First-year coach Sam Johnson and his Siuslaw Vikings football team delivered an emphatic message Friday night with their 28-19 comeback victory at Philomath.

Siuslaw football is back.

"The kids, they're 100 percent winners," Johnson said. "We put people on notice: This gold helmet, we said it, it used to be feared.

"But the last three years it's been a joke. People are going to fear it now."

Week 1, at Elmira, the Vikings snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, letting a two-score lead slip away in the fourth quarter.

Week 2, a program-lifting victory at Philomath, the Vikings proved they weren't going to let a little thing like a 19-0 halftime deficit get them down.

Week 3, this coming Friday's home opener against 0-2 Newport, Johnson and the Vikings have the opportunity to show that Siuslaw football is indeed on the comeback trail.

To say things didn't go quite as planned in the first half would be something of an understatement.

The Vikings trailed 19-0.

Then Johnson locked his coaches out of the locker room and delivered a pointed halftime speech that was heard loud and clear.

"At halftime, we realized we didn't do anything right in that first half and we were still in a ball game," Johnson said. "We were able to put up four scores quick. That's what we do as a team."

Siuslaw went from down 19-0 to up 20-19 before the third quarter horn sounded.

"Elijah Blankenship, Camp Lacouture, Brady Libby, Brandon Thornton, Rhys Fleming, Isaac Garza, Avery Hart," Johnson said, "The list goes on and on. At the skill positions, the kids are unbelievable. Hector Garcia.

"It comes down to whether we can block or not, and those kids at halftime took it to heart and started blocking and we won ourselves a football game."

It also came down to a few breaks, such as recovering the opening kickoff of the second half.

Siuslaw took over on the Philomath 48 and, six plays later, Blankenship, the junior quarterback, found Thornton, his talented sophomore wide receiver, for a 16-yard touchdown pass. Thornton swept right for the two points, and Siuslaw was on the board, trailing 19-8.

The Vikings defense then held Philomath to a 3-and-out, and the offense took over on the Siuslaw 40. Blankenship immediately ate up 43 yards on a keeper. The eight-play drive was capped by Garcia's 1-yard dive for a score. The 2-point conversion run failed, but Siuslaw was in the game, down 19-14.

"They came out a little shellshocked when we scored a couple of touchdowns," Johnson said.

The Warriors managed a short drive of seven plays, but coughed it up to the Vikings on an interception by Lacouture, who returned the ball to the 50.

Blankenship connected on a 39-yard pass play with Thornton on the next play, and, four plays later, Lacouture passed to Thornton for a 5-yard score. Again the conversion run failed. But with 1:01 to play in the third quarter, Siuslaw led for the first time, 20-19.

The Warriors once again went 4-and-out, and Siuslaw took over on its own 34, and 12 plays later padded its lead on a 9-yard pass from Blankenship to Libby in the belly of the end zone to make it 26-19. Garcia bulled in for the 2-point conversion, and the Vikings had a two-score lead with 9:56 to play.

The Vikings weren't about to let a two-score lead disappear in the fourth quarter for a second game in a row. In their opener, Siuslaw was up by 11 points early in the fourth quarter, only to see the Falcons rally for the win.

Instead of slowing their upbeat tempo, the Vikings went for the gusto.

"We went pedal to the metal to get down to the red zone," Johnson said. "And once we were in the red zone, hey, let's just slow things down.

"We're up two scores each time. Let's eat 40 seconds each time. So they weren't calling timeouts, so we were loving it."

And now they're enjoying it, the school's first win in two seasons and only the fourth win in the past four.

Vikings opponents: You are on notice.

SECOND-GREATEST COMEBACK

Siuslaw graduate and football historian Don Hunt notes that Friday's comeback was the second-greatest in school history. Wrote Hunt: The greatest comeback came in Siuslaw's season-opening game in 1989, when the Vikings overcame a 21-0 deficit in the first quarter and defeated Pleasant Hill, 28-21. The ‘89 team went on to win its first 11 games before suffering a controversial 13-6 loss to St. Helens in the state semifinals. ...

Newport nailed Siuslaw 60-16 last season en route to the 4A playoffs. ... The 0-2 Cubs will be hungry for a win after losing to Tillamook in their opener Sept. 6, 31-7, and at Phoenix on Friday, 27-0. ...

SIUSLAW        0      0   20     8    —   28
PHILOMATH   7    12     0     0   —   19
First quarter
Philomath — Dylan Bennett 88-yard pass from Michael Lundy (Logan Hannigan-Downs kick), 4:05
Second quarter
Philomath — FG Logan Hannigan-Downs 27 yards, 9:45
Philomath — FG Logan Hannigan-Downs 26 yards, 6:07
Philomath —Michael Lundy 1 run (kick blocked), 2:19
Third quarter
Siuslaw — Braydon Thornton 16-yard pass from Elijah Blankenship (Braydon Thornton run), 10:21
Siuslaw — Hector Garcia 1-yard run (run failed), 5:15
Siuslaw — Braydon Thornton 5-yard pass from Camp Lacouture (run failed), 1:01
Fourth quarter
Siuslaw — Brady Libby 9-yard pass from Elijah Blankenship (Hector Garcia run), 9:56

2019 SIUSLAW FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Friday, Sept. 6 — at Elmira 30, Siuslaw 26
Friday, Sept. 13 — Siuslaw 28, at Philomath 19
Friday, Sept. 20 — Newport, 7 p.m., Hans Petersen Memorial Field
Saturday, Sept. 28 — McLoughlin/Griswold, 4 p.m., Madras High School
Friday, Oct. 4 — Harrisburg, 7 p.m., Hans Petersen Memorial Field
Friday, Oct. 11 — at Santiam Christian, 7 p.m., Adair Village
Friday, Oct. 18 — Pleasant Hill, 7 p.m., Hans Petersen Memorial Field
Friday, Oct. 25 — La Pine, 7 p.m., Hans Petersen Memorial Field
Friday, Nov. 1 — at Sutherlin, 7 p.m.

2019 SIUSLAW VIKINGS ROSTER
  1 TE/LB Rhys Fleming, sophomore, 6-3, 170
  3 QB/S Elijah Blankenship, junior, 5-8, 170
  5 RB/LB Camp Lacouture, sophomore, 6-0, 170
  7 RB/LB Ian Sissel, freshman, 5-10, 160
  8 WR/CB Braydon Thornton, sophomore, 6-2, 170
  9 TE/DE Avery Hart, sophomore, 6-3, 220
10 QB/S Beau Erickson, sophomore, 5-8, 140
11 WR/S Brady Libby, junior, 5-8, 170
12 RB/LB Hector Garcia, junior, 5-10, 175
13 RB/CB Hunter Petterson, freshman, 5-6, 140
14 RB/LB Mason Buss, freshman, 5-6, 130
15 WR/CB Jake Roberts, freshman, 5-8, 140
15 TE/DE Noah Dotson, freshman, 5-10, 160
23 WR/CB James Smith, sophomore, 5-11, 160
26 WR/LB Tyrone Krohn, junior, 5-10, 150
33 RB/LB Skyler Loomis, junior, 5-10, 170
41 WR/CB Jason Garcia, sophomore, 5-8, 150
50 OL/LB Victor Ayala, freshman, 5-8, 200
51 OL/DL Henry Rankin, sophomore, 6-0, 220
53 OL/LB Ethan Aaron, sophomore, 5-9, 170
53 OL/DL Ricky Loza, senior, 5-8, 170
56 OL/DL John Corser, sophomore, 5-9, 180
62 OL/DL Joe Slaughter, sophomore, 5-9, 170
64 OL/LB Christian Newlan, junior, 5-11, 200
65 OL/DL Matthew Horillo, senior, 5-10, 240
67 OL/DE Dayson Foglio, senior, 6-5, 240
68 OL/DL David Spencer, senior, 6-2, 330
70 OL/DL Isaiah Jones, senior, 6-0, 180
76 OL/DL Zach Stinger, senior, 5-10, 220
84 WR/CB Isaac Garza, sophomore, 6-0, 160
88 WR/CB Colin Leland, junior, 6-0, 160
88 TE/DE John Rose, freshman, 6-3, 200
Head coach: Sam Johnson (first year)
Assistant coaches: Andy Johnson, Billy Jones, Bob Teter, Dennis Davidson, Gerald Fleming, Jeff Gray, Nick Johnson, Tom Shinn.

OSAA Class 3A Special District 2 Schedule
Nonleague
Friday, Sept. 6
at Elmira 30, Siuslaw 26
at Taft 14, Harrisburgh 6
at La Pine 42, Douglas 22
Hidden Valley 50, at Sutherlin 26
Santiam Christian 39, at Dayton 0
Saturday, Sept. 7
at Pleasant Hill 48, Salem Academy 6
Friday, Sept. 13
Siuslaw 28, at Philomath 19
Harrisburg 27, at Blanchet Catholic 0
La Pine 22, at Madras 3
at Hidden Valley 63, Pleasant Hill 12
at Sutherlin 33, Taft 18
at Santiam Christian 46, Douglas 0
Friday, Sept. 20
Newport at Siuslaw, 7 p.m., Vikings home opener
Cascade Christian at Harrisburg, 7 p.m.
La Pine at Burns, 7 p.m.
Dayton at Pleasant Hill, 7 p.m.
Sutherlin at Douglas, 7 p.m.
Scio at Santiam Christian, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 27
Douglas at Harrisburg, 7 p.m.
La Pine at Rogue River, 7 p.m.
Pleasant Hill at Cascade Christian, 7 p.m.
South Umpqua at Sutherlin, 7 p.m.
Santiam Christian at Blanchet Catholic, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 28
Siuslaw vs. McLouglin/Griswold at Madras, 4 p.m.
League
Friday, Oct. 4
Harrisburg at Siuslaw, 7 p.m.
Sutherlin at La Pine, 7 p.m.
Pleasant Hill at Santiam Christian, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 11
Siuslaw at Santiam Christian (Adair Village), 7 p.m.
Sutherlin at Harrisburg, 7:30 p.m.
La Pine at Pleasant Hill, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 18
Pleasant Hill at Siuslaw, 7 p.m.
Harrisburg at La Pine, 7 p.m.
Santiam Christian at Sutherlin, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 25
La Pine at Siuslaw, 7 p.m.
Harrisburg at Santiam Christian, 7 p.m.
Sutherlin at Pleasant Hill, 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 1
Siuslaw at Sutherlin, 7 p.m.
Pleasant Hill at Harrisburg, 7 p.m.
Santiam Christian at La Pine, 7 p.m.