Playoffs approaching for CK, Olympic football

The Olympic football team is headed to the playoffs for the third consecutive season.

The Trojans (5-3 overall, 3-3 league), who have won three consecutive games, defeated North Kitsap on the road Oct. 23 to earn the Olympic/Western Cascade League No. 4 seed and a matchup against the No. 1 team from the Greater St. Helens League in the state preliminary round.

“Our goal at the beginning of each season now is to make the state playoffs,” said interim coach Tim Allbee. “We feel we should be there each year. However, it is our goal this year to go beyond the preliminary round. It is a tall order, but we feel we are playing better now.”

West Sound career rushing leader Larry Dixon carried the ball 23 times for 176 yards and two touchdowns against the Vikings, including a game-winning 11-yarder that broke a 14-14 tie with less than two minutes to play. The senior has 1,458 rushing yards this season to go with 27 total touchdowns.

Dixon received help from senior co-captain Blake Johnson, who put the Trojans up 14-7 in the third quarter with a 65-yard touchdown run. It was Johnson’s fifth touchdown this season and first on the ground.

“North Kitsap came out and hammered it, they played an amazing game,” Johnson said. “It was a game we needed because they are all going to be close games now. It was good for morale.”

With the season finale today at rival Bremerton, the Trojans aren’t looking ahead to the playoffs. The Knights (2-6) secured their first league victory since 2002 to break a 45-game league losing streak with a 32-14 win at Port Angeles last week.

That win, coupled with the fact the Knights haven’t beat the Trojans since 2002 and are hungry to do so, means Olympic isn’t taking the game lightly.

“We can’t think of them as the Bremerton of old,” Johnson said. “They’ve got the weapons, they just need to put it all together.”

Win or lose, however, the Trojans’ playoff standing won’t change. The team is locked into a prelim matchup with either Camas or Union, who face each other today with the winner earning the GSHL No. 1 seed and a game against Olympic either Nov. 7 or 8.

Both Union (No. 3) and Camas (No. 9) are ranked in the Associated Press state football poll Top 10. Camas defeated the Trojans 49-42 in overtime in a state preliminary game in 2007. The last time Olympic made it out of prelims was 1986 when it defeated Wilson 28-11.

“We’re really feeling good, but we could definitely be doing better,” Johnson said. “Right now, it’s more mental. We need to know we can beat teams. We need to know (Camas and Union) are beatable.”

Today’s game begins at 7 p.m. at Bremerton Memorial Stadium.

Central Kitsap (bold)

The Cougars posted their third consecutive shutout in a 30-0 win over Stadium in Narrows League action Oct. 23.

That win gave CK (5-3, 5-2) an opportunity to climb to third place in the Narrows League. The team was at Wilson (6-2, 6-1) yesterday, but results from that game were unavailable at press time.

Yesterday’s game was important because with a win, CK would get the Narrows No. 3 seed to the playoffs and matchup with the Wesco South No. 2 team, currently Kamiak (4-4, 4-1), in the state preliminary round. As the No. 4 seed, however, CK would be forced to face a No. 1-seeded team in prelims.

Klahowya (bold)

The Eagles (0-8) struggled once again in a 50-20 loss to Steilacoom Oct. 22. The 20-point output was the highest this season for KSS, which visits Eatonville today.

Contact Central Kitsap Reporter Sports writer Wesley Remmer at sports@centralkitsapreporter.com or (360) 308-9161.

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