A numb feeling continues to hover over North Kitsap High School, and it has little to do with the wins and losses of the year prior that brought the Vikings oh so close to another shot at a 2A state football title.
Sure, much of the preparatory work has remained the same for coach Jeff Weible with just weeks before the 2024 season kicks off: studying the upcoming schedule of opponents, getting players to prioritize offseason workouts and 7 v. 7 scrimmages, and reloading aspects of the lineup depleted by the most- recent graduation.
Weible has found himself fortunate to fill the holes in the past three seasons, the Vikings making it to the semifinals twice and the title game in 2022 during that timespan. Now he must do so again after losing a true dual-threat quarterback in Cole Edwards and the team’s leading wideout Logan Sloman to graduation.
“Every year, you lose some really good football players, and you wonder how you’re gonna get back to where you were without those guys,” Weible said. “Then you get some young kids that are really talented, mature. It’s their turn now, so they step up and fill the role.”
Of projected starting junior quarterback Dawsyn Anderson, Weible commended his dedication to football over the summer. “He didn’t miss a single day of spring football, went to camp with the team. He’s done a good job of being committed, and hopefully all that work is going to pay off.”
Senior running back Carter Dungy, coming off a monster 1,019-yard season, is also expected to provide a huge boost to the Viking offense, and Weible believes the depth of his running game extends to five or six other athletes who could get some carries this season.
“(Dungy’s) gotten faster, lost some weight too,” he said. “He’s going to be getting a lot of the carries this year.”
Yet the biggest loss for the program was on the sidelines this year—a heartbreaking death that will bring an entirely new meaning and motivation into this season, especially for the Vikings’ defense.
Weible said: “You’re not going to find another guy that is as committed and hardworking and knowledgeable (as Dave Snyder), and really those things kind of get overshadowed by just about how much he loved the kids and just wanting to see them be successful every single day. Not just on the football field, but just in life.”
Just over two months have passed since the sudden death of defensive coordinator Snyder, a man whose meaningfulness to the NK community extended far beyond the football field and a coach that Weible considered his right-hand man. It would be easy to make Snyder a martyr, a battle cry for every aspect of the season, but Weible believes a larger benefit to the team will be remembering the late coach’s lessons and embodying Snyder’s passion for football in every minute of each practice and game.
“He took it personally when teams scored against him,” Weible said, managing a laugh. “It’s going to be a season of firsts. I expect it will hit especially hard when the season begins, but I think this is the best way that we can honor him.”
The Vikings remain the team to beat in the 2A Olympic League, though last year’s emergence of Bainbridge as a potential contender and another competitive schedule could make for an interesting build-up to their clash with the Spartans in week seven. NK will open its season at home against W.F. West, the team they beat 29-22 in 2022 to earn a spot in the 2A title game, and will also host a tough test via Lynden Christian out of 1A.
