Big Stop Saves Cheney
Border League
Cheney High cornerback Brandon Eggart hopes to play a bigger role in future Blackhawks victories.
Until then, Eggart will savor his drive-stalling tackle that thwarted Sandpoint’s comeback attempt Friday as Cheney stalled the Bulldogs 17-6 in a Border League game at Eastern Washington University’s Woodward Stadium.
Sandpoint had moved the ball efficiently from its 4-yard-line to the Cheney 15, where the Bulldogs needed 2 yards on fourth down.
Sandpoint quarterback Carl Roubicek kept the ball on an option, but when he turned the corner, Eggart was there. The Blackhawk forced Roubicek out of bounds, a half yard shy of a first down with 5 minutes, 5 seconds left in the game.
“That’s the play, right there,” said Cheney coach Tom Oswald, whose team improved to 2-1 overall, 1-1 in league in its home debut. “If we don’t stop them, they score and they probably win.
“(Brandon) had three big hits last week, too.”
Eggart’s key tackle was his third in a row.
“Basically, we were focusing on their quarterback because he’s a real good athlete,” Eggart said. “It took us a while to get pumped. We were really motivated to beat these guys because they gave us our only (regular season) loss last year, but we could have played better.”
Although the game was low-scoring, that was due more to both teams misfiring in critical situations than most things the defenses accomplished. Both teams moved the ball up and down the field.
Sandpoint used all its timeouts on Cheney’s final possession, but the Blackhawks kept the yard markers moving. Cheney picked up five first downs before running back Jeremy Parker sealed the win with a 17-yard touchdown run on a thirdand-9 play with 1:11 remaining.
Parker, who shouldered most of the running duties after Mike Randell suffered an early knee injury, broke two tackles on the scoring play. He finished with 148 yards on 19 attempts.
“We had him stopped, but that was a gutsy effort,” Sandpoint coach Satini Puailoa said.
Sandpoint (2-2, 2-2) had a go-ahead TD called back late in the third quarter. Fullback Brandon Delewese dashed 25 yards relatively untouched, but the Bulldogs were flagged for holding. Finally, Sandpoint attempted a field goal, but Jeremy Harvey’s kick from 43 yards, which had plenty of distance, was about 2 feet wide left with 9 seconds left in the quarter.
“We moved the ball, we just couldn’t finish,” Puailoa said. “If we don’t get the holding penalty or we get the first down, we probably win.”
Despite the loss, Puailoa said his team gained valuable experience.
“The benchmark for us was could we come down and play toe-to-toe with these guys,” Puailoa said. “And we did. We certainly had our opportunities. What I wanted to see from our club was if we could play physically with them. This kind of game will help us.”
Sandpoint opened the scoring in the first quarter on Harvey’s 26-yard field goal.
Cheney evened it when Peter Gresham chipped in a 20-yard kick with 4:14 left in the first quarter.
The Blackhawks scored on the first play of the second quarter after recovering a fumble at Sandpoint’s 32. Quarterback Aaron Madison hit Ben Woodard from 7 yards out.
Sandpoint pulled within 10-6 with 2:48 left before halftime when Harvey connected from 41 yards.
OTHER BORDER LEAGUE GAMES
Lake City hangs on
Lake City stuffed Colville’s Chris Lowry on a 2-point conversion run with 37 seconds left in the game to eke out a 21-20 victory in Colville. Colville quarterback Ryan Bradeen completed 19 of 35 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns. It was his third straight week with more than 200 yards of passing. … Paul Ziegler rushed for a pair of second-quarter touchdowns as Coeur d’Alene pulled away for a 30-13 victory over visiting West Valley. Ziegler finished with 100 yards on the ground in 28 carries. The Vikings stayed unbeaten in league play, while the Eagles remained winless.