Stoll, Sandpoint steal away with lone state spot
The Sandpoint Bulldogs were hungry for a state playoff berth and they knew exactly what they needed to do to get it.
So they went to their “go-to” guy.
Bulldogs running back Kurt Stoll stole the show in Sandpoint’s 38-23 Inland Empire League football win over Post Falls at Trojan Stadium Thursday.
With the win, Sandpoint (5-4) finished with a 3-0 record against 4A schools and earned the district’s lone berth to the state playoffs starting next Friday.
The Bulldogs will host Skyview of Nampa. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Barlow Field.
Post Falls dropped to 3-6 with the loss.
Stoll, a junior, finished the night with 338 all-purpose yards, including 273 rushing yards and 65 receiving yards. Sandpoint finished with 441 total yards.
“It was just another typical night for him,” said Sandpoint head coach Sean Dorris. “He’s a very unselfish kid and he picks up a lot of tough yards. … The line did a great job of blocking and we were able to throw a little bit and that opened it up for Kurt.”
The Bulldogs looked like they were going to put away the game early, scoring on their first three possessions to take a 22-0 lead.
Stoll scored the first two touchdowns in the first quarter on runs of 12 and 19 yards.
Sandpoint struck again early in the second quarter on a 26-yard pass from quarterback Joey Lovell to wide receiver Chad Hecker.
Hecker caught the ball in the right flat, beat a defender to the corner and dove into the end zone.
Post Falls cut that margin to 22-7 on a 15-yard TD pass from Danny Mathewson to Nick Mehalechko, but the Bulldogs added a touchdown and a 27-yard field goal by Matt Lawrence to take a 31-7 halftime lead.
Stoll finished the first half with 145 yards rushing on 17 carries and had three receptions for 65 yards.
“We just couldn’t stop him at key times,” PF coach Jeff Hinz said. “We gave up some big third-down plays. Stoll was a little quicker than us. He’s a good back who runs the ball really well and really hard.”
PF’s Bobby Kuber rushed for 80 yards on 12 carries.