POULSBO — For once, the Vikings were matched big play for big play.
And for the first time this season, the North Kitsap football team lost because of it.
South Kitsap (4-0 in league, 4-1 overall) took advantage of four scoring plays 70 yards or longer to bolt ahead of North Kitsap for a 39-35 win Friday night.
The loss broke the Vikings’ chance for an undefeated season, snapped a tie between the two undefeated teams in the Narrows League Bridge Division and denied North a chance to beat its cross-county rival for the first time since 1977.
North is now tied with Gig Harbor and Shelton for a 3-1 record in league.
Shannon Haney had two TD runs, one of 73 yards, the other of 75, and Wolves’ quarterback Josh Fullington had a 70-yard TD pass to Chris Anderson in the win.
The Vikings also gave up a 96-yard kickoff return to Richard Fein.
The Vikings were not without stellar performances or big plays of their own.
Junior quarterback Jared Prince went 27-of-51 for 357 yards and three touchdown passes.
“Offensively, I’m not sure there was a better performance in the last 30 years,” North Kitsap Head Coach Jerry Parrish said.
Two of Prince’s passes were to Jordan Henry and a third went to Travis Tobin.
Henry had 157 yards receiving on the night and Tobin notched 99 yards.
Fullington had three TD passes of his own.
After a flurry of scoring throughout the first three quarters, North held a 35-33 lead within the final five minutes.
But Fullington hit Chris Anderson with short pass that turned into a 70-yard scamper, sparking cheers from the South Kitsap sidelines and heavy silence from North Kitsap.
It was Anderson’s only reception of the game.
“Our kids were in a position to make a play, and didn’t make a play,” said Parrish, adding that missed tackles damaged North’s chances.
The Vikings put together a long drive as the clock wound down, but the final pass, a 25-yard attempt to the corner of the end zone, failed.
North Kitsap (3-1, 4-1) got two touchdown runs from Nic Stearns in the loss.
Bobby Thompson had 10 tackles and the Vikings’ only interception of the evening.
“We’d love to play them again. We’d beat them the next time we played,” Parrish said.
North will visit Port Angeles, which has former NK coach Dan Novick as its head coach, at 7 p.m. Oct. 17.
