Vikings strike down Thunderbirds
Published 8:00 am Wednesday, October 3, 2007
TACOMA — The North Kitsap Vikings football squad is on a roll. The Vikings rode the coattails of its massive offensive line and running backs Kyle Brose, Jamaal Smith, Greg Ottele and Taylor Chisholm did the rest during North’s 27-14 victory against the Mount Tahoma Thunderbirds (1-4 overall, 0-2 league) Friday night for its third consecutive win of the season.
“It’s the closest we have played to smash mouth football in a long time,” said Vikings coach Steve Frease. “The kids rose to the challenge. We’re coming together as a team and improving each week.”
The running back quartet chewed up and spit out the Mount Tahoma defense, combining for 318 yards and four touchdowns.
Frease said offensive lineman Jordan Edje, Andrew Yee, Chris Dalton, Josh Byers and Colin Fogarty and tight ends Kyle McCown and Evan Tidball beat their opponents on Mount Tahoma’s defensive line time and time again in one-on-one battles throughout the night.
“The game starts on the offensive line and when you get those guys clicking it’s easier to get everything else going. We won the majority of the battles all night,” he said. “They did a good job of concentrating and getting the job done.”
Frease said the offensive line controlled the game as well as the clock.
“We had a seven minute drive in the first half and an 15-play eight minute drive in the third quarter,” he said. “We kept the ball away from them and their good running back (Ron Baines).”
Baines finished with 65 yards rushing. The Vikings defense held the Thunderbirds to 133 total yards.
“Our defense completely dominated the game,” Frease said. “I think they only finished with five first downs. Defensive coaches (Dave) Snyder and (Jeff) Weible put together an excellent game plan and our players executed it.”
The Vikings (3-2 overall, 2-0 league) will put their winning streak on the line against the Olympia Bears (3-2 overall, 2-0 league) at 7 p.m. Friday in Olympia.
“This game is going to be a real good test. They are a perennial powerhouse,” Frease said. “The two games they have lost to this year are against teams that will probably be going to the playoffs.”
In 2006, Olympia defeated North 31-3. The Vikings made too many mistakes and didn’t take care of the ball in the blowout loss.
“We had four or five turnovers,” Frease said. “This year we need to win two out of three phases of the game (offense, defense, special teams) to have success and we have got to take care of the ball.”
Frease said he knows how important this game is with regard to the Narrows League standings.
“This is a critical game,” he said. “If we win this game, we’ll have a pretty good shot at qualifying for the playoffs.”
