Wolves control their own playoff destiny

Joe Knowles Stadium will be rockin’ and rollin’ tomorrow night as the South Kitsap High School football team hosts Port Angeles in a rare Thursday night Homecoming game.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

Homecoming is always a special game for seniors who may be playing their final game at home.

The game will take on added significance because there are playoff implications for both teams.

SK can clinch first place in the Narrows League Bridge Division with a win. PA must win to keep its slim playoff hopes alive.

If SK were to lose, it could still clinch first place if Gig Harbor also loses.

SK can place no worse than second in the division.

SK senior Sean Banks said the Wolves will not settle for second place.

“Homecoming is big,” Banks said. “It’s our last home game and the last time we step on that field, maybe. We will come out with our hair on fire and play our hearts out.”

Senior Ryan Cole said there’s no questioning how much the players, especially the seniors, want to go out winners on Homecoming.

“It’s really going to be a big game,” Cole said. “Being a senior, I’m going to take a lot to heart. I’m going to just live it and play the best I can. It will be a great feeling but when it’s all over with, you’ll see a few tears in my eyes.”

A win against PA would secure SK one more game at home.

It would host the Bay Division No. 3 team, which will be either Capital or Bellarmine, depending on the outcome of the games this Friday.

First SK will need to concentrate on PA and it’s league leading defense.

The Roughriders are holding their opponents to an average of 13.8 points per game.

Offensively they are led by Jesse Long, who is the third-leading rusher in the division.

Long has 914 yards and 11 touchdowns on 194 carries.

This is not the same PA team SK manhandled 28-0 last year.

New coach Dan Novick has implemented an offense similar to SK’s and it’s flourished so far.

Sigurdson said it won’t take much to motivate his players to perform against a PA team that’s got everything to gain from a win on SK’s home turf.

“We were going to approach this game in the same way whether it was to clinch (first place) or not clinch,” Sigurdson said. “The most important games are these ones.”

Sigurdson said he knows the social significance of Homecoming festivities, but he hopes his team keeps its concentration on the football field first.

“We need to stay focused and execute,” he said.

FOOTBALL

Narrows League

BRIDGE DIVISION

Here are league standings, points for and against and overall standings through Oct. 22:

South Kitsap 5-1 6-1 240 125

Gig Harbor 5-1 6-1 204 117

Shelton 4-2 4-3 191 174

Port Angeles 4-2 4-3 172 97

Bremerton 3-3 4-3 243 160

Central Kitsap 2-4 3-4 200 186

Olympic 1-5 2-5 134 258

North Kitsap 0-6 0-7 100 263

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