How the hard-hitting Cougars had only surrendered a meager 17 combined points through their first three games – all of which were Central Kitsap victories.
It’s true – the Cougars have an exceptional defense.
The Bears, however, proved theirs isn’t too shabby either.
Olympia forced five turnovers, had two key red-zone stops and knocked off visiting Central Kitsap, 21-13, in a 4A Narrows League matchup at Ingersoll Stadium on Friday.
“That was a tremendous effort by our defense tonight. I couldn’t be more pleased,” Olympia coach Bill Beattie said. “Central Kitsap has a lot of playmakers on offense, and I think for most of the game we were able to hold them in check.”
Olympia (3-1 overall, 2-0 Narrows) did just that, but that’s not to say the Cougars (3-1, 1-1) didn’t make a late push to try to steal a victory.
Trailing 21-0, Central Kitsap scored twice in the final 2 minutes, 42 seconds – getting a 24-yard touchdown pass from Brett McDonald to Jonathon Fergus followed a minute later by a 3-yard TD run by McDonald to cut the deficit to eight points.
A sure-handed Cole Murphy secured the ensuing onside kick following Central Kitsap’s second score to end the threat.
“It certainly got interesting there at the end,” Beattie said. “We’re a young team and I think we’re improving from week to week, but we’re still making young mistakes and I think that’s what we saw at the end tonight.”
Anthony Parks and Spenser Killman spearheaded the Bears’ ground game, helping Olympia rush for 189 yards.
Parks finished with 80 yards on 13 carries, while Killman chipped in 62 yards on 16 touches. Each scored a touchdown.
Killman got his on the Bears’ opening drive, a 4-yard scamper 41/2 minutes into the game. It proved to be the only points in a first half almost devoid of offense.
Parks added an 18-yard touchdown run with just under 8 minutes to play, which proved to be decisive.
“We’re very fortunate to have three or four big backs we can give the ball to,” Beattie said about his team’s success running the football. “We were able to pound the ball in the second half. I think our two-platoon system started to pay off for us tonight. Central Kitsap seemed to be getting a little tired at the end, and we took advantage of that.”
Trevor Houser hooked up with Joel Anthony on an 8-yard scoring strike seconds into the fourth quarter for Olympia’s second touchdown of the game.
“This is a big win for us,” Beattie said. “Central Kitsap was one of those two or three teams everyone talked about winning the Narrows. So it’s nice to get a win over them and stay unbeaten in league. We’ll enjoy this one tonight, then get ready for the next game.”
