Stoll shows heart

SANDPOINT – Kurt Stoll figures he’s one of the slowest running backs in the state.

In fact, line up the Sandpoint High senior against the fastest running backs from the other 5A and 4A teams in the Inland Empire League for a 100-yard sprint and it wouldn’t surprise Stoll if he finished last.

Stoll spent a month this summer before two-a-day practices began specifically trying to increase his speed. He said the concentrated conditioning was well worth the time.

“I still think I’m pretty slow,” Stoll said, grinning.

Stoll rarely breaks off long sprints to the end zone. Yet he ranks among the best running backs in the state.

What gives? He’s Bulldog determined not to be tackled. Seldom does he go down on first contact, and when he is tackled it usually takes a handful of players to stop him.

He rushed for 1,803 yards and 23 touchdowns and had 26 catches for 350 yards and two TDs last year. The Bulldogs came within 2 minutes of pulling the biggest upset in the state before they eventually fell to two-time 4A state champion Bishop Kelly 21-20 in the semifinals.

Stoll was named to the 4A All-Idaho first team.

“Kurt has the best vision and instincts of any running back I’ve ever coached,” then Sandpoint coach Sean Dorris told The Idaho Statesman newspaper last year upon Stoll’s selection to the all-state team.

Stoll had has best game this season last Friday when the Bulldogs topped visiting 5A Lewiston 33-21 for their third consecutive win after an 0-4 start – all losses against 5A teams. Stoll rushed for 242 yards on 39 carries, both season highs, including four rushing TDs and a passing TD.

“He’s done that to us two years in a row,” Lewiston coach Emmett Dougherty said. “As the game goes along he’s knocking off chunks – five or six yards here and there. You think you’re doing a good job containing him, but at the end of the game you look at the stats and he has 200-plus yards.

“He’s not fast, but he’s the toughest running back, physically, in this league. He gets pounded and beat up and he keeps going. He doesn’t seem to have any quit.”

Stoll’s numbers against Lewiston aren’t an aberration. Last year, Stoll rushed for more than 200 yards in four games including 257 yards on a season-high 42 carries against Moscow and a season-high 341 yards on 23 rushes against Lakeland. In the loss to Bishop Kelly, he had 218 yards on 40 attempts.

“He’s a special running back,” first-year Sandpoint coach Mike Mitchell said. “He has the ability to knife and slash. If you’re 8 ½ yards from the end zone on fourth down, he’s going to get you 8 ½ yards. He’s not a burner. He doesn’t have that college burst everybody is looking for, but he’s got a high gear.”

Mitchell came to Sandpoint after spending more than 20 years coaching at the college level.

“He can play for somebody. It’s just a matter of finding the right match,” Mitchell said.

Stoll has rushed for 921 yards through seven games, well off his pace from a year ago. That’s largely because teams have devised their defensive game plans to contain him. Another reason Stoll’s yards are down year over year is he’s playing on both sides of the ball, something he didn’t do last year.

In an attempt to shore up Sandpoint’s propensity to give up big plays, Mitchell moved Stoll and senior wide receiver Kyle Meschko into the starting lineup two weeks ago at free safety and cornerback, respectively.

“Kurt makes things happen on defense,” Mitchell said. “He’s making the people around him better. He gets in the alley on run support and takes care of things.

“We’re trying to use him intelligently. A body can only take so much. He carried it a little more than I’d like him to carry it against Lewiston.”

No matter what Stoll does, he competes with intensity. Including the classroom. He carries a weighted 4.07-grade point average.

“I’ve always believed that if you’re going to do something be dedicated to it – whether it’s athletics or academics,” Stoll said. “I don’t think I’m smarter than anybody else. I just work hard at it.”

His approach on the field is simple: He let’s his work ethic speak for itself. And the results have spoken loudly.

“I won’t strut around thinking that I’m better than anyone else. Terrell Owens is ridiculous,” Stoll said. “It’s OK to celebrate. But when you do stuff like Terrell Owens does, it brings all the attention to yourself. It’s wrong. It’s a team game.”

His childhood idol was the late Walter Payton. Stoll read a book about the NFL Hall of Fame running back’s autobiography – “Never Die Easy” – when he was 13. He drew a lot of inspiration from the book.

“He said ‘Never die easy. Why run out of bounds and die easy. Make that linebacker pay’,” Stoll said quoting Payton.

It’s that mindset that has allowed the not-so-fleet-of-foot Stoll to more than make up for his lack of speed.