North Kitsap presses repeat button, wins another 2A Olympic championship
SILVERDALE, Wash. – For the sixth time since 2013, the North Kitsap Vikings are champions of the 2A Olympic League.
Behind a pounding defense, the second-ranked Vikings shut out Olympic, 42-0, to claim the league title. They will carry the league’s No. 1 berth into next weekend's district playoffs and host at least one game in the postseason.
The shutout was the fifth in league play by the Vikings.
"It’s been the backbone of our program this year.," North Kitsap coach Jeff Weible said of their defense. "Coach (Dave) Snyder have done a phenomenal job for the d-linemen, the linebackers, and the (defensive backs). The kids feel a real sense of responsibility to not let the other team score. If we can get a touchdown on the board, we feel like we can win. They fly around, they’re so well prepared and they play with great passion and hunger."
North Kitsap has only allowed 34 points all year.
Going into the postseason, North Kitsap defensive lineman Sofian Hammou said, "I feel pretty confident. Our defense is going to keep everything on locked, and our offense will do their work."
"We ask everybody to do their job the best they can," North Kitsap defensive coach Dave Snyder said. "And they do if for their brothers."
The brotherhood shut down Olympic’s offense, limiting them to 5 yards rushing overall and sacked quarterback Justin Kelly three times, with Hammou getting one of them.
"These guys dominate," Snyder added. "They believe in our system, and they take pride in defending every blade of grass. I got the best coaching staff, they’re phenomenal. And you got guys like Hammou, this senior crew has paid the price."
Both teams came in undefeated in league play, but the Vikings jumped out to a quick 21-0 lead in the first quarter.
Their first drive ended in a three and out, but Olympic coughed up the ball on the punt and the Vikings got the ball back on the Trojans' 49. Three plays later, Benen Lawler scored on a 16-yard run for North Kitsap's first touchdown.
Their next drive went 63 yards in eight plays, culminating in a 4-yard touchdown pass from Cole Edwards to Logan Sloman for a 14-0 lead.
A short Olympic punt gave North Kitsap possession inside the Trojan's 20, leading to an 18-yard touchdown pass from Edwards to Caleb Callahan and a 21-0 lead.
Edwards finished with 214 yards passing, completing 16 of 20 passes, including 12 in a row at one point. He had four touchdown passes - with half of them going to Sloman, who caught eight passes for 143 yards.
The only downside was two interceptions by Edwards on consecutive possessions in the second quarter. Neither turnover came back to hurt them, as the Vikings’ defense kept Olympic from capitalizing.
"He’s getting better each week," Weible said of Edwards. "He made a couple of bad decisions tonight but he just makes things happen. He has that charisma that you want in a quarterback. He makes mistakes but he comes back and doesn’t make it twice."
