SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2016
3 B
Vik runningback Quincy Rusk is called ‘Q’ for a reason
B Y S TAN P USIESKI
For Siuslaw News
Siuslaw junior running back
Quincy Rusk is called “Q” by
his Vikings football teammates.
It’s for the initial of his first
name, but it could be Q for
quick, or quality.
Certainly not Q for quiche,
or for quit. There’s no quit in
Quincy.
“I’ve always liked the nick-
name ‘Q,’ but this is the first
time I’ve been called it,” Rusk
said. “I really feel that since
I’ve been called Q, it’s giving
me an extra boost.”
That boost helped shoot Q
into the end zone with the
opening kickoff at Elmira dur-
ing the season opener Sept. 2.
Taking the ball inside the
Siuslaw 10, he dashed and
slashed more than 90 yards to
the Falcons’ end zone.
“I got touched a little bit at
the end, by No. 11 (the
Falcons’ Jamal Wilson),” Rusk
said. “I just saw my holes and I
hit them hard and I ran as fast
as I possibly could.”
Unfortunately, there was a
flag on the play. Instead of a
touchdown and a quick lead,
the Vikings had the ball on their
22, 78 yards from the end zone,
and the game remained score-
less.
Elmira eventually went on to
win, 35-14, grinding out five
touchdowns and 356 yards on
the ground.
“That was a game-changer,”
Vikings coach Jamin Pool said
of the TD that was called back
by penalty. “Somebody said it
was a block in the back, but
(the officials) didn’t have a
number for me.
“It is what it is. I tell the
players there are going to be
mistakes. We need to adjust to
them and overcome them.”
Rusk has been making a
number of adjustments in
recent months, including the
adjustment to being Siuslaw’s
primary ballcarrier.
Against the Falcons, he had
16 of the Vikings’ 27 carries for
54 of the team’s 80 yards on the
ground, and he scored
STAN PUSIESKI PHOTO
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Quincy Rusk is introduced during Blue and Gold Night.
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Siuslaw’s only rushing touch-
down, a 5-yard scamper in the
fourth quarter.
Rusk also caught a pass for 3
yards and served as the primary
kick returner, with four for 49
yards. Oh, he also played a lot
of defense.
“Overall, I was pretty
pleased with his performance,”
Pool said of Q. “He made a
couple of mistakes, but he also
made some really great deci-
sions.”
Rusk played some football
as a freshman in Utah, but
dropped out of the sport his
first year at Siuslaw.
“I didn’t have my head
screwed on right,” he said.
“Over the summer, I really
looked myself in a mirror, and
told myself I need to play foot-
ball.
“I found a team that I could
really love, and that I could be
part of.”
Rusk took advantage of the
Vikings’ summer camp to get
his head on straight, and to get
back into the game.
“I just showed up and
worked hard,” he said.
“Everybody’s accepted me, and
I have accepted them. I love my
guys.”
Love comes in all sizes, and
Rusk makes the most of his 5-
foot-8 frame and 125 pounds.
Teammate Trent Reavis, a
foot taller and 100 pounds
heavier, scored the other
Vikings’ touchdown Friday
night.
“Q will be our primary ball-
carrier this season,” Pool said.
“His overall athleticism, shift-
ing gears, and the ability to get
upfield and all of that is just
different. That’s where he has
to be."
Rusk’s return to football has
him looking at other sports, and
he has two specifically in mind
for this school year.
“I think I’m going to go out
for wrestling and track,” he
said. “I think I’d like to run the
100 meters.”
Which is what he’d like to
run on a football field, from
end zone to end zone, scoring a
touchdown to give his team a
boost. As for the flag that
wiped out his TD return Friday,
no worries.
“I’m not really disappointed,
because I know I can do it
again,” Rusk said. “I’m looking
forward to next week, so I can
do it again.”
That’s Q, as in quiet confi-
dence.
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