NED HICKSON , SPORTS EDITOR ❘ 541-902-3523 ❘ SPORTS @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM SATURDAY EDITION ❘ SEPTEMBER 12, 2015 ❘ SECTION B Siuslaw News Sports & Recreation A Sporting View On the Bite By Mark Vasto The Godfather reimagined See VIEW 3B T IDE T ABLE Entrance Siuslaw River High Tide Low Tide Sept. 12 12:36am / 6.6 6:23am / 0.2 6:38pm / 1.2 Sept. 13 12:33am / 6.9 6:55am / 0.4 1:05pm / 6.8 7:13pm / 1.0 Sept. 14 1:10am / 6.8 1:33am / 6.8 7:26am / 0.7 7:47pm / 0.8 Sept. 15 1:47m / 6.6 2:01pm / 6.9 7:56am / 1.0 8:22pm / 0.7 Sept. 16 2:24am / 6.3 2:30pm/ 6.8 8:26am / 6.3 8:59pm / 0.7 FISHING REPORT FOR THE LOCAL REGION www.dfw.state.or.us/RR MID COAST LAKES Fishing for the various warm water fish species is fair to good during the sum- mer months. There are numerous lakes in the Florence area that can pro- vide good opportunity and have boat and bank access. SIUSLAW PHOTOS BY NED HICKSON/SIUSLAW NEWS Siuslaw freshman Trinity Ramos (far left) smiles after finishing the North Bend Invitational on Wednesday at Tugman State Park, where the Viking girls placed first over the Bulldogs by one point. V IKS NUDGE N ORTH B END B Y S TAN P USIESKI Siuslaw sophomore returner Isaac Griffes finished second for the Vikings and 11th over all in the varsity boys race Wednesday. Special to Siuslaw News Siuslaw High School cross country coach Chris Johnson has high hopes for this season’s team. For a coach with 10 state titles in the sport, that means exactly what you sus- pect. “I have high expectations because I see a lot of talent here,” Johnson said, as he watched his team gather for the awards ceremony Wednesday for the North Bend Tugman Invitational at Tugman State Park. The Siuslaw girls, led by junior Celie Mans’ second-place finish, won the team title by one point over host North Bend in a six-school race. The boys, led by freshman transfer Murray Bingham, placed fourth among nine schools competing. “We could make a run at a (Far West) League title on both sides,” Johnson said. “It’s difficult, but it’s possible. It’s possible they could go to a state meet and trophy, but they’ll have to get bet- ter. That’s what we’re here for. “The season’s not super long, but we have some time to go. We just have to go to work.” There won’t be much rest for the Vikings, who head to Monmouth today for the third annual Ash Creek Cross Country Festival at the Ash Creek Preserve near the Western Oregon University campus. Johnson asked his runners to hold back a bit at Tugman. “I told them to have a good effort, (go) about 90 percent (on Wednesday),” he said. “What I saw out there is about what I expected to see at this point.” He’ll ask more at Ash Creek. “We’re going to go there and race in earnest,” Johnson said. “It’ll be a pret- ty good look at where we are.” Mans cut a second off her 2014 time Wednesday at Tugman as she finished second again to Sailor Hutton, a sopho- Sept. 18 3:48am / 5.8 3:34pm/ 6.6 9:30am / 2.2 10:22pm / 0.9 S IUSLAW N EWS 148 Maple St. Florence 541-997-3441 See SILETZ RIVER: Steelhead, cutthroat trout Summer steelhead fish- ing is fair in the upper river. Low flows and warming See FISHING 3B S PORTS Calendar Sept. 12 • SHS XC AT A SH C REEK FEST M ONMOUTH 10 A . M . Sept. 15 • MHS V-BALL HOSTS VIKS 2B AT Siuslaw splits 3-way matchup E DDYVILLE 6 P . M . • MHS V-BALL HOSTS The Vikings may have been off the court Tuesday, but they made up for it Thursday by taking on powerhouses Junction City — which had beaten North Bend a week earlier — and Newport in a three-team matchup in the Cubs’ den. In both matches, the Vikings went the distance and played five games each against the Tigers and Cubs. Opening against OSAA’s No. 2-ranked Junction City, the Vikings hammered out an impressive 25-11 win in the first game, then narrowly fell 22-25 in game two. Siuslaw took the advantage with a 25-18 win in the third set, only to have the Tigers return the favor with their own 25-18 win to tie the match at two games each. Though the Viks had a lot of fire- power from Elyssa Rose and Makenzie York, who combined for 43 kills on the night, and a dozen perfect serve-receive passes from Ali Scheer, Junction City was able to rally for a 15-10 victory to take the match. In the nightcap, Siuslaw nabbed the match-win in five sets over Newport (scores were unavailable at press time). Rose led the evening in scoring with 25 kills and 10 stuff-blocks. York had 18 kills and seven stuff-blocks. Junction City went on to sweep Newport in three games, 25-18, 25-10, 25-16. The Viking will be on the road Tuesday to open the league season at South Umpqua, beginning at 6 p.m. NED HICKSON/SIUSLAW NEWS S. U MPQUA 6 P . M . Sept. 17 Siuslaw junior Elyssa Rose had a combined 25 kills Thursday night against Newport and Junction City. Siuslaw News 8:57am / 1.7 9:38pm / 0.8 more at Bandon. Mans finished the 5,000 meters in 19 minutes, 41 sec- onds, while Hutton clocked 18:56. The Siuslaw girls narrowly won the team title with 52 points to North Bend’s 53. North Bend junior Michael Brown, fourth last year in a race won by then- senior Seth Campbell of Siuslaw, cap- tured the boys 5K in 16:40, with Bandon taking the boys team title with 58 points. Also scoring for the Vikings’ girls team were junior transfer Morgan Bingham (10th), freshman Kaeli Ramos (14th) and seniors Mikaela Siegel (17th) and Sierra Potter (20th). Murray Bingham was ninth in the boys’ race, with sophomore Isaac Griffes 11th overall and the second Viking to cross the finish line. Sophomore Kyle King was 13th, junior Sean Burns 27th and senior Tyler Williams 28th. The strong finishes by the Bingham siblings were encouraging to Johnson. “This is my 21st year here, and we’ve never had a transfer make a huge impact, or maybe any impact at all,” RIVER: Cutthroat trout The cutthroat trout fish- ery is slow to fair. Fishing during the early mornings or in the larger tributaries is the most productive. River conditions are very low and warm for this time of year. Bait is not allowed above the head of tide but small spinners, spoons and fly fishing can be very produc- tive. ALSEA RIVER : cutthroat trout The cutthroat trout fish- ery is fair in the mainstem and in some of the large tributaries. With the low and warm river conditions the best opportunities will be in the early morning when water temperatures are the coolest. Small spin- ners are typically produc- tive as wells as small spoons or fly fishing with nymphs or streamers. • SHS V-BALL B Y N ED H ICKSON Sept. 17 3:04am / 6.0 3:01pm / 6.8 WEEKLY W ALDPORT 6 P . M . • SHS V-BALL HOSTS M ARSHFIELD 6 P . M . Sept. 18 • SHS FOOTBALL AT H IDDEN V ALLEY 7:30 P . M . • MHS FOOTBALL AT T. L AKE 7 P . M . CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK When young Vito first tried out for the football team, he was rejected for being too small. Besides, his brothers before him had been seen as a bit too vio- lent, and his father didn’t get along with the guy in charge of the league. In fact, the two had a very public exchange at an awards banquet that led to the family getting black- balled from the communi- ty’s social circuit. What Vito lacked in size he made up for in percep- tion. His parents died young and he had since moved to another school district with his extended family. Embarrassed of his accent, he worked around the edges of the schoolyards a bit. Still, he made a quick reputation for himself as a club boxer, where he raged like a bull, trouncing oppo- nents, and soon he had gained a reputation for being a hardworking guy. He started a company with a friend that imported an organic energy drink, married a sweet girl and soon became wealthy enough to move out to the suburbs, where he went on to grow a family. His upward climb contin- ued until his drinks were served in every stadium. He had power and influence. One day, a quarterback asked for a meeting. He was on the downside of his career and he wanted Vito and his adopted son, Tom, A