If you could lay odds on high school football, it would be hard to bet against the Siuslaw Vikings on Friday night at the Junction City Tigers.

Kickoff is 7 p.m. for the play-in game to the 4A state playoffs.

Let us count the ways why the Vikings should be favored:

1. The Vikings are 6-2 on the season, the Tigers 4-4.

2. The Vikings are ranked No. 15 among 4A schools by the Oregon School Activities Association, the Tigers No. 20.

3. The Vikings are 3-1 on the road this season, the Tigers 1-3 at home.

4. The Vikings are on a two-game win streak, the Tigers on a two-game losing streak.

But, then, that's why they play the game.

Junction City was 3-2 in the Sky-Em League and shared second place with Cottage Grove and Sweet Home. But the Lions won the tiebreaker among the three schools to snag their league's No. 2 seed and a home game in the play-in round.

Siuslaw also was 3-2 in league, but was a clear No. 3 seed behind Far West League champion North Bend and runner-up Marshfield.

North Bend beat Marshfield 10-7 on Friday night in a game that determined the league's top two seeds.

Oddly enough, North Bend is rated No. 11 by the OSAA and Marshfield No. 8.

Teams qualify in three groups.

Group A includes the seven league champions and the top-rated league No. 2 team. Those teams draw byes into the first round.

Group B includes the six remaining league No. 2 teams and the top two league No. 3 teams (No. 9 Astoria and No. 14 Stayton). Those teams host play-in games.

Group C includes the remaining qualifiers, based on OSAA ratings, and play on the road. Siuslaw was the top-rated No. 3 team in Group C, missing out on a home play-in game by one notch to Stayton.

The play-in round pairings:

• OSAA No. 23 Klamath Union (C8) at No. 5 Cascade (B1)
• No. 24 North Marion (C7) at No. 7 Phoenix (B2)
• No. 22 Sweet Home (C6) at No. 8 Marshfield (B3)
• No. 21 South Umpqua (C5) at No. 9 Astoria (B4)
• No. 19 Henley (C4) at No. 13 Crook County (B5)
• No. 18 Gladstone (C3) at No. 14 Stayton (B6)
• No. 16 Cottage Grove (C2) at No. 17 Baker (B7)
• No. 15 Siuslaw (C1) at No. 20 Junction City (B8)

Teams drawing byes were:

• OSAA No. 1 Philomath (A1), the Oregon West champion
• No. 2 Sisters (A2), the Sky-Em champion
• No. 3 Scappoose (A3), the Cowapa champion
• No. 4 Banks (A4), the Cowapa runner-up
• No. 6 Mazama (A5), the Skyline champion
• No. 10 Molalla (A6), the Tri-Valley champion
• No. 11 North Bend (A7), the Far West champion
• No. 12 LaGrande (A8), the Greater Oregon champion

Should Siuslaw be the only Group C team to survive Friday night, the Vikings likely would play a first-round game Nov. 6 at top-seeded Philomath.