Bryan Gilbreath keyed the win with big plays, including a 91-yard kick return.

POULSBO – Good things can come in threes.

Bryan Gilbreath caught a touchdown pass and returned a kick for another touchdown as Bainbridge defeated North Kitsap 41-21 Friday night on the road, making it three in a row for the Spartans over their longtime rival Vikings.

“It feels really good,” Bryan said. “It’s nice because, as Coach (Grimm) said, we’ll remember this game for the rest of our lives.”

North Kitsap nearly went the length of the field on their opening drive as they made it to the 19-yard line, but were stuffed on three straight runs and quarterback Paul Stock’s pass to a wide-open Jack Clearman went through his hands.

After Bainbridge took over on downs, they ran two running plays and a penalty which put them at a third and eight situation.

Quarterback Quinton Agosta found Gilbreath wide open – there wasn’t a Viking within 15 yards – for a completion of over 60 yards.

“The corner blitzed and I was gonna tell Quinton, but I was kinda far away, so I figured he’ll just see me,” Gilbreath said. “And he did, so I was real happy that he saw me.”

Three plays later Agosta found Gilbreath wide-open again – this time in the end-zone – for a 28-yard score.

North Kitsap tied the score in the second quarter when Steven Kirt plunged in from a yard out, but Bainbridge drove down the length of the field to tie the score on Agosta’s one yard sneak.

The Vikings came back to tie the score on a six-yard reverse by Brian Cleaver, but the Spartans got a boost from Gilbreath when he took the subsequent kickoff and ran it back 91 yards for the touchdown.

“I didn’t expect to break it until I got halfway, then I saw an humongous opening,” Bryan said. “We worked a lot on the wedge last week and it really showed.

He also caught some flack for the bit of showboating he did near the end of the return.

“My coaches got real (ticked) about it,” Gilbreath said. “I was real excited. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but it was a spur of the moment thing.”

Gilbreath could have had another touchdown, but Cleaver picked off the pass intended for him just before first-half play ended.

Cleaver had another interception when he picked off an Agosta pass in the third quarter, but North Kitsap couldn’t do anything with the possession.

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter when Bainbridge used the Wing-T to near-perfection, as they put together another long drive capped off by Dayton Gilbreath’s six-yard touchdown run.

The junior, who hadn’t played since his time on the freshman team and sat out last season with a broken leg, finished with 12 carries for 70 yards and the touchdown.

“It felt great,” Dayton said. “I felt right at home. I’ve been waiting for over a year to get back out there.”

On North Kitsap’s next drive, Alex Carter read the screen play perfectly as he stepped in front of Evan Henry as Henry bobbled the ball and picked it off, running 32 yards for the score.

The next drive for the Vikings was disastrous as Kauika Peleti and Dayton Gilbreath combined to sack quarterback Steven Kirk and force a turnover on downs with the ball deep into Viking territory.

Two plays later, new quarterback Greg Korsak scored on a one-yard run.

Grimm said the play was sloppy at first, but his team turned it around at the end.

“That’s fun to see,” he said of their fourth-quarter play. “They’re really building an attitude within the kids and that’s attributed to the older guys. They’re no longer intimidated when they come out to play North. We feel like we can compete.”

Still, Gabe Culkin said they know they have some work to do.

“We’re going to need to improve staying on our blocks some more, including me,” he said.

Bryan Gilbreath finished with three catches for 115 yards and the aforementioned touchdown.

Agosta was four of 11 for 118 yards and one touchdown. He also had six carries for 59 yards.

Dane Hiett, Ross Cobb and Kauika Peleti ran for 43, 44 and 32 yards respectively. As a team, the Spartans rushed for 258 yards.

Kyle Petheram had 16 tackles, 10 of which were solo stops.

Bainbridge hosts Bremerton this Friday at 7 p.m in their home opener.