The Siuslaw Vikings will be playing football next year in a six-school Class 3A Mountain Valley Conference, according to the latest proposal of the Oregon School Activities Association's ad hoc committee.

Siuslaw will compete with Creswell, Elmira, La Pine, Pleasant Hill and Sisters. Harrisburg, a MVC member, would play in a 2A league next season.

"No real surprises," Siuslaw athletic director Chris Johnson said of the latest OSAA update. "I am working on a tentative 2022 football schedule. 

"It will remain tentative, at least the nonleague schedule, until the special districts are finalized by the OSAA Executive Board. I don't anticipate any changes from the latest update."

Siuslaw has a three-year adjusted average daily membership (enrollment) of 234, making it the league's smallest school. Pleasant Hill has 236, Creswell 240, La Pine 266, Sisters 302 and Elmira 307.

Phoenix is the only 4A school playing down, giving 3A a total of 33 teams in the latest proposal.

The committee has one last meeting — Wednesday, Feb. 2 — before issuing its final recommendation.

The 3A special districts for football include schools in the 310-146 ADM range.

The other four 3A leagues include:

Coastal Range League (6) — Banks, Corbett, Rainier, Warrenton, Valley Catholic and Yamhill-Carlton.

PacWest Conference (7) — Amity, Dayton, Jefferson, Kennedy, Santiam Christian, Scio and Taft.

Far West League (10) — Brookings-Harbor, Cascade Christian, Coquille, Douglas, Lakeview, North Valley, Phoenix, South Umpqua, St. Mary's (Medford) and Sutherlin.

Eastern Oregon League (4) — Burns, McLoughlin, Nyssa-Harper Charter, Vale.

The committee also is recommending the 9-player game for 38 Class 2A schools with an ADM 75-145, an 8-player game for the 27 schools in Class 1A with an ADM 74-61 and a 6-player game for the 22 Class 1A schools 0-60.

The committee supports adding an OSAA state championship for 6-player teams.

Schools that are granted a petition to play down will be eligible for state playoffs, but schools will be reviewed on an annual basis by the committee.

" I didn't think their idea not to let teams play down participate in postseason play would stand up," Johnson said.

The latest OSAA update is online at https://www.osaa.org/docs/committees/football/01192022update.pdf

NOTES

The 4A Sky-Em League will include Cottage Grove, Junction City, Marist, Marshfield and North Bend. …

Mapleton's 6-player team will compete in a special district with 13 other schools — Crow, Eddyville Charter, Elkton, Gilchrist, Jewell, McKenzie, North Douglas, North Lake, Powers, Riddle, Siletz Valley, Triangle Lake and Yoncalla. …

2022 MVC TEAMS IN 2021

• Creswell Bulldogs were 5-4 overall, 3-3 in 2A Special District 3, did not make 2A playoffs
• Elmira Falcons were 2-8 overall, 1-3 in 4A Special District 4, did not make 4A playoffs
• La Pine Hawks were 7-4 overall, 4-1 in 3A Special District 2 North, losing to Siuslaw 34-26 (league) and 28-26 (3A state semifinals)
• Pleasant Hill Billies were 0-8 overall, 0-5 in 3A Special District 2 North, losing to Siuslaw 66-19, did not make 3A playoffs
• Sisters Outlaws were 1-6 overall, 1-4 in 3A Special District 2 North, losing to Siuslaw 50-0, did not make 3A playoffs
• Siuslaw Vikings were 12-0 overall, 5-0 in 3A Special District 2 North, won the 3A state title