What the Sun's Jeff Graham is looking for as Kitsap's high school football season opens
It looks like the temperatures are heating up just in time, because there's some sweating to do at high school football fields around West Sound.
It's time to get to work — and that goes for your friendly sports reporter, too.
With preseason training kicking off Wednesday and camp visits with our nine local football programs lined up over the next two weeks, here are some thoughts and observations on the upcoming 2023 season.
How will Kitsap's new head coaches fare?
In case you've missed it, three West Sound programs have new head coaches this season: Sean Banks at South Kitsap, Dan Schoonmaker at Bainbridge and Ethan Goldizen at Kingston. Banks is replacing Dan Ericson, who'll serve as offensive coordinator at Olympic, while Goldizen is replacing Billy Russo, who'll run the offense at Jackson High School. Schoonmaker replaces Jeff Rouser, who isn't coaching anywhere this fall.
So how will these new head coaches fare?
Well, there will be some challenges. South Kitsap (2-8 in 2022) experienced its last winning season in 2012 and the Wolves haven't won more than two games in a season since 2014. They also play in arguably the toughest league in the state: the Class 4A South Puget Sound League. A logical first step for Banks and his staff is getting the team in position to be competitive in a majority of its games. Lopsided blowouts have too often been the norm in Port Orchard over the last decade.
The same goes for Kingston, which is one of the smallest 2A schools in the state and hasn't posted a winning season since reaching the playoffs in 2013. The Buccaneers went 3-6 in 2022, but they haven't put up much of a fight in the Olympic League 2A in recent years. That needs to be the focus: finishing at .500 or better in league play. That's how the playoffs become more than a pipe dream.
Schoonmaker is in an interesting spot at Bainbridge, which went 4-5 last season. The Spartans are the only 3A team in the Olympic League, so the path to the playoffs is always a little tricky. Basically, the Spartans need to be aiming for a top-two finish in the league to have any hopes of qualifying for a 3A district playoff berth. It's not impossible. Outside of North Kitsap, where Schoonmaker previously served as quarterbacks coach, the Olympic League doesn't have another true juggernaut.
Veteran coaches approaching milestones
While we have three men who'll be making their head coaching debuts this fall, three other West Sound head coaches have guided their programs for a decade or longer. Two should reach milestones this season.
Olympic's Sal Quitevis Jr. heads into his 11th season as head coach with a 55-40 career mark. He's set to coach in his 100th career game in Week 5 at Port Angeles.
At North Kitsap, Jeff Weible is heading into his 13th season as head coach of the Vikings and 20th season overall as a head coach, having previously spent two seasons at Klahowya and five seasons at Shorewood. Weible, who owns a career record of 128-66, is scheduled to coach in his 200th career game in Week 6 at home against Kingston.
The dean of West Sound football coaches, Central Kitsap's Mark Keel, is preparing for his 24th season at Central Kitsap. His career record is 114-108.
Another run in store for North Kitsap?
In 2022, North Kitsap became the first West Sound team in 15 years to reach a state championship game in football. The Vikings went toe-to-toe with Lynden before the Lions score a touchdown in the final minute to capture the 2A title with a 31-24 victory at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup. It was Lynden's second state title in as many seasons.
Here's my question heading into September: Is this the season North Kitsap takes that final step and becomes the first team since South Kitsap in 1997 to bring a championship back to West Sound?
The Vikings should definitely be in the mix. They return starters at almost every important position on the field and have a pretty favorable regular season schedule. If North Kitsap can win its two nonleague games against Mount Tahoma and Tumwater in Weeks 1-2 and the claim the Olympic League title, it will be in the running for the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage in the state playoffs. And remember, the 2A state championship game is set for Husky Stadium this year.
After narrowly losing to Lynden in the state semifinals in 2021 and the state finals in 2022, the Vikings know they can play with any 2A team in the state. Maybe now is when they put it all together.
Schedule quirks
Most games this fall are scheduled for Fridays, including all Week 1 games, but not all of them. Of the nine full weeks of regular season action, seven include at least one Thursday game. There are also three Saturday games: two for Klahowya on the road and one for Central Kitsap on the road.
Those Thursday games that will be played locally are Sequim at Bainbridge and Puyallup at South Kitsap in Week 3; Vashon at Klahowya and Capital at Central Kitsap in Week 5; Port Angeles at Kingston in Week 8; and Sequim at Bremerton in Week 9.
Football 2023: Team-by-team regular season schedule
Out of West Sound's nine teams, South Kitsap's schedule seems the most irregular. The Wolves play four of their first five games away from home. Overall, four of the team’s five road contests are Thursday games.
As far as game times go, all Central Kitsap and South Kitsap kickoff times are 7 p.m., while a majority of Olympic League games are 6:30 p.m.
Here's a weekly look at the regular season schedule:
West Sound 2023 high school football schedule
WEEK 1
Friday, Sept. 1: Klahowya at Coupeville, Eatonville at Olympic, 6 p.m.; East Jefferson at Kingston, Mount Douglas at Bremerton, 6:30 p.m.; Shelton at North Mason, Bainbridge at Hazen, North Kitsap at Mount Tahoma, South Kitsap at Bethel, Central Kitsap at Mariner, 7 p.m.
WEEK 2
Thursday, Sept. 7: South Kitsap at Rogers, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 8: North Mason at Klahowya, 6:30 p.m.; Bremerton at Shelton, Kingston at Rochester, Olympic at Renton, Tumwater at North Kitsap, Auburn Mountainview at Bainbridge, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 9: Central Kitsap at Bothell, 7 p.m.WEEK 3
Thursday, Sept. 14: Sequim at Bainbridge, 6:30 p.m.; Puyallup at South Kitsap, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 15: Tenino at Klahowya, North Kitsap at Port Angeles, Bremerton at Olympic, 6:30 p.m.; Kingston at North Mason, Yelm at Central Kitsap, 7 p.m.
WEEK 4
Thursday, Sept. 21: Central Kitsap at Timberline, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 22: Kingston at Bremerton, North Mason at North Kitsap, Bainbridge at Olympic, 6:30 p.m.; South Kitsap at Olympia, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 23: Klahowya at Life Christian, 7 p.m.
WEEK 5
Thursday, Sept. 28: Vashon at Klahowya, 6:30 p.m., Capital at Central Kitsap, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 29: Olympic at Port Angeles, Sequim at Kingston, North Kitsap at Bainbridge, 6:30 p.m.; Bremerton at North Mason, South Kitsap at Emerald Ridge, 7 p.m.;
WEEK 6
Friday, Oct. 6: Kingston at North Kitsap, Port Angeles at Bremerton, Sequim at Olympic, 6:30 p.m.; Bainbridge at North Mason, Bellarmine Prep at South Kitsap, Central Kitsap at Peninsula, 7 p.m.
WEEK 7
Thursday, Oct. 12: South Kitsap at Graham-Kapowsin, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 13: Bainbridge at Port Angeles, Bremerton at North Kitsap, Kingston at Olympic, 6:30 p.m.; North Mason at Sequim, River Ridge at Central Kitsap, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 14: Klahowya at Bellevue Christian, 2 p.m.
WEEK 8
Thursday, Oct. 19: Port Angeles at Kingston, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 20: East Jefferson at Klahowya, Bremerton at Bainbridge, 6:30 p.m.; Olympic at North Mason, North Kitsap at Sequim, Curtis at South Kitsap, Central Kitsap at Gig Harbor, 7 p.m.
WEEK 9
Thursday, Oct. 26: Sequim at Bremerton, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 27: North Mason at Port Angeles, Olympic at North Kitsap, Bainbridge at Kingston, 6:30 p.m.; Klahowya at Sultan, Sumner at South Kitsap, North Thurston at Central Kitsap, 7 p.m.
WEEK 10
Friday, Nov. 3: Cascade Christian at Klahowya, 6:30 p.m.; District playoffs/crossover games, TBD
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Kitsap's 2023 high school football season: What to watch for
