The Kingston Buccaneers football team lost to the Lindbergh Eagles in the 2010-11 postseason. Today, the North Kitsap Vikings will fight to do the exact opposite.
The Vikes travel to Renton to play the Eagles at Memorial Stadium at 7:30 p.m.
“We’re going to mix it up,” Coach Jeff Weible said. “We don’t want to stick with one thing at a time.”
Two days before the Vikings traveled to Renton, the team was out on the field working on new formations and plays. Weible said the team will work to get rid of the ball more quickly after the snap. Providing more pass protection, too, is something the Vikes are working on.
The Eagles are going into the playoffs with a 5-3 league record and a 40-13 win over the Foster Bulldogs Oct. 28 to take a top seed.
The Vikes (5-2) lost 27-20 to the Kingston Buccaneers (5-2) Oct. 27. Though the two teams tied in league play, the Bucs earned a higher playoff seed with an overall record of 6-3.
To avoid a repeat of the game against the Bucs, the Vikes will look for more varied play calling.
“We’re not really dictating play calling on who we are playing, but how I think we can be successful,” Weible said.
The Vikes were 1-6 league, 1-9 overall in 2010-11.
After losing to Bainbridge Island Sept. 2 and Centralia Sept. 9 during preseason, Weible said the team could have predicted the worst. But the team used those close losses — 13-7 to BI and 20-15 to Centralia — as a learning experience. The team won three games in a row until losing to Olympic Oct. 7 34-28.
“(The team) could have easily said, ‘Here we go again,’” Weible said. However, “We really feel like we are 10 plays away from being 9-0.”