SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019 | 3B
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from 1B
practice,” he said. “I’m
excited to go to practice,
I’m excited to go to games.
I was talking with Braydon
[Thornton] the other day,
and it was like, ‘The season
is almost over.’ It was sad. I
don’t want it to end.”
After Friday’s win, the
chances of having Viking
football reach the state
playoffs became a very real
possibility. Ranked 14th in
the 3A, the Viks are just
one game away from
securing a playoff spot —
and just two wins away
from securing a home-
game advantage.
“I’ve never been in a sit-
uation with any sport
where we went to the play-
offs, because we haven’t
really been successful in
any high school sports my
whole career,” Blankenship
said. “But now it’s a lot
more fun. The vibe on the
team is all happy and ready
to work and get after it.”
The Viks have been “get-
ting after it” all season, but
there was a setback two
weeks ago when they lost
against Santiam Christian.
“We weren’t discouraged
too much,” Blankenship
said. “It was more like a
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Siuslaw coach Sam Johnson (right) addresses his team after Friday’s win.
learning experience. We
tried to do stuff that we
don’t always do, so with
[Pleasant Hill] we just got
back to what we’re used to
doing.”
Siuslaw head coach Sam
Johnson had another way
to put it. Days before
Siuslaw battled Pleasant
Hill, Johnson said that the
Viks would come out on
the field with “a fire that
hasn’t been seen for a long
time at Siuslaw.”
Blankenship laughed at
the line. “That’s a good way
to explain it,”
In Blankenship’s view,
Friday’s game was a must-
win.
“Before Friday night, we
were thinking we had to
win two games to make
playoffs. If we win all three,
we get a home playoff — so
it was a must-win for us,”
Blankenship said. “And it
being a home game, well…
we had to win the home
game.”
There was also a rivalry
between the two schools,
with emotions running
high the last time Siuslaw
and Pleasant Hill met
during the pre-season jam-
boree. And then there was
a personal reason for the
players to want the win:
Johnson left Pleasant Hill
to come coach for Siuslaw.
“We really wanted to
win this for him.”
The Viks showed off
their fire early, less than a
minute into the first quar-
ter, with Blankenship run-
ning a 63-yard play.
“Everyone was pretty
excited,” he said. “Nobody
really thought this. After
Santiam Christian, 40 sec-
onds in, we already scored?
It was awesome.”
The Viks got a little
stuck when the Billies
scored a safety after the
Viks blocked a pass on a
P-Hill fourth down.
“We didn’t really block
the play correctly, so it was
just a broken play, really. It
wasn’t too bad,” said
Blankenship. “Once we
were able to stop them on
defense, we were good to
go.”
By the end of the first
quarter, Siuslaw was up
14-2.
“I think we kicked the
ball off from our 15-yard
line twice and they didn’t
score. So that was pretty
big for our defense to stop
that.”
One of the best plays of
the night occurred when
the Viks were fourth and
goal with a two-throw pass
— a flea-flicker — into the
endzone.
“Braydon suggested that
play,”Blankenship said.
“He’s a little cocky, always
talking about how he’s QB1
and tries to mess with me a
little bit. He’s like, ‘I need
to throw a touchdown
pass.’ So, I was like, ‘Yeah,
let’s do it.’ He got it and he
was able to throw it to
Brady Libby. I was
impressed with how he
stayed there and just threw
the ball. It was awesome.”
At that point, the battle
between Siuslaw and
Pleasant Hill became a lit-
tle less pleasant as it
became clear the Billies’
chances of a win were fad-
ing.
“Stuff got a little chippy,”
Blankenship said.
The Billies head coach
Joel Smith got ejected from
the game after a disagree-
ment with an official. Soon
after, an assistant coach
was kicked out.
Then there was an inci-
dent where Thornton was
injured.
“He went to tackle the
punter on a fake punt, and
then he was standing there
and
got
pushed,”
Blankenship said. “And
then a big pile started hap-
pening, people were push-
ing and shoving.”
Blankenship was on the
other side of the field and
wasn’t able to see what
occurred in the pile, but
“you could see Braydon
getting pulled out holding
his head.”
The Billies took a knee
as Johnson ran out to the
field, followed by Athletic
Director Chris Johnson.
Soon after, an ambulance
arrived as Thornton was
escorted to the sidelines by
the entire Vikings team,
cheered on by the crowd.
“He
was
fine,”
Blankenship said, report-
ing that there was no con-
cussion. “A couple of marks
on his head was pretty
much it. That was a relief
for us.”
The field became cov-
ered with flags after that,
an apparent overabun-
dance of caution by offi-
cials because they “were
really watching out for
stuff. Some of the flags
maybe were unnecessary
because they were trying to
keep everything safe,” said
Blankenship. “They were
really on top of stuff.”
By the fourth quarter,
the Viks filled the field
with JV players to help
ease
the
tensions.
Blankenship took the
whole thing in stride.
“I think they thought
they should be winning,”
he said. “They felt things
weren’t going their way.
That kind of happens.
Emotions are high when
they’re playing against one
of their old coaches.”
The Viks finished up the
game 44-15, and when the
final buzzer blew, the side-
lines exploded in cheers.
“It was awesome. It was
great winning with a good
margin
of
points,”
Blankenship said.
In the field huddle,
Johnson told the team how
proud he was that they
didn’t fall into division on
the field when emotions
ran high, and “how it’s
great that we didn’t lose
our temper during the
game.”
There are still two games
left, and this Friday’s
Homecoming game against
La Pine could be difficult.
“They run the ball a lot,”
Blankenship said. “They’ll
try and pound it down our
throats just like we do to
other people. Their quar-
terback can throw it pretty
far. They don’t throw it
often, but when they do, it
ends up with pretty big
plays for them. Our defen-
sive line and linebackers
fill in and have the DBs be
awake and not fall asleep.
That’s the biggest thing.”
The teams are evenly
matched, and in no way is
Blankenship thinking the
team should rest on their
laurels.
“You’ve got to be ready.
You never know when a
team is going to show up,
especially in our league,”
he said.
If the Viks lose this
Friday, Blankenship said
they’ll flush it and move on
to Sutherland with the
same fire they brought to
Pleasant Hill.
But if they win?
“A win for homecom-
ing? We haven’t had that
for a while,” Blankenship
said. He paused for a bit,
thinking of words. He
couldn’t find them.
“I don’t even know how
to explain it. It’ll be awe-
some.”
Kick-off for Friday’s
game against La Pine is set
for 7 p.m.
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