In-county rivalries just mean more, and in the first-ever game between South Kitsap’s and North Kitsap’s inaugural flag football programs, it was the Wolves who dominated in a 32-7 smackdown of the Vikings.

Seniors on the home team were honored in pregame ceremonies for the last regular season game played in Port Orchard. “We really wanted to come out and play for them, and we got to play all of them a ton,” coach Cody McCulley said. “I was really happy with that ‘cause we controlled the score.”

The days of the two schools’ boys football programs clashing on the turf are long gone, but the Wolves had an urge to show that they could establish a reputation as the new kids on the block, McCulley said. They did just that, overcoming a first drive that stalled at the goal line to score two first-half touchdowns and ultimately score all 32 points before the Vikings broke the shutout late in the game.

While McCulley would have loved to blank the Vikings, he was proud of his team for the big lead thanks to an offense that kept the Vikings guessing all night. “The schemes, you know, we try to make everything look the same that we do. It may look like we’re running the same thing, but we’re certainly not.”

Shutting down the NK attack was largely credited to senior captain Jadyn Forland, who blitzed, making the Viking quarterback helpless at times. That led to bad passes and turnovers, one a pick-6 by senior Emily Bennett late in the game

“She’s fast; she’s relentless, and that’s why she’s there,” McCulley said of Forland.” We wanted to speed up their clock, make them make bad decisions getting hurried.”