Bulldogs venture north of the border for Canadian-style football

SANDPOINT - In what amounts to a glorified exhibition, Sandpoint will get a taste of Canadian football tonight when they travel north to face Raymond High School.

Sandpoint head coach Mike Mitchell knows very little about Raymond, which is a perfect 5-0 on the season. When Raymond has the ball, Sandpoint will use 12 defenders, per Canadian football rules. When Sandpoint has the ball, Raymond will only use 11 defenders, per U.S. rules.

Canadian teams generally feature tons of pre-snap motion, much akin to arena football. Head coach Mike Mitchell said the Bulldogs will focus on what they do, and won't bog down trying to gameplan for the different style they'll see. Defensive coordinator Doug Semones has coached arena football, and is well aware of some of varied motions they'll see.

"Defensively is where we'll have trouble," said Mitchell of adjusting to the different rules and bigger field. "We're just going to play our game and get better. I told the kids to have fun and make this what it is, an exhibition."

The Bulldogs (3-3) will look to bounce back after a loss last Friday to Lewiston, a game in which they were stung by turnovers and didn't tackle well - two things they have excelled at all season. There were some positives, including the emergence of a potent running attack, led by Ben Fisher and Ricky Lang.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on AM 1400 and 106.7 FM.