After something of a sluggish start, the Siuslaw High School football team, ranked No. 8 in the OSAA preseason 3A poll, dominated their hosts to the tune of a season opening 36-0 victory in a non-league 3A game Friday, Sept. 1, at Newport High School’s Gene Morrow Field. 

Vikings junior Max Reynolds was the go-to guy on both sides of the ball for the Vikings, gobbling up 165 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns at running back. On defense, Reynolds made eight tackles, three for negative yardage.

Siuslaw overcame some first-half jitters that saw the Vikings commit three turnovers to take a 14-0 lead into halftime following a scoreless second quarter. Siuslaw sophomore Mika Blankenship added three touchdowns as the Vikings moved to 1-0 entering their game at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8, at preseason No. 5 Kennedy in Mount Angel. The Trojans began the campaign last week with a 43-0 win at Stanfield. 

Last Friday night, the Viking defense had its way with a Cubs program looking to establish a new culture in its second year at the 3A level. Siuslaw yielded 19 yards rushing on 26 Newport attempts, including eight plays that went for negative yardage.