POULSBO — It wasn’t just a game. It was a celebration.

The festive atmosphere was evident throughout the night as members of the Kingston community filled the stadium to capacity coming together en masse for the inaugural football game in the school’s history at North Kitsap Stadium Friday night.

Even though the Buccaneers fell 34-7 against the Union Titans, the reaction of the fans following the game made it seem like a big win. As the KHS fight song emanated from the band, fans came to their feet, giving the Buccaneers a standing ovation as they exited the field and headed for the locker room.

“Overall, it was a successful night,” said Kingston football coach Dan Novick. “The support from the fans tonight was incredible.”

KHS football fan Steve Zehrung said he is thrilled Kingston finally has its own high school football team.

“It’s awesome. This first game is huge,” he said. “When the announcer said that the first touchdown in the history of the school was scored, that put this into perspective for me. This is a big deal.”

Zehrung’s wife, Suzette, agreed.

“This is an exciting time,” she said. “I think it’s big for the whole city of Kingston. The support out here tonight for the new high school was evident. Most of the kids on the football team have grown up together.”

The Buccaneers took to the air for the majority of the game after starting running back Dan Maleski went down with an ankle injury in the first quarter.

“After that we became kind of 1-Dimensional. (Buccaneers quarterback) Paul Bagala carried the load for us,” Novick said. “We went into the shotgun and moved the ball pretty efficiently.”

While the Buccaneers may have moved the ball well on offense, the defense surrendered 380 rushing yards to Union as running back Nathaniel Penaranda punched through the Kingston defense for a team-high 280 yards.

“We will spend a ton of time on defense in practice this week. I take responsibility for that. We’ll be a whole lot better on defense the rest of the season,” Novick said. “Rome wasn’t built in a day. We have two more weeks until our next game (Sept. 15 against Colville in Ellensburg), and we’ll do a better job.”

Novick praised the defense for only allowing seven points in the second half.

“We played better in the second half and competed,” he said. “I think our kids realized it was a football game. I think we’ll just get better and better. I am proud of the whole team. We’re the kind of team that isn’t going to just compete when it’s convenient, we’re going to compete all the way to the end. That’s what we did tonight. I am proud of our kids.”

Buccaneers wide receiver Jack Clearman scored the Bucs’ sole touchdown when Bagala hit him on a six-yard slant route with 26 seconds remaining in the second quarter, cutting Union’s lead to 24-7. Clearman nabbed seven passes for 78 yards receiving and had an interception from his safety position, picking off Union quarterback Brandon Weller in the third quarter.

“It feels so good. No matter what happens I will always have that (first touchdown and interception in team history),” Clearman said. “But I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.”

Novick said Clearman is one of those players he can rely on in tough situations.

“I expect him to play at that level all season,” he said. “He has that kind of ability.”

Bagala admitted he could feel the pressure prior before the game kicked off.

“I had butterflies right before the game started,” he said. “After the game was going for a while the butterflies went away. Our receivers made some great catches today. The offense played pretty good.”