With 5 minutes, 59 seconds remaining at Vic Adams Field and North Bend staring at an extra point to tie the game at 22 with Siuslaw, Bulldogs coach Rick Taylor made the kind of gamble that can set the tone for the rest of the season — for better or worse. He decided to go for two and the win.

“I knew the kids could make this happen,” said Taylor after the game. “There wasn’t a lot of time left on the clock, and I really felt our defense would come through for us.”

Turns out he was right.

Seth Johnson took a pitch and scrambled a yard to pay dirt — North Bend had moved to the 1 yard line on an offsides call against Siuslaw as the Bulldogs were lining up a conventional extra-point kick — to give North Bend a 22-21 lead. Then, with Siuslaw driving into Bulldog territory on the ensuing drive, Dalton Iveans picked off Vikings star quarterback Jacob Mitchell for the second time and ran the ball back to the Siuslaw 12.

Having no choice, Vikings coach Tim Dodson opened the gates and allowed North Bend’s Jake Lucero to walk into the end zone from 5 yards out for his fourth touchdown on the night, just to preserve some clock.

With that, Siuslaw had a chance, getting the ball back down 29-21 with 1:54 remaining. But on the first play of the drive, Iveans intercepted Mitchell for the third time and the game was over.

“It just came down to the bone,” said Iveans. “We had to get it done as a team, and we did.”

The win capped an emotional week for the North Bend football program, with the loss of former coach and athletic director Howard Johnson to a fatal car accident last Friday as he was on the way to the Bulldogs’ away game at Sutherlin. Even though he’d retired, Johnson was still supportive of the team and knew the players.

The team wore stickers honoring Johnson on their helmets during the game, and players made it clear the man was important to them after the win Friday night.

“This win, and the season is dedicated to Howard Johnson,” said North Bend defensive back Cody Harden, who had a monster defensive game for the Bulldogs. “That was a big loss for North Bend.”

The Friday night game  was a good one to dedicate to a true football fan.

Coming into the contest, the Bulldogs thought they knew what to expect from the Vikings: Mitchell in the shotgun, wreaking havoc by ground and air.

Dodson switched it up, though, showing Taylor and the Bulldogs a more standard option attack. It wasn’t the same team Taylor had been watching in game film.

“They used Jake (Mitchell) really well,” said Taylor. “They used their old option stuff, which is really tough to stop.”

The option hurt North Bend early, as Mitchell broke a 60-yard touchdown run on the Vikings’ third offensive play to put Siuslaw up 7-0 with 7:03 left in the first quarter.

The teams practiced their punting for most of the rest of the first half, as North Bend couldn’t convert third downs and turned the ball over twice in the first quarter, and penalties killed Siuslaw’s drives — penalties and Iveans and Harden. Harden broke up several key passes and made open-field tackles to save big gains, and Iveans got his first interception in the second quarter.

With 2:51 remaining in the first half, the Bulldogs finally put together a scoring drive, getting big boosts from a pass interference call on the Vikings and a fourth-and-seven conversion pass from Tyler Goode to Bryce Weidman across the middle. Lucero punched the ball in for a 2-yard TD run.

But then North Bend saw why Mitchell was Far West co-offensive MVP last season. He led his team on a 64-yard scoring drive, completing passes of 14, 14 and 22 yards in the final 20 seconds of the half and scoring on a 1-yard TD run with 3 seconds remaining.

The Vikings went into halftime up 14-7 knowing they’d get the opening kickoff to start the second half.

And Siuslaw jumped all over North Bend on that opening drive of the third quarter, marching 56 yards via a punishing up-the-middle running attack from Matt Tholen, who scored a 19-yard TD run with 6:43 remaining in the third.

The Bulldogs needed an answer, and they got it, riding the rushing of Harden, Lucero and Cameron Seiger to a 31-yard touchdown run from Lucero that pulled the Bulldogs within 21-14.

The scoring drive was the turning point in the game, as halftime adjustments started to pay off for North Bend.

The Vikings ended the third quarter driving, and went for a fourth-and-three to start the final period. Mitchell ran up the middle and looked to have enough for the first down, but he fumbled the ball and North Bend’s Skyler Walton recovered. It was a big play, the first of three second-half turnovers for Siuslaw.

“They turned the ball over in the first half. We turned it over in the second half. The ball just bounced their way.” said Mitchell. “North Bend adjusted well. They took away what we were looking at.”

North Bend took advantage of the fumble, driving 72 yards on Lucero’s rushing. The 6-foot, 1 inch, 190-pound running back at one point dove for a huge fourth-and-one play at the Siuslaw 9 yard line. He then scored the 4-yard touchdown that set up Taylor’s gutsy two-point conversion call.

It was a breakthrough game for Lucero, but he gave all the credit to the blocking of the offensive line in front of him.

“We have the best offensive line in the state right now,” he said, noting guys like Trae Collins and Justin Tobey made things easy for him Friday night. “We’re just getting better every week. It’s all about what we’re doing in practice.”

Lucero finished with 166 yards rushing on 18 carries to go with his four touchdowns. Seiger rushed 11 times for 44 yards and Iveans added 35 yards on 7 carries. In the air, Goode was 3-for-4 passing for 35 yards, and Weidman had two catches for 18 yards.

Mitchell led Siuslaw in rushing with 97 yards on 16 carries and went 8-for-17 passing for 89 yards.

The loss dropped Siuslaw, reigning Far West champions the last two years running, to 0-2 in league play.

“Unless something drastic happens, we just lost the league championship,” said Mitchell. “That was one of our goals, but we’re definitely not done.”

Meanwhile the future is bright for North Bend at 2-0 in Far West play, with 1-1 South Umpqua looming on the road next week and eight players coming off suspensions for disciplinary reasons.

For the moment, though, Taylor and the team just wanted to let the good feelings from the comeback win sink in after a trying couple of weeks.

“It’s been an emotional two weeks, and the kids responded,” said Taylor after the game.  “Being down 21-7 and coming back, that’s just a heart thing. They’ve got a lot of heart. I’m just so proud of these kids.”

While Dodson saw his team drop to 0-2, he said the Bulldogs did what they needed to to rally for the win.

“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to North Bend,” he said. “They played with a lot of emotion.

“It was about North Bend tonight. For them and their fans, it was a good thing.”

Notes:The Bulldogs honored Johnson before the game, when several of his family members were honorary captains along with North Bend’s players for the coin flip. The team also gathered at the center of the field and yelled “Ho Jo” in honor of the former coach. His funeral service begins at 11 a.m. today at North Bend High School’s gymnasium. The game also was the annual Miss Flame contest, celebrating the ties between the high school and NorthBend Fire Department during National Fire Prevention Week. During halftime ceremonies, Katherine Melton was crowned Miss Flame.