The Siuslaw football team hopes to flip its fortunes when the Vikings kick off the 2017 season Sept. 1 against Elmira.

Instead of 3 home games and 5 road games, the Vikings will have 5 home dates at Hans Petersen Field and 3 games away.

Instead of learning a new offense, they will have had more than a year of experience with coach Jamin Pool's system.

And instead of 6 losses and 2 wins, a 6-win season may be a reasonable goal.

It all begins with Elmira and a schedule that mirrors 2016, only with the home sites reversed.

The Vikings follow Elmira with a home game against Pleasant Hill on Sept. 8, then take a road trip to long-time rival Newport on Sept. 15.

Siuslaw opens Far West League play on Sept. 22 at defending Class 4A state champion North Bend.

The Vikings then have three consecutive home dates — Sept. 29 vs. Marshfield, Oct. 6 vs. South Umpqua and Oct. 13 vs. Douglas — before ending the regular season Oct. 20 at Brookings-Harbor.

All games feature 7 p.m. Friday kickoffs.

First practice is Monday, Aug. 14, with the annual Blue-Gold Game on Friday, Aug. 25.

NOTES

Pool's assistant coaches include Dennis Davidson, Gerald Fleming, Kellyn Davidson, Kris O'Connor, Mike Blankenship and Pat Wondra. ...

Blankenship and Dennis Davidson will coach the junior varsity, which will play its games on Mondays. Siuslaw did not have enough players to safely field a JV team in 2016. ...

Jeff Gray is a junior varsity assistant coach. ...

Elmira and Pleasant Hill may be in the same league with Siuslaw by fall 2018 under a classification model under consideration by the Oregon School Activities Association. ...

Next school year likely will be the last time the Vikings will face Marshfield and North Bend in league play. The two larger schools will move into another classification by 2018. ...

2017 SCHEDULE
Aug. 14 — First practice
Aug. 25 — Blue-Gold Game
Sept. 1 — Elmira
Sept. 8 — Pleasant Hill
Sept. 15 — at Newport
Sept. 22 — at North Bend
Sept. 29 — Marshfield
Oct. 6 — South Umpqua
Oct. 13 — Douglas
Oct. 20 — at Brookings-Harbor

2016 RESULTS
at Elmira 35, Siuslaw 14
at Pleasant Hill 41, Siuslaw 14
at Siuslaw 37, Newport 7
at Douglas 53, Siuslaw 0
North Bend 63, at Siuslaw 26
at Marshfield 70, Siuslaw 20
at South Umpqua 40, Siuslaw 6
at Siuslaw 14, Brookings-Harbor 13