The Vikings didn’t get off to their fastest start on Homecoming night, but their receivers were able to make some big plays as they racked up 400 yards of offense on their way to a 42-7 win over Olympic Friday.
The North Kitsap passing game had three touchdown go for more than 40 yards and several other passing plays over 20 yards as senior signal-caller Colton Bower racked up 283 yards and five touchdowns. Bower’s receivers had plenty of speed to pull away from the defense, but key downfield blocks, especially one from sophomore Ethan Guerra on the first touchdown of the third quarter, helped to spring them free.
“That’s something we’ll recognize at our meetings on Monday,” North Kitsap coach Jeff Weible said. “Just about downfield blocking and how important that was to allow him to score.”
It looked like Olympic’s plan was to keep the clock running and limit North Kitsap’s offensive possessions, and for a time it was working. The Trojans started the game with an 11-play drive that fizzled out on the North Kitsap 28-yard line. And with the Vikings going three-and-out on their first two possessions, the game was still scoreless late in the first quarter.
“We emphasized that to the kids all week,” Weible said. “You watch them play on film. They fly around; they tackle well, bring a lot of people, and we told them it was going to be way tougher than our first three games this year, and you better bring your big boy hats to work.”
But with 55.5 seconds to go in the opening frame, North Kitsap finally broke through as Bower found Jaxson Gore in the corner of the end zone for an 18-yard TD pass. Bower set up the score with a 32-yard run.
Midway through the second quarter, the Vikings forced Olympic to punt after linebacker Zeke Harris blew up their third down play and made the tackle for a 4-yard loss. On the first play of the next drive, Gore took a pass from Bower and blazed down the right sideline for a 43-yard score.
Olympic answered on its next drive. Quarterback Dylan Boschee-Perry threw a screen pass to Kamano Ruis for a 19-yard gain and then hit Luke Silva for a 37-yard play. Boschee-Perry eventually scrambled his way into the end zone for a 10-yard score.
But it didn’t take long for the Vikings to reestablish their two-touchdown lead as Guerra took a short pass from Bower 63 yards to the painted grass on the second play of the subsequent drive. Gore came up with an interception to close out the first half.
The big plays didn’t stop there as North Kitsap scored on the opening drive of the third quarter as Logan Sloman took a pass and broke down the middle of the field for a 47-yard TD.
That opened the floodgates as Bower added a 5-yard rushing score and then later connected with Sloman for the second time in the quarter on an 18-yard pass for a score.
“We knew we’d have a tough battle coming out in the second half,” Olympic coach Sal Quitevis said. “I didn’t think it would go that bad for us, but we just weren’t physical enough to face them.”
Weible credited his second-stringers and scout teams for getting his starters ready for such a tough game by being willing to run the opposing team’s offensive and defensive schemes. The game wasn’t as lopsided as the score indicated as the Trojans had a couple of near-misses that could have made the game much closer.
“I can’t say enough for our kids who are unselfish every day to help prepare their team to be the best they could possibly be,” Weible said.
North Kitsap 42, Olympic 7
Oly 0 7 0 0 — 7
NK 7 14 21 0 — 42
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
North Kitsap — Jaxson Gore 18 pass from Colton Bower (DeLuna kick)
Second Quarter
North Kitsap — Gore 43 pass from Bower (DeLuna kick)
Olympic — Dylan Boschee-Perry 10 run (Gesell kick)
North Kitsap — Ethan Guerra 63 pass from Bower (DeLuna kick)
Third Quarter
North Kitsap — Logan Sloman 47 pass from Bower (kick blocked)
North Kitsap — Bower 5 run (Bower pass to Zach Edwards)
North Kitsap — Sloman 16 pass from Bower (DeLuna kick)
Fourth Quarter
No scoring.
Individual Statistics
Passing — North Kitsap: Bower 14-22-283, 5 TDs; Pahrmann 2-2-1. Olympic: Boschee-Perry 12-30-119; Kelly 6-13-56.
Rushing — North Kitsap: Bower 3-50, TD; Walsh 7-44; Lawler 2-18; Harris 2-9; Randle 2(-2); Pahrmann 3-(-3). Olympic: Ruis 14-64; Boschee-Perry 7-37; Fanua 2-9; Gauyan 6-7; Guadiz-Macadangdang 1-1; Valenzuela 1-0; Kelly 1-(-2); Bluitt 1-(-6).
Receiving — North Kitsap: Gore 4-79, 2 TDs; Sloman 3-75, 2 TDs; Guerra 1-63, TD; Edwards 1-27; Castillo 1-23; Lawler 1-8; Walsh 2-7; Harris 1-2; Hitchings 1-0. Olympic: Bluitt 6-46; Silva 1-37; Valenzuela 4-31; Ruis 3-27; Guadiz-Macadangdang 2-26; Dagsaan-Phillips 1-6; Gauyan 1-2.
