Cougs, Eagles close seasons with wins

Central Kitsap’s goals at the start of the football season were two-fold: beat South Kitsap and make the playoffs.

The Cougars accomplished half of their mission, handing the mighty Wolves their only loss. As for the playoffs, you can search the state 4A postseason brackets until you’re black-and-orange in the face but you won’t find Central Kitsap anywhere. That’s because the Cougars followed their emotional victory over South with a pair of last-second, heart-wrenching, playoff-breaking losses against Shelton and Bremerton.

Coach Mark Keel set a new goal. “We want to salvage a winning season,” he said.

And the Cougars accomplished just that, closing out with three straight victories, including a season-ending 35-27 Narrows League crossover victory over Foss at Lincoln Bowl on Friday, Nov. 2.

That win enabled the Cougars to finish with a 5-4 record.

The Cougars unleashed its powerful running game against the Falcons, pounding for 322 yards overland. Bullish senior Blake Berryman accounted for 218 of the yards, pushing his season total over the 1,000-yard mark.

Berryman’s 12-yard touchdown run late in the game gave Central an eight-point cushion and the Cougars’ defense did the rest. Austin Jennings’ sack of Foss quarterback Kyle Young on fourth-and-7 from Central’s 34-yard line clinched the win.

Berryman also scored on a 45-yard romp in a game where CK allowed Foss to tie the score three times. An 82-yard kickoff return by Central’s Dustin Wilson gave the Cougars their fourth lead of the night. Foss scored to pull within 28-27, but CK blocked the extra point.

Sequim 21, Klahowya 14 — Rory Lee returned a kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown, and scored later on a 20-yard run, but it wasn’t enough for the Eagles, as they dropped their Nisqually League finale at Silverdale Stadium on Friday, Nov. 2.

Klahowya (1-8) turned the ball over five times, twice on fumbles inside Sequim’s 15-yard line.

Lee rushed 17 times for 60 yards.

The Eagles lose just two starters.

“If everybody stays with the program, if everybody understands what it takes to stay in shape in the offseason and comes to play in the fall, we should be pretty competitive next year,” said Klahowya coach Brad Hamblet. “Our expectations will be higher, that’s for sure.”

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