Armbruster charged up for playoff

When a missed extra point costs you a football game, you have to put it behind you.

There’s just nothing you can do.

Unless you’re the Sandpoint Bulldogs.

Sandpoint gets a second chance to right a wrong when two-time defending state champ Bishop Kelly visits Friday night in the quarterfinals of the State 4A playoffs.

Quarterback Ryan Armbruster was suited up on the sideline a year ago and looked on while the visiting Knights escaped with a 21-20 victory.

“From a sideline standpoint, it was one of the best games I’ve ever seen,” said Armbruster, now a junior. “It left that bitter taste in your mouth, but we played with them in every aspect of the game – they just made one more extra point.

“That’s not to take away from them or say that they got lucky. That’s part of the game – you have to execute, and we proved that last week against Lakeland when we beat them by one because of an extra point.”

Listening to Armbruster – a first-year starter whose arm has become an important complement to a potent rushing attack led by senior Kurt Stoll – it’s clear there is no love lost between the Bulldogs and Bishop Kelly.

“We’ve read some press clippings of theirs in the paper, and they get all the publicity down there – all their games are on the Internet,” Armbruster said. “They’re tough, but they’re not the juggernaut they were last year. They’ve even called our school a couple of times about wanting to move the game to a neutral site and asking questions about how long our cleats are.

“We’re pretty confident.”

Looking purely at records, 5-4 Sandpoint may appear the underdog to 7-2 BK, but, Armbruster said, “Not so fast.”

“I’m not going to lie: Everybody wants to win, especially me,” Armbruster said. “More importantly, those first four games were all about just getting better, and we did.

“We went through some growing pains, but I thought we played pretty well against four bigger schools – losing to a team as good as Coeur d’Alene by only 10 points was a pretty good indicator that we’re doing something right.”

All of which brings us to Friday night’s rematch on the frozen tundra of Barlow Stadium.

“We’re practicing out in the 15-degree weather right now, and it’s tough,” Armbruster said. “But for every weather disadvantage we have, it’s twice as bad for them.

“It just doesn’t get any better than this – it’s going to be a good one.”