By Josh Ouellette
NWPrepsNow
Sandpoint kept Mt. Spokane scoreless in the first half and held on for a 21-14 victory with a goal-line stand in the final seconds at Joe Albi Stadium on Friday night.
“We all want to try ourselves against the best competition we can find,” Sandpoint’s Quinn Pearlstein said. “It’s just a big win because we wanted to prove ourselves and we did.”
After taking a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, the Bulldogs (2-2) forced two turnovers and scored on both in only 3:08 of the second quarter to take a 21-0 lead into the half.
Tyler Harris set up the first second-quarter TD after picking off a pass by Mt. Spokane quarterback Matt Pulliam and returning it to the Bulldogs’ 39.
On the next play, Sandpoint’s Nate Loutzenhiser lofted a ball down the left sideline that Wildcats corner Dakota Hipes nearly intercepted, but the tipped pass was grabbed by receiver Wyatt McCormick-Cox, who scored on a 61-yard play.
The Bulldogs got the ball right back after receiver Roy Hyatt fumbled the ball following a short completion. That led to Loutzenhiser throwing a 6-yard TD pass to Curtis Roop for the 21-0 halftime lead.
Hipes kept Sandpoint from scoring again right before the half with an interception in the end zone.
After a scoreless third quarter, Mt. Spokane (2-1) scored two touchdowns on fourth-down plays near the goal line and nearly scored a third.
Pulliam snuck in from 3 yards out for the first Mt. Spokane score. Mike Schupp scored the second on a 1-yard blast up the middle.
But the third time, Sandpoint came up with the big stop on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 8 seconds remaining to earn the win.
“Our defense played a hell of a game,” Loutzenhiser said. “To get that stop shows the willpower of our defense. Hands down to the defense.”
