POULSBO — In the North End junior high world of football, the annual end of the season game between Poulsbo and Kingston is in many ways like the Super Bowl.

The teams are fixed, however, and not always the top two in the league — this year Kingston Junior High and Poulsbo Junior High finished in the bottom quarter of the Olympic League standings. But the passion, excitement and bragging rights won the game give it just as much weight as a championship.

“That was big. That was huge. That was the last Kingston Poulsbo game — we had to finish strong,” Panther freshman Alex Flores said of his teams’ 24-18 win. “People will remember this.”

In a back and forth game under the lights of Viking Stadium Thursday, the Panthers led most of the way after jumping on top by a count of 8-6 lead early in the second quarter.

Both teams scored in the first frame, but Kingston couldn’t manage the extra point — something that haunted them throughout the game. Late in the second quarter, PJH’s Aaron Smith tormented the Cavs with a 27-yard punt return and subsequent 5-yard touchdown run to give the Panthers a 16-6 lead.

Utilizing the strength of a Jake Sartain sack on the opening play of Kingston’s next drive, the Poulsbo defense carried the lead into halftime.

“Our defense played probably the best game that we’ve played all year,” said PJH linebacker John Hnatishin. “And on offense they just couldn’t stop us. We kept running it up the middle, and they couldn’t stop it.”

The Cavs’ defense has been the team’s Achilles’ heel throughout the year, KJH head coach Scott McKay said. However, throughout both the year and Thursday night’s game, the KJH offense and special teams showed moments of brilliance.

On the opening kickoff of the second half, Kingston’s Alex Smith darted through the Poulsbo crowd for a 78-yard touchdown dash. But, again, the Cavs missed the extra point and still trailed by a count of 16-12.

“This game was a continuation of the last couple of games, at times we played really well,” McKay said of his team. “But we weren’t able to finish.”

In the middle of the third quarter, Panther quarterback Brandyn Winkley aimed to finish off the Cavs with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Sheldon Drake. The point after sailed through the uprights, giving Poulsbo a 24-12 lead.

Kingston fumbled on the very next play from scrimmage, signaling the end of the final North End junior high gridiron rivalry. The team’s traded unsuccessful drives through the fourth quarter as time ran out for the Cavs.

Smith knifed through the Panther defense another TD with 2:46 left in the game, but once again the PAT failed and Kingston was left just out of reach, 24-18.

“This is the one that everybody remembers,” PJH head coach David Denton said of the game. “It just plants the seeds of inspiration.”

With inspiration rooted, both the Panthers and Cavaliers are now awaiting the NKSD board decision on whether they will be playing as a combined squad at North or separately in 2007.