POULSBO — On home game Friday nights, Poulsbo’s quiet community is acoustically illuminated by the roar of the North Kitsap faithful, sustained by the overtones of the NK Band filling the air at Viking Stadium.

And while it may sometimes be viewed as an afterthought under the Friday night lights, the NK marching band is an essential piece of North Kitsap’s pride.

“It’s just gives an extra edge. It’s a part of the home field advantage,” said junior clarinetist John Stiffler.

“It really helps us to get pumped up,” NK senior football player Devin Gottschalk said of the support. “Our team feeds off it — it’s natural.”

From the crescendo of the opening kickoff to the final fight song, North’s band is constantly at work. It evokes energy with the up-beat anthems that pep bands have been playing for years, while also punctuating big plays with sound effects and joining the crowd in response to cheerleader rally cries.

The result is 48 minutes of fortitude.

“That’s why we’re there is to rally support for the team,” said director David Dunbar, noting that the band’s half-time show “is the main focus of what we are doing musically.”

When the players leave the field at the end of the second quarter, the NK Band takes center stage with its dynamically and musically orchestrated half-time show — “American Portraits.”

The medley — which is dominated by Aaron Copland’s contemporary classical music — was arranged and put into motion by Dunbar over the course of the summer.

The half-time number is matched with Dunbar’s drill choreography and throughout the duration of the show, members of the band are seldom stationary either musically or physically.

But at their Homecoming performance last Friday night, the Vikings were on the mark.

“Solid performances and consistency only come from countless repetitions of doing something correctly,” Dunbar said.

However, with the amount of time the band has already spent at practice, a successful show is no surprise. North’s drum corps practice began in July, while marching band camp began alongside the sports preseason, two weeks before school started.

The Viking virtuosos practiced nearly six hours a day for two weeks until school started, and throughout the year, they still get together for evening rehearsals and section-specific after-school work.

Given that nearly 90 percent of the band is involved in one of the school’s athletic programs while almost 100 percent is involved in any other extra-curricula activity, that time spent speaks for itself.

“It’s a lot for the love of the music,” said NK drum major Jeff Cauter.

Not surprisingly, that love spans past the fall sports season.

“A lot of people in this community only sees the band at the football games. They don’t come to see our concerts or anything else that we do, and they are really missing out,” Cauter said.

As fall transitions to winter, the NK Band will enter its coveted concert and competition season. For the first time in more than two decades, the NK band will be competing in a marching competition Nov. 11 in Auburn; then they will take the stage at a myriad of concerts throughout the winter months.

“That’s when its more than just cheesy pop songs, it’s real music,” Cauter said.

The NK jazz band will be teaming up with the NKHS jazz choir for its first performance of the year at the Moonlight Serenade concert/fund-raiser Dec. 1, then the first full indoor band concert will be at 6 p.m. Dec. 4 at the NK community auditorium.