Easily identified by their vibrant dye sublimation jerseys and color schemes, the Nighthawks were born when Ryan and Claire Berndt took over the South King County Colts following the 2014 season.
 
As members of the Pacific Football League those first two seasons, the results were nearly identical as the 'Hawks would sandwich two wins in between the losses.
 
Moving over to the Western Washington Football Alliance in 2017, South Sound made some progress breaking even on the season with a 5-5 record and a playoff win before bowing out to the Tri City Rage.
 
Opening 2018 and having a roster bolstered by the folding of the Puyallup franchise, champions of the league in 2017, the Nighthawks found themselves in the Championship discussions as playoffs opened.  However a quick exit at the hands of the Portland Raiders ended the best season to date at 7-4 after a September game with Thurston County to raise donations for the Bonney Lake Food Bank.
 
For 2019, the Nighthawks got a boost to the roster with the shutdown of the Wenatchee Valley Rams following their 2018 championship run and the return of players who had been with the 2017 Puyallup Nation Kings.  The boost paid off with bookend victories over perennial power Portland to start and end the Northern Cascade League Title quest, the first and only two victories thus far in the 8-game rivalry (2-6).  The only blemish on the league season was a road loss to Portland in week 5.  The 'Hawks responded winning the next five games a combined 225-40.  The win in the NCFL championship culminated a 5-year quest to build a solid franchise on a steadily improving base of operations.
 
An expected merger with the Kitsap Storm was put on hold as the Nighthawks again took the field for the 2020 season.
 
In the season opener, the Nighthawks found themselves in a dog fight with newcomer Tacoma Sabers until Adam Kruse again pulled some magic to lead the Nighthawks to a 35-31 victory.  Covid-19 shut down the season shortly after.
 
The Nighthawks were invited as 2019 NCFL Champions to face the Idaho Mustangs, undefeated 2019 Champions of the Rocky Mountain Football League and current undefeated Idaho Contact League champions and defending GNFA champions riding an 18-game winning streak on August 15, 2020.  The game would be played in Idaho as the state did not have Covid-19 restrictions that ceased Washington football.
 
The game would be for the GNFA 2020 Crown, and the star-studded Nighthawks took an early lead in Idaho, but the relentless ground game of the Mustangs overcame South Sound in the closing minutes sending Washington home with an 18-14 loss, their first dating back to a May 18, 2019 shocker to Portland.  The Nighthawks would not make it back to the field following Covid, as the Washington State League and new Gridiron Development League swooped in to start teams in the Tacoma area as Covid-restrictions were finally lifted.
 
After three seasons away, former player/coach Mitch Johnson announced on Facebook the Nighthawks would return in 2024.  Kicking off hosting a team from Alaska, the Nighthawks got out to a 3-1 start to the season, but started a 7-game slide that included a halting of the Grit City Knights game in the 3rd quarter of a tight game when an altercation broke out and game officals left the field.  The Knights were leading 10-7 and were awarded the win by the league.  The wheels came off from there as the offense struggled down the stretch with the season ending with back-to-back losses to the Knights by a combined 69-6.  The 'Hawks did not return to play for the 2025 season.

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