All the way back
RATHDRUM – The Sandpoint High football team never trailed on Friday, but the Bulldogs never felt comfortable either.
Not until the Bulldogs recovered an onside kick with 21 seconds remaining.
Sandpoint survived a last-second touchdown drive by Lakeland as the Bulldogs captured the 4A Inland Empire League championship with a 21-20 victory before a crowd estimated at 1,200 at Corbit Field.
Lakeland wide receiver Steven Hanni made a leaping grab on an improbable Hail Mary attempt by quarterback Jack Vanderlinden, darting the final 11 yards of the 41-yard touchdown play after Sandpoint defensive back Kyle Meschko had fallen down. The score pulled the Hawks within the final margin with 21 seconds to go.
The Hawks decided to go for the win with a two-point conversion attempt, but they couldn’t get the snap off in time and they were assessed a delay of game penalty. Backed up another 5 yards, Lakeland had no choice but to attempt a kick to tie the score. The ball, however, never got on the kicking tee and subsequently it was squibbed into the back of Lakeland’s offensive line.
Winning its fifth straight game after a 0-4 start, Sandpoint advances to the state playoffs in two weeks. The Bulldogs have a bye next week and will scout second-ranked and two-time state champion Bishop Kelly (6-2), which was upset 32-28 by Skyview (6-2) Friday.
Sandpoint would play host to a first-round game, most likely against Bishop Kelly. That would be a rematch of the state semifinal at Barlow Stadium last year, a game the Knights pulled out in the final minute.
After Lakeland had knotted the score at 14-all early in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs answered with a ball-controlling and clock-controlling drive.
Sandpoint marched 76 yards on 11 plays – 10 of which were runs by senior tailback Kurt Stoll. But on second-and-goal at the 7-yard line, junior quarterback Ryan Armbruster rolled right on play action and hit junior tight end Matthew Shay, who dragged across the end zone for the TD reception. Kyle Gibson’s point-after kick put Sandpoint ahead 21-14 with 6:31 to play.
“What a game,” first-year Sandpoint coach Mike Mitchell said. “The thing I was happy about was the (11-play) drive we had when we had to come back (after Lakeland tied it). That’s one of the best drives we’ve had all year.”
After Lakeland pulled within 21-20, there was no question what the Hawks planned to do. Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer said his team was going for the win, not a tie.
“We were going for two. Mike (Bayley, offensive coordinator) and I decided on a play,” Kiefer said. “Mike sent the play in. We had a player line up on the wrong side and when he switched sides the time had expired. So then we decided to kick it.
“We were going for two and we were going to put it in Bubba’s (running back Bubba Bartlett) hands. We were just going to say, ‘Bubba win the game.’ It just didn’t happen.”
Kiefer praised the efforts of both teams.
“Our kids came back and they can be proud of the way they played,” Kiefer said. “Sandpoint can be proud of the way they played. It was just all around a good game.”
But Kiefer thought his team made some key mistakes.
“Too many mistakes – the fumbles, the interceptions and on that last PAT the ball fell off the tee,” Kiefer said. “It’s just one of those things. We’ll bounce back. As a program we’ll bounce back. I think we’re going to be right here next year.”
Stoll was the usual workhorse for Sandpoint, carrying the ball 39 times for 143 yards. Bartlett tipped his helmet to Sandpoint and his team.
“We’ve made big plays like that before,” Bartlett, a senior two-way standout, said of the near-tying TD. “We all have heart. We shot ourselves in the foot in the end. (But) we played out hearts out. They’re a helluva team. They’re good. I give them credit.”