It's been more than five years since Siuslaw and Junction City have played each other in football.

A bit odd in that the schools are only about 60 miles and an hour-plus drive apart, and both are members of the Sky-Em League in other sports.

But they meet Friday for the first time since Tim Dodson's final game as Vikings coach, Oct. 30, 2015. The Vikings lost 24-21 at Junction City in a state 4A play-in game.

Kickoff for the return match is 7 p.m. at Hans Petersen Field. Tickets are available on the school website, with 200-plus available for the "home side" and 125-plus for the "away side."

"This Friday night is a matchup of two top 10 teams in the state," Siuslaw coach Sam Johnson said, "and will be one we need to be ready to go to war in."

The Vikings are 2-2 with a two-game win streak and the Tigers 3-1. Junction City plays Elmira next week, while Siuslaw's Culminating Week opponent has yet to be named.

"I am excited to see what happens these next two Friday nights because our kids seem to be gelling and finally letting loose and playing our brand of football," Johnson said.

The second-year Vikings coach was pleased with his team's running game in last Friday's 36-19 victory over visiting Sisters.

Junior Camp Lacouture had 18 carries for 124 yards, senior Skyler Loomis 14 for 111 and two touchdowns and senior Elijah Blankenship 11 for 111 and one TD.

"Our game plan was to be the team that ran the triple option the best," Johnson said. "Whichever team ran it better was going to win, and to have three 100-yard rushers speaks to the kids burying into that mentality this week."

Blankenship also threw for 101 yards and two scores, hitting 7 of 13 passes. Junior Braydon Thornton had 4 catches for 69 yards and a TD, Lacouture 1 for 20 yards and a TD and junior Rhys Fleming 1 for 12 yards.

"Our passing game has been lacking this year, but a lot of that is due to the fact teams got beat by it last year," Johnson said.

"(Teams) seem hard pressed to stop (the passing game) this year, which leaves holes on the inside for our kids to run through."

NOTES

Siuslaw was a member of the Far West League when it last met Junction City, which was in the Sky-Em League. … Siuslaw rejoined the Sky-Em League for the four-year block starting with the 2018-19 school year, when the Vikings football program was relegated to 3A … Junction City is 3A this season in football after going 1-14 in two seasons in a 4A special district. …

The Tigers opened the season with a 35-0 win at Harrisburg, a 27-22 victory at home against La Pine and a 27-7 win at Pleasant Hill. Junction City was blown out by visiting Santiam Christian last Friday, 34-7. …

The Vikings opened the season with a tough-luck loss at La Pine, which scored with just over a minute to play for a 26-24 win. Siuslaw followed with a 47-21 home loss to Santiam Christian, the defending 3A state champion. The Vikings then rolled at Harrisburg, 58-12, before beating Sisters last Friday. …

Today's (Monday, March 29) junior varsity game has been canceled.