It all started at 2-3.
The Central Kitsap football team is in the Class 4A state playoffs for the third time in as many years. For the second consecutive season, a late surge catapulted the Cougars into contention.
With CK preparing for tomorrow’s first-round game against No. 5 Curtis (10-0), coach Mark Keel is using the 2008 season, in which the Cougars sprinted to the state semifinals, to motivate — and prepare — his hungry team.
“There are a lot of things that are just like last year. The guys understand it, and that’s the biggest part,” Keel said. “They know how to practice now, they know how to conduct themselves to prepare and they know what it all means. They really have a good understanding of why we’re here, what we’re trying to accomplish.”
It was this week last year when CK traveled to Narrows power Olympia and came away with a 14-10 upset victory to advance to the state quarterfinals. The Cougars then defeated Rogers of Puyallup to move into the semis, where eventual state runner-up Issaquah defeated them 31-13.
But it all started at 2-3, both this year and last.
In 2008, CK slumbered out of the gates to lose three of its first five games. But the team followed a 73-14 victory over Shelton with three more wins to close the season on a four-game winning streak. The streak reached seven after three post-season victories.
This year, a loss to No. 6 South Kitsap (10-0) in early October again dropped the Cougars to 2-3. But following tradition, the team rattled off five-straight victories, including last week’s 35-0 win over Mountlake Terrace in the state preliminaries, to move into the Round of 16.
The focus now is on the South Puget Sound League’s Curtis, a team that has outscored its opponents 386-190, scoring 30 or more points seven times.
“They are a well-coached team,” Keel said. “They don’t panic, no matter what happens.”
CK must limit Curtis’ big-play ability — wide receiver Rahmel Dockery scored four touchdowns last week to propel the Vikings past Wilson 42-22 — in order to have a legitimate chance.
Dockery, who has 31 receptions for 1,015 yards and 14 touchdowns, is a threat not only offensively but in the kicking game. Against Wilson, he returned a punt 91 yards to the 1-yard line to set up his own 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. That play came after he’d beat the Rams’ secondary for a 34-yard catch and score to break a 14-14 tie shortly before halftime. He also scored on a 79-yard punt return in the fourth quarter.
“We can’t afford to give up big plays — punt returns, kickoff returns, 70-yard reception — all those things need to be avoided,” Keel said. “And we can’t afford to make mistakes.”
But the Cougars have some speed of their own.
Wide receivers Christian Wesley and Preston Nelson are the team’s top threats on offense along with quarterback Brett McDonald, who faces his toughest test of the season.
Both Wesley and Nelson will be relied upon to make plays.
“That’s the goal, is to get the ball to those guys and let them run with it,” Keel said.
And he is no stranger to Curtis.
His nieces and nephews and younger sisters attended Curtis, and he lived across the street from the school for four years. Even his nephew is currently an assistant coach on the Vikings’ staff.
“I know all about the tradition there, I know the community and how they get behind and back football over there,” Keel said. “That’s what I’m trying to coach our guys up on, what to expect.”
