Vikings roots run deep for these Billies


 

Vikings players applaud the Pleasant Hill community as balloons were released in honor of Billies player Jordan Jeffs, who died Tuesday.

Siuslaw Vikings roots run deep for Pleasant Hill athletic director Erik Hoberg.

Especially in football. Two generations of Hobergs played for Len Lutero, who won 196 games in 29 seasons as head football coach of the Vikings.

"My Dad (Richard) played for Lutero in his first year, 1968," Hoberg said. "And my brother, Aaron, played for Lutero in his last year, 1995."

Erik, a 1990 Siuslaw graduate, played for Lutero in the late '80s. He also played baseball and wrestled for the Vikings.

"Pleasant Hill was always our first game of the season," Hoberg said Friday, before the Billies and Vikings kicked off. "We always loved coming here, and competing with them."

The Siuslaw-Pleasant Hill connection gets even better. The Billies' head football coach, Randy Fisher, who is the Pleasant Hill principal, is a 1987 Siuslaw graduate.

Fisher, too, played for Lutero. And he was an assistant for Lutero in the early '90s.

"We used to play Pleasant Hill in every sport," Hoberg said, momentarily donning his Vikings cap. "As the leagues changed and the classifications changed, we kind of lost that a little bit."

Hoberg and Fisher wanted to renew the rivalry.

"Last year, we called up the athletic director, Jeromy Graybill, at the time, and said, 'Hey, can we get this thing going again?'" Hoberg said. "I think it would be great for the communities."

Siuslaw hosted Game 1 of the renewed series last fall, winning 24-6. The Billies returned the favor Friday, winning 41-14.

The two schools meet again next year in Florence, and Hoberg hopes it continues indefinitely.

"Hopefuly, Chris (Johnson, the new Siuslaw AD) and I can work something out," he said.

Friday was a bittersweet night for the Pleasant Hill community, with many gathering at midfield before the game to honor the life of Billies football player Jordan Jeffs, who died in a car crash Tuesday night.

Teammate Wyatt Craig wore Jeffs' No. 21 jersey for the game, and the Billies players had Jeffs 21 T-shirts under their jerseys. Hundreds of community members wore Jeffs 21 Ts.

"Here's a kid that everybody loved, they really did," Hoberg said. "Jordan was a wonderful kid, and he had a super personality. He always had a smile on his face.

"He just had a joy for life."

Vikings players, coaches and fans from the far sideline clapped as the gathering at the 50-yard-line released hundreds of balloons as tribute to Jeffs.

"It's incredible, the community support we have," Hoberg said. "They put things together so fast. It's just amazing."

He could have been speaking as a Viking or as a Billie, and probably was.

NOTES

Hoberg donated baseballs to the Siuslaw Athletic Booster Club's annual auction. He retired as Billies baseball coach after last season, which included a game in Florence against the Vikings. ...

Hoberg was part of a foursome that won first place net at last month's Florence Rotary Cool at the Coast Golf Tournament at Ocean Dunes Golf Links. Also in the foursome were his cousin, Kevin McMullen, and Justin Kramer and Mike Harrison. They won golf for four at the Bend Country Club. ...

One of Hoberg's favorite Lutero stories was the practice the coach literally walked away from the team and forgot about them. "KEZI (TV) came by, and he forgot about us," Hoberg said. "We were running a 60-yard drill, and we ran it for an hour and a half. I think it was supposed to go 20 minutes."

Hoberg has good memories of Lutero. "During weight-training class, he'd sit down and talk to you about life, talk to you about Xs and Os," Hoberg said. "He was so committed to us having success, that that man would do anything for his players. He really would."




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