By AARON MANAGHAN
Sports editor
BREMERTON — Central Kitsap’s first state playoff game in a decade wasn’t the only hot ticket for gridiron goodness in Kitsap County this weekend.
Saturday marked the final day for county Pee Wees football programs, with the Kitsap County Pee Wees Football Championships taking over Bremerton Memorial Stadium.
And this year, it was East Bremerton celebrating the hardest.
In the B-level game against Chico, East Bremerton was able to build a large lead early en route to a 33-29 victory. And while Chico is a tough team, EB coach Rob Tomlinson said the game wasn’t as close as the score might indicate.
“The game really wasn’t as close as it seemed,” Tomlinson said, as EB built a 21-8 lead at the half. “Once the game was in hand, we let more kids play out the rest of the game.”
With 26 kids on the roster, Tomlinson said he wanted to let some of his younger kids get some playing time in the title game. B-level athletes are 11 and 12 years old. And while Chico was able to scrap back, he said it reflected a nice job on their part rather than a poor job by his players.
“The kids gave up a couple touchdowns, which is fine,” Tomlinson said. “Chico did a great job.”
The win was special for East Bremerton as many of the same kids made up last year’s C-level title winners, also marking the second consecutive season the team has gone undefeated. Overall, it was the group’s third consecutive title. But even with that experience, for some, it was still their first title game.
“I think they were all pretty excited,” Tomlinson said. “For the football championship, some of the kids hadn’t been there before.”
Tomlinson said the team’s keys to success revolved around the same core of players that got them to the title game in the first place: running backs Andrew Shadle and Kwamane Bowens and quarterback Kaden Tomlinson, his son.
With the running game, Rob Tomlinson said it was nice to have the flexibility of two distinct running styles.
“I’d have to say our horses really were Andrew Shadle and Kwamane Bowens,” he said. “Andrew is a big kid. Kwamane, he’s another great running back but he’s a more fast and nimble style of running back.”
He said all three were team leaders.
“I’d have to give props to Kaden Tomlinson as well, my son. He’s our field general,” Tomlinson said. “Those three players never really came off the field.”
But he said those three alone could not have done it all.
“Football’s a team sport. It’s not just Andrew and Kwamane and Kaden,” Tomlinson said. “Everybody played a part. They’re a great team. We win as a team and we lose as a team.”
EB also included Bernard Battle, Maja Carter, Nathan Casey, Chancellor Donovan, Kameron Clark, Deonte’ Dixon, Jason Ford, Cam Goneau, Daniel Grajeda, Kyler Graham, Brenden Hegarty-Callahan, Randy Johnson, Kyle Kennedy, Matthew Noll, Ramon Paulino, Chanyn Pauole, Tyler Peterson, Brendon Reinbold, Jacob Sheets, Chandlor Smith, Marcus Vanshur, Kyle Wenzlick and Tyler Zolman.
Tomlinson gave Chico a lot of credit as well.
“Chico is a really good football team,” he said. “They’ve got great coaches. They’ve got some great position players. And playing Chico in Chico is one of the toughest things to do. I knew they’d make adjustments for us. So we had to make adjustments.”
Chico was the team with the most representation, making the title game in the A-, B- and C-levels, but it was the D-level game that kicked the morning off.
In the opener, cinderella story Tracyton saw its run come to an end, falling in a lop-sided contest 42-0 to North Perry.
Originally a lower seed, finishing 5-4 overall, Tracyton upset Warren Avenue and North Kitsap to advance to the title game. But they couldn’t slow North Perry, which finished the year undefeated at 8-0, allowing just 8 points this season.
In C-level action, Silverdale took the crown, beating Chico 38-16. Much of this group was the same that topped South Kitsap in the D-string finale a year ago.
Silverdale too went undefeated at 10-0.
Quarterback Konner Langhoff finished with three touchdowns to fuel the Silverdale win.
In the A-level game, Chico finally got a title, topping South Kitsap 38-29 in another tightly contested battle. While the A-level featured just three teams this season, Chico running back Jeremy Beierle was able to carry Chico, scoring four touchdowns in the game.
