Sandpoint Rings Lc’s Bell Bulldogs Advance To Semifinals
The Lake City High football team had the rematch it wanted. But Sandpoint proved in dominating fashion in the second half that it is the better team.
Trailing 6-0 at halftime, the Bulldogs finally got untracked in the quagmire at Barlow Stadium as they pulled away to a telling 32-12 victory over the No. 1-ranked Timberwolves in an A-1 Division II playoff game Friday.
Now Sandpoint (7-3 overall) has the rematch it wants. The Bulldogs will meet Lewiston (7-2-1) in the semifinals Friday at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow.
Lewiston cruised to a 55-21 win over visiting Nampa. The Bengals edged Sandpoint 41-34 in double overtime two weeks ago.
“I’m looking forward to it; that’s who I wanted to play all along,” said mud-covered Sandpoint wide receiver Caleb Bowman, who caught two long touchdown passes and threw a TD pass.
After shaking hands with the Timberwolves, dozens of Bulldogs ran and slid face first on the field that, after a daylong drizzle, had 2 to 3 inches of standing mud and water in places.
A few moments later, a handful of Bulldogs ran to the south end of the stadium to ring the Victory Bell.
LC took a 6-0 lead late in the second quarter when quarterback Chad Troxel, who scrambled away from pressure twice, lobbed a wobbly 15-yard pass that a diving Ben Orsua caught in the end zone. LC’s two-point attempt failed.
Although Sandpoint kicked to open the game, the Bulldogs chose to kick off to open the second half, keeping the stiff wind at their backs.
“We approached the third quarter like it was the fourth quarter,” Sandpoint coach Satini Puailoa said. “We wanted the wind.”
And the Bulldogs went to the air immediately.
After forcing LC to punt, Sandpoint scored on its third play when quarterback Paul Nieman lofted a perfect throw in stride to Bowman, who had escaped man coverage at the line of scrimmage and beat a second defender. Bowman scampered 81 yards for the TD. The point-after kick put Sandpoint ahead 7-6.
LC responded. With fourth-and-inches at Sandpoint’s 40-yard line, T-Wolf fullback Scott Bushnell appeared to get the first down. But there was no whistle and Bushnell eventually squirted loose, sprinting 40 yards to put LC ahead 12-7 with 5:35 left in the third quarter.
Bowman and Nieman hooked up again on the next series as the Bulldog QB hit the Inland Empire League’s most valuable player on a 46-yard post that put Sandpoint ahead for a final time at 13-12.
On the first play of Sandpoint’s ensuing possession, Nieman’s 37-yard pass to Bowman gave the Bulldogs a first-and-goal at the 5. Three plays later, tailback Kurt Berkley plunged 1 yard as Sandpoint extended its lead to 19-12 with :14 left in the quarter.
Bowman’s 25-yard TD pass to Dave Mattingly made it 25-12 with 6:48 remaining.
After holding LC on downs with 5:14 left, Sandpoint proceeded to score its final TD. In a similar situation in the first game played between the teams in early October, the score was tied at 21-21.
Friday, Sandpoint made sure LC didn’t have a chance for a comeback. Two bootlegs by Nieman on the final scoring drive picked up 52 yards. Berkley capped the series when he bulldozed into the end zone from 5 yards out with 1:55 left.
“Big plays to Bowman down the middle. That’s life in the fast lane,” said LC coach Van Troxel, whose team’s season ends at 8-2. “Two teams played their hearts out. That’s a good football team and we’re a good football team. I’m not going to make excuses for our guys. They played hard. We just had a few things not go our way.”
Bowman and Berkley snuck behind reporters and pancaked Puailoa in the mud. The coach was all smiles as the mud dripped from his nose in several places.
“The defense played really well,” Puailoa said. “Both of their touchdowns were flukes again. But this time there wasn’t any doubt in the game.”
A-1 Division II playoff
Sandpoint 32, Lake City 12
Lake City 0 6 6 0 - 12
Sandpoint 0 0 19 13 - 32
L-Orsua 15 pass from Troxel (pass failed) S-Bowman 81 pass from Nieman (Lindgren kick) L-Bushnell 40 run (pass failed) S-Bowman 46 pass from Nieman (pass failed) S-Berkley 1 run (kick failed) S-Mattingly 25 pass from Bowman (run failed) S-Berkley 5 run (Lindgren kick)
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo