Coeur D’Alene Finishes Off Sandpoint

This time the Coeur d’Alene Vikings finished business.

And all the bounces went Coeur d’Alene’s way in the telling final quarter as the Vikings qualified for the state football playoffs for the first time since 1994 with a 35-14 victory over Sandpoint in a Border League game Friday.

Four weeks ago, the Vikings led 19-7 over Lake City going into the fourth quarter only to watch the Timberwolves rally for a 29-19 decision.

A month has made a huge difference with the Vikings. CdA is a different - and much improved - team.

CdA (7-1 overall, 6-1 league) will join LC in the playoffs. The Viks will be the No. 2 seed in the A-1 Division II playoffs while the T-Wolves, who stopped Post Falls 21-6, secured the top seed.

It’s the first time since LC opened in ‘94 that both city schools are headed to the playoffs.

“This is the (culmination) of four years of a lot of sweat and pain by our seniors - and my assistants,” CdA coach Shawn Amos said. “They hung in there and were loyal.”

It was CdA’s third straight decisive victory after the emotional loss to LC.

“Our kids have grown,” Amos said. “That Lake City loss was probably the best thing for us. These guys have invested a ton.”

The game’s start was delayed 30 minutes because the Viks’ cleats were ruled illegal. CdA had bought new three-quarter-inch cleats Friday, but rules call for cleats no longer than a half-inch.

Sandpoint (5-3, 5-2) loaned CdA replacements. Although the longer cleats would have made running on rain-drenched Memorial Field easier, the Viks didn’t need help in the second half, especially the fourth quarter.

“We got some bounces,” Amos said. “It’s not 35-14. We’re not that far apart obviously.”

The teams were tied 7-7 at halftime in a game played before an estimated crowd of 2,700.

The Bulldogs’ defense, combined with the sloppy track, slowed down CdA’s top weapon, running back Paul Ziegler. Well, slowed him down in the first half.

The second half was a different story. Ziegler rushed for 166 yards on 24 carries in the final two quarters, finishing with 226 on 38 attempts.

“They did a helluva job hemming him in (in the first half),” Amos said.

The Viks seemed to exert control on their first possession of the fourth quarter after Sandpoint tied the score at 14 on the last play of the third period. Sandpoint caught CdA biting on the run when quarterback J.C. Davault hit Brooks Goff on a 71-yard TD connection.

CdA responded. On the eighth play of the ensuing possession, Viks quarterback Kyle Ahlf found wide receiver Blake Whiteman behind Sandpoint’s secondary for a 24-yard touchdown pass.

And Sandpoint didn’t respond. Whiteman got perhaps his biggest catch when he intercepted a pass that bounced off Jose Medina’s hands, giving CdA possession at Sandpoint’s 45-yard line.

Two plays later, Ziegler, doing what he does best by breaking tackles when it seems he’s been stopped, dashed 44 yards, just beating speedy safety Tony Hook to the end zone.

Sandpoint fumbled on the kickoff return, and CdA put the Bulldogs away when Ahlf picked up his own fumble and plunged 3 yards for the Viks’ final TD with 3:49 left.

“Turnovers and penalties,” Sandpoint coach Satini Puailoa said. “Ziegler really ran well in the second half. Thought we did a great job of bottling him up in the first half. A couple of times we hit him and he bounced out and made great individual efforts. He was really the difference in the ballgame.”

Sandpoint’s six turnovers - including 5 of 5 fumbles - also added to its demise.

“They played a better second half and did a better job of controlling the ball,” Puailoa said. “The better team won.”