Kenneth Thrall may have been as down as he'd been all season, literally and emotionally.

The senior running back had just been stripped of the ball and Brookings-Harbor's Alonzo Nalls had just returned it 52 yards to put the Bruins ahead 20-14 with 5:25 left in the game.

But five minutes of playing time later he bulled into the end zone from the 2 and then kicked the extra point that gave the Siuslaw Vikings a 21-20 victory Friday night at Brookings-Harbor High School.

Siuslaw finished the regular season 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the Far West League, and should know sometime Saturday who it will be playing next Friday in the play-in round of the Oregon School Activities Association's 4A football playoffs.

Based on the OSAA formula, it appears the No. 15-rated Vikings will play at No. 20 Junction City, the lowest-rated league runner-up. Junction City replaced Baker, which had been the lowest-rated league runner-up entering the last round of games Friday night.

Siuslaw just missed out to hosting a home game. Two league No. 3 teams finished ahead of the Vikings, Astoria at No. 9 and Stayton at No. 14. Pairings are expected to be announced sometime Saturday.

Brookings-Harbor ended its season 2-6 overall and 1-4 in league play.

As the players gathered in the afterglow at game's end, Thrall stepped up first and passed out two attaboys, one to teammate Marcos Reyna and one two assistant coach Jamin Pool, who had given him a pep talk before the game-winning drive.

Reyna, a junior linebacker, had two of the biggest plays of the game, both blocked kicks in the final six minutes of the game, the first a 33-yard field-goal attempt by the Bruins and the last on an extra-point attempt on Brookings-Harbor's final touchdown.

The second block set up a determined 82-yard, 12-play game-winning drive, with Thrall getting the ball seven times for 23 hard-fought yards. Quarterback Preston Mitchell and wide receiver Scott Gordon hooked up on four pass plays for 43 yards, the last setting the Vikings up on first and goal on the Brookings-Harbor 3.

Siuslaw scored on Thrall's second- and third-effort push into the end zone with 59 seconds to play. Mitchell then took the snap from Marshall Teter and Thrall connected for 31st time in 32 point-after attempts this season.

The Bruins, who had fought back from a 14-0 deficit to take a 20-14 lead, did not go quietly, taking the ball to the Siuslaw 38 for a first down with 33.6 seconds to play. Senior quarterback Russell Nickels then threw four straight incompletions, and the Vikings ran out the final seven seconds for the win.

It was a game that really had no business going down to the final minutes.

The Vikings rolled up 227 yards in offense in the first half, while holding the Bruins to 28 yards total and one first down.

Still, Siuslaw led only 7-0 at halftime on Thrall's 29-yard belly play and point-after kick at 7:59 of the second quarter.

It should have been at least 14-0, but the Bruins stopped the Vikings on fourth-and-goal at the 1 with 6.5 seconds to play at the close of a 13-play drive that had begun on the Siuslaw 29.

Siuslaw seemingly took control of the game on its first drive of the second half, going 80 yards in nine plays, reaching the end zone on a 22-yard pass from Mitchell to Gordon. Thrall's PAT made it 14-0.

Brookings-Harbor quickly made it a game, scoring on the second play after the following kickoff on a 45-yard pass from Nickells to Jordan King. The extra-point kick sailed wide right.

Siuslaw punted on its next series, and Brookings-Harbor then capped a nine-play, 50-yard drive with a 24-yard scoring pass from Nickells to King with 10:16 to play. Nalls swept right for the two-point conversion and the game was tied at 14-14.

The Vikings then fumbled the ball away on back-to-back series. The first didn't hurt thanks to Reyna's block of a 33-yard field-goal attempt.

The second was a disaster, Thrall losing the ball and Nall racing 52 yards with the go-ahead score. Reyna then blocked the extra-point attempt to set up the Vikings' gritty last drive to victory.

Thrall finished the game with 19 carries for 129 yards.

Siuslaw rolled up 393 yards in offense, 244 on the ground. Brookings-Harbor had 203 yards in total offense, including 131 passing, according to official game statistics by Jo De and Bob Hylton.

SCORING

SIUSLAW                            0     7      7       7      —      21
BROOKINGS-HARBOR     0     0      6     14      —      20

Second Quarter
Siuslaw — Kenneth Thrall 29-yard run (Kenneth Thrall kick), 7:59

Third Quarter
Siuslaw — Scott Gordon 22-yard pass from Preston Mitchell (Kenneth Thrall kick), 5:29
Brookings-Harbor — Jordan King 45-yard pass from Russell Nickels (kick failed), 4:28

Fourth Quarter
Brookings-Harbor — Jordan King 24-yard pass from Russell Nickels (Alonzo Nalls run), 10:16
Brookings-Harbor — Alonzo Nalls 52-yard fumble return (kick blocked), 5:25
Siuslaw — Kenneth Thrall 2-yard run (Kenneth Thrall kick), :59