YELM — The North Kitsap Vikings football team needed a game like this. After back-to-back losses against South Kitsap and Bainbridge and being outscored 82-14 to start the season, North (1-2 overall) put itself in the win column in Week 3, blowing past the Yelm Tornados 35-16 in a non-league contest Friday night.
“It’s exciting to flat out get a win,” said Vikings coach Steve Frease. “Hearing our fight song being played with our kids right there after the game was great.”
Frease said North’s improvements were evident in all facets of the game — especially on the ground.
“The kids feel pretty good about it,” He said. “They played hard we showed marked improvements in every phase of the game. We had a heck of a night running the ball and we’ll continue to improve.”
The trio of running backs including Taylor Chisholm, Kyle Brose (three touchdowns) and Greg Ottele combined to score all of North’s five touchdowns. North jumped out to 21-0 lead at halftime. Chisholm finished with 146 all purpose yards.
“Those three guys led us. We had a pretty balanced attack,” Frease said. “They couldn’t key on one guy. It’s a team game and it was a good team effort.”
He said the defense did a job of wrapping up Yelm ball carriers and receivers.
“Tackling has been a point of emphasis at practice. We tackled a lot better and it showed,” he said. “The kids are playing better on defense and are improving each week.”
North junior linebacker Brad DeShano had a team-high 18 tackles.
“He was all over the place,” Frease said.
Frease said defensive lineman Kyle McCown and Josh Byers chipped in two sacks apiece as well.
North hosts Stadium High School in its first Narrows League Bay Division contest of the season at 7 p.m. Friday in Poulsbo.
“We have a clean slate,” Frease said. “Everyone is at 0-0 going into league. I’m excited to get league play started. We’ll take another step forward this week.”
Even though Stadium is 0-3, Frease said they will be a formidable opponent in the league opener.
“They have a new coach and new system this year,” he said. “Their offense is balanced and they have a very athletic quarterback.”
