes three returning all-league players: lineman Joe Rutheford, defensive back Luke Lucero and placekicker Ian Bream.
North Bend was 11-1 in 2014, 5-0 in the Far West League, including a 34-21 victory over the Vikings in Florence. The Bulldogs' one loss was to Gladstone, 35-17, in last year's state championship game.
MAKING THE PLAYOFFS
Siuslaw and North Bend 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 runner-up, 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. 25
- Game 1, Sept. 4: Newport (0-4) lost at Stayton, 54-0. Next: vs. Cascade.
- Game 2, Sept. 11: Pleasant Hill (0-4) lost at Lakeview, 26-14. Next: vs. Coquille.
- Game 3, Sept. 18: Hidden Valley (2-2) lost to Phoenix, 56-14. Next: vs. Klamath Union in Grants Pass.
- Game 4, Sept. 25: South Umpqua (1-3) lost at Siuslaw, 28-7. Next: vs. Brookings-Harbor in Myrtle Creek.
- Game 5, Oct. 2: North Bend (2-2) beat Douglas, 41-14, at Winston. Next: vs. Siuslaw, 7 p.m.
- Game 6, Oct. 9: Marshfield (4-0) beat Brookings-Harbor, 45-20. Next: at Douglas in Winston.
- Game 7, Oct. 16: Douglas (1-3) lost to North Bend, 41-14, at Winston. Next: vs. Marshfield in Winston.
- Game 8, Oct. 23: Brookings-Harbor (1-3) lost to Marshfield, 45-20, at Coos Bay. Next: at South Umpqua in Myrtle Creek.
