Siuslaw junior running back Quincy Rusk is called "Q" by his Vikings football teammates.

It's for the initial of his first name, but it could be Q for quick, or quality.

Certainly not Q for quiche, or for quit. There's no quit in Quincy.

"I've always liked the nickname Q, but this is the first time I've been called it," Rusk said. "I really feel that since I've been called Q, it's giving me an extra boost."

That boost helped shoot Q into the end zone with the opening kickoff Friday night at Elmira. Taking the ball inside the Siuslaw 10, he dashed and slashed more than 90 yards to the Falcons' end zone.

"I got touched a little bit at the end, by No. 11 (the Falcons' Jamal Wilson)," Rusk said. "I just saw my holes and I hit them hard and I ran as fast as I possibly could."

Unfortunately, there was a flag on the play. Instead of a touchdown and a quick lead, the Vikings had the ball on their 22, 78 yards from the end zone, and the game remained scoreless.

Elmira eventually would win, 35-14, grinding out five touchdowns and 356 yards on the ground.

"That was a game-changer," Vikings coach Jamin Pool said of the TD that was called back by penalty. "Somebody said it was a block in the back, but (the officials) didn't have a number for me.

"It is what it is. I tell the players there are going to be mistakes. We need to adjust to them and overcome them."

Rusk has been making a number of adjustments in recent months, including the adjustment to being Siuslaw's primary ballcarrier.

Friday, he had 16 of the Vikings' 27 carries for 54 of their 80 yards on the ground, and he scored Siuslaw's only rushing touchdown, a 5-yard scamper in the fourth quarter.

Rusk also caught a pass for 3 yards and served as the primary kick returner, with four for 49 yards. Oh, he also played a lot of defense.

"Overall, I was pretty pleased with his performance," Pool said of Q. "He made a couple of mistakes, but he also made some really great decisions."

Rusk played some football as a freshman in Utah, but dropped out of the sport his first year at Siuslaw.

"I didn't have my head screwed on right," he said. "Over the summer, I really looked myself in a mirror, and told myself I need to play football.

"I found a team that I could really love, and that I could be part of."

Rusk took advantage of the Vikings' summer camp to get his head on straight, and to get back into the game.

"I just showed up and worked hard," he said. "Everybody's accepted me, and I have accepted them. I love my guys."

Love comes in all sizes, and Rusk makes the most of his 5-foot-8 frame and 125 pounds. Teammate Trent Reavis, a foot taller and 100 pounds heavier, scored the other Vikings' touchdown Friday night.

"Q will be our primary ballcarrier this season," Pool said. "His overall athleticism, shifting gears, and the ability to get upfield and all of that is just different. That's where he has to be."

Rusk's return to football has him looking at other sports, and he has two specifically in mind for this school year.

"I think I'm going to go out for wrestling and track," he said. "I think I'd like to run the 100 meters."

Which is what he'd like to run on a football field, from end zone to end zone, scoring a touchdown to give his team a boost. As for the flag that wiped out his TD return Friday, no worries.

"I'm not really disappointed, because I know I can do it again," Rusk said. "I'm looking forward to next week, so I can do it again."

That's Q, as in quiet confidence.