10/16/2026
Curtis 45, South Kitsap 21
(University Place, WA) Only one playoff spot remained for the week 9 crossovers in the SPSL 4A and Friday night’s matchup between the South Kitsap Wolves and Curtis Vikings would go a long way to decide the final spot. A win for South Kitsap would secure the #4 seed and have the Wolves host the #4 from the SPSL south in a winner to the round of 32 and loser out game as the Wolves would have a two-game lead over both Curtis and Rogers. A win for Curtis and they would control their own destiny and be able to lock in a spot with a win in their finale with Rogers.
South Kitsap came into the game 1-5 on the year with the lone win coming over Rogers in the league-opener. Offensive struggles have plagued the Wolves and it would not get easier as they looked for their first win over Curtis since joining the SPSL in 2016. South Kitsap would be without starting quarterback Bailey Kaiser and would turn to wide receiver Josh Traslavina to run the offense.
On the other side of the field, the Curtis Vikings started the season with a win over Silas but entered Friday night on a five-game losing streak. Turnovers have been an issue all year for Curtis but a strong defense has kept the Vikings hanging around in most of their games. The Vikings would hope some Homecoming magic would provide the extra boost to get the Vikings their first league win of the year.
1st Half
Curtis would receive the opening kick at their own 33 and they began a long and methodical drive, which would not be the common theme of this one. The first drive saw jet sweeps with Taylor Smith and off-tackle runs for Donte Ray and more so successful and smooth offense from Curtis. A hold is the only thing that slowed down the Vikings but a 17-yard touchdown by Taylor Smith one play later completely erased that while giving Curtis a 7-0 lead.
South Kitsap’s opening drive saw them pick up a first down behind receiver turned quarterback Josh Traslavina. The Curtis defense would not allow that to snowball into anything as the Vikings forced a punt and then turned to the explosive play. A checkdown to running back Donte Ray turned into a 62-yard gain for Curtis and eventually a 10-yard touchdown on another jet sweep for Taylor Smith. A three-and-out got Curtis the ball back to start the 2nd quarter and the Vikings hit another home run shot as Sam Patterson found Peter Shelton for a 58-yard score. Three drives and three touchdowns had the Vikings rolling with a 21-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter.
South Kitsap could not get anything going on offense and losing Dyvonte Sellers in the first half only made things even more difficult on the Wolves. The defense was on the field for a vast majority of the opening half as Curtis continued to make strong tackles and force punts to get the red-hot Viking offense on the field. The only thing slowing down Curtis were penalties, but they seemed to consistently make up for those. Taylor Smith ran in a third touchdown from seven yards out before a couple of dropped touchdowns prevented them from adding on even more. Luca Niebergall would hit a 42-yard field goal late in the half to give Curtis a 31-0 lead at halftime.
2nd Half
A nice couple of plays to end the first half for South Kitsap gave them something to build on when they got the ball to start the 3rd quarter. Caleb Strobel began to find success running the football, but he needed a breather and that allowed the Curtis defense to dig their heels in and force another Wolves punt. The Curtis offense had no hiccups as Sam Patterson would find Rayyan Semakula for a 27-yard touchdown on his final pass of the night, making it 38-0.
It was not the ideal game for South Kitsap, but the later stage of the game was a bright spot for the Wolves. Caleb Strobel continued to find success on the ground as South Kitsap moved the ball into Curtis territory for the first time in the game. Josh Traslavina also began to find some success throwing the ball as he found Strobel for 20 yards and Marcelis Rivera for 14. It would fittingly be Strobel finding the endzone on a nine-yard score to get South Kitsap on the board. An onside kick was then recovered by South Kitsap and immediately led to a 50-yard touchdown pass from Josh Traslavina to Marcelis Rivera for South Kitsap’s second touchdown in three plays.
A 38-14 deficit was going to be too much to overcome in the 4th quarter for South Kitsap but Curtis made it even more difficult as Jackson Dailey completed a pass to Rayyan Semakula which turned into a 72-yard touchdown. South Kitsap had one more score in them as well on a 15-yard QB keeper for Josh Traslavina to give the Wolves 21 points in the 4th quarter. The dominant first half was just too much for South Kitsap to comeback from. Curtis’ offense was near perfect in the first half and that propelled the Vikings to a dominant 45-21 win at home.
Sumner Holiday Inn Express MVP of the Game
Our Sumner Holiday Inn Express MVP of the Game went to Taylor Smith for Curtis. The Vikings receiver was doing it all on offense with 7 catches for 118 yards and five carries for 48 yards while totaling three touchdowns for Curtis. Smith scored on 25% of his touches and was a key piece on special teams as the holder on the extra points and field goals. Even when he wasn’t getting the ball, Smith was such an offensive threat that the South Kitsap defense had to worry about slowing him down which opened the field up for the rest of the Curtis offense.
Stats
Elsewhere for the Curtis Vikings, Sam Patterson had a monster game, going 12/16 passing for 286 yards and two touchdowns while also recording a three-yard run. The featured running back was Donte Ray who ran the ball 12 times for 82 yards while Pearce Guidoux would come in late and ran the ball six times for 16 yards. Ray also caught two passes for 74 yards while Rayyan Semakula would catch two passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Charles Torrone had a nine-yard catch and Peter Shelton had a 58-yard touchdown reception. Luca Niebergall went 6/6 on extra points while also hitting a 42-yard field goal.
For South Kitsap, Caleb Strobel got going in the second half and finished with 15 carries for 60 yards and a touchdown and also caught a 20-yard pass. Josh Traslavina had nine carries for 22 yards and a touchdown and went 6/11 passing for 112 yards and another score. Caeden Beam carries the ball twice for 24 yards and Dyvonte Sellers had three carries and a reception. Marcelis Rivera carries the ball three times but also had three catches for 74 yards and a touchdown. Jesse Booth would record a 21-yard reception while going 3/3 on extra points
What’s Next?
The win ends Curtis’ five-game skid and moves the Vikings to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in SPSL 4A play. Curtis will try to secure a playoff spot on the road on Thursday when they visit Rogers at 7pm. South Kitsap falls to 1-6 on the season and 1-3 in league play and will need Curtis to lose while they host Sumner on Friday at 7pm. A South Kitsap win and Rogers win would create a three-way tie for the final playoff spot out of the north division.
Link to watch full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required)
West 42 Sports Postgame Show
Video Highlights
Curtis Strikes on Jet Sweep
Patterson to Shelton for Six
South Kitsap 50-Yard Bomb
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