POULSBO — Few teams in the state — other than the champions of each division — are able to end their season with a win. North Kitsap was fortunate enough to have the opportunity as it hosted Shelton in the final game of the year Friday.

After losing to Lincoln in poor fashion in a Narrows League crossover playoff the week before, the Vikings were back with a vengeance that was apparent early against the Highclimbers.

After scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter, North led throughout the contest and withstood a late Shelton push to send the season into the books with a 35-28 win.

“The bottom line is: It’s a game, and it should be played for fun,” said NK head coach Steve Frease. “The opportunity to play one more time, especially for these seniors, was huge.”

North’s 29 member 2006 senior class took the Viking Stadium field with pride and a full house crowd Friday night. But it was juniors Jamaal Smith and Kyle Brose who opened up the scorebook.

Smith scored the Vikings’ first points on the strength of a team drive to start the game. Minutes later, Kyle Brose broke through for a 36-yard exclamation point to give NK a 13-0 lead.

However, Brose’s 36-yard jaunt would be the largest that the Vikings would muster all game as the Highclimbers were well versed on the NK running game. Brose and Smith averaged just 4.3 and 2.9 yards per carry on the ground, respectively.

But in the air for NK, senior quarterback Paul Stock took his bow with 219 yards passing on a 7-12 performance.

“I didn’t know how the kids would respond, but they played with heart and there was fun being had,” Frease said. “I think we came out and played with a lot of enthusiasm.”

That enthusiasm turned into three first quarter scores as the Vikings managed a 20-7 lead into the second frame. The Highclimbers scored big on a 53-yard bomb before halftime to make it 14-20, but the Vikings still carried a larger incentive after at 30-point loss to the Lincoln Abes Oct. 27.

“We played very poorly against Lincoln, so there was a little redemption we were playing for,” Frease said.

Stock came out of the locker room and put that redemption on display with a 44-yard touchdown pass to Smith early in the third quarter.

But that wouldn’t put the Highclimbers to bed.

Capitalizing on NK’s mistakes, Shelton scored twice in the fourth quarter on back to back big plays, but the Vikings resisted as their special teams plowed the way for a 93-yard nail-in-the-coffin kickoff return by Smith.

That special teams explosion paved the way for the Viking victory.

“We’re one of the few teams in the area that can say they ended their season on a win; so that’s a positive for the kids,” Frease said. “One of the things I plan on doing over the break is going back on some game film and doing some evaluation.”

With the future of the program still in doubt — hinging on the North Kitsap School District Athletics and Activities Committee’s recommendation for secondary athletics in the 2007-2008 school year — Frease and the Vikings are looking into the fog of the future.

“We just gotta get ready, who knows who we’ll have,” Frease said. “One of the things I have to do as a coach is help kids regardless of whether they go to North or Kingston next year.”