Sandpoint hoping for Bears' victory
SANDPOINT — Sandpoint will find itself in a strange situation, rooting hard for the Moscow Bears tonight in a regular season finale at Lakeland. Somewhat lost in the hysteria of Lakeland's victory at Sandpoint last week was the fact the Hawks still need to beat the Bears to make the playoffs. Otherwise, Lakeland (5-3, 1-0 4A IEL), Sandpoint (5-4, 1-1) and Moscow (3-5, 0-1) would meet in a Kansas Tiebreaker on Monday to determine the lone playoff berth.
"I'm a Moscow Bear fan," joked Sandpoint coach Mike Mitchell, whose team has a bye this Friday. "I'm wearing red and black."
Sandpoint won 40-14 at Moscow two weeks ago, and lost 27-26 last week to Lakeland. After watching film of that loss, Mitchell said it was a classic case of turnovers costing a team the game. While on paper it looks like Lakeland is the clear favorite, luckily for the Bulldogs, they don't play games on paper.
"The only shot they (Moscow) have is to feature that quarterback and those two receivers," said Mitchell, noting all of the Bulldog coaches will be at the game. "If that QB comes out and has a great game they've got a shot."
Mitchell said Lakeland doesn't throw very well, and as his team showed last week, key turnovers can sway any game. With a playoff berth on the line, the odds of Lakeland coming out flat are slim, but league games are never guaranteed.
"I hope they don't look past anybody — including Moscow," Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer said. "Yeah, I think I'll have their attention (this week)."
Whoever ends up as the playoff team from the 4A IEL will play host to the No. 2 team from the 4A Southern Idaho Conference next week. If Mountain Home defeats Kuna on Friday, Nampa will come north. But if Kuna wins and Nampa beats Emmett, any number of things could happen — including Mountain Home not even making the playoffs.
? Clark Fork hosts Lakeside on Senior Night
Lakeside (0-7, 0-4 North Star League) visits Clark Fork (6-2, 3-1 NSL) tonight in the final regular season home game for the Wampus Cats. The game amounts to a tune up for the Cats, who have already secured a 1A state playoff berth.
It's the season finale for the visiting Knights, who lost 58-32 to Clark Fork two weeks ago in Plummer in a nonleague game.
The Wampus Cats will travel to Kootenai on Nov. 3 at 1 p.m. for the first round of the state 1A Division 2 playoffs.