Sandpoint hammers Lake City
SANDPOINT — It didn’t take long for shock waves to ripple through the Inland Empire League, as Sandpoint served notice that it will be a force to be reckoned with this season, dominating Lake City to the tune of 35-7 Friday night in both team’s season opener at muggy Barlow Stadium.
Sandpoint (1-0) made the most of an uncharacteristically sloppy first half by Lake City, capitalizing on four first half turnovers to build a 35-0 half time lead. Senior running back Cody Hecker had a monster game, rushing for 172 yards, and scoring three rushing touchdowns in the first half, including a 64 yard scamper.
Bulldogs head coach Mike Mitchell might have been one of the only people in the stadium who wasn’t completely surprised by the one-sided outcome, the Bulldogs’ first win over Lake City (0-1) in the last six games between the teams.
“I told my wife this morning I feel really good about this team, but you never know until you play,” he said after the game, calling it not just a win, but a great win. “I couldn’t be happier with their performance tonight.”
Senior Ben Fisher also had a big night, running for 110 of the Bulldogs 323 yards rushing on the night. Mitchell had high praise for the play of his offensive line, which dominated the trenches and set the tone for the game.
“We moved the ball on the ground almost at will tonight,” Mitchell said. “I can’t say enough about the offensive line.”
Equally impressive was the Bulldogs defense, led by the frenetic play of defensive end A.J. Smith and linebacker Shane Kidd. They helped hold the Timberwolves to just 229 yards of offense on the night, and never gave up the big play. Sean Hogan added two interceptions, and Luther Morgan and Anthony Gold each came up with numerous big hits.
The Timberwolves scored their lone touchdown on a two-yard run by Allen Carmichael in the fourth quarter. Lake City head coach Van Troxel knew going in he had one of his youngest teams in years, and he didn’t mince words about their performance after the game.
“The bottom line, and I’m not one to sugar-coat things, is we got out-coached, out-prepared and out-played all the way around,” he said, adding that his team will get better as the leadership improves. “No one is going to win a game with five turnovers. Those kids (Sandpoint) played hard, executed well, and wanted it a whole lot more than we did.”
Sandpoint senior Daniel Charvoz was steady and effective in his first varsity start at quarterback, hooking up on several nice throws with receiver Mike Hubbard, including an 18 yard scoring strike. Hubbard also returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown, which was called back by a holding penalty.
Even the kicking game was clicking for the Bulldogs, as soccer standout Adam Crossingham put five of his six kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks, and Daniel Anderson made all five extra points.
Sandpoint is at Colville next Friday.
SHS 14 21 0 0 35
LC 0 0 0 7 7
SHS — Ben Fisher 2 yd run (Daniel Anderson kick)
SHS — Cody Hecker 1 yd run (Daniel Anderson kick)
SHS — Cody Hecker 18 yd run (Daniel Anderson kick)
SHS — Cody Hecker 64 yd run (Daniel Anderson kick)
SHS — Mike Hubbard 19yd pass from Daniel Charvoz (Daniel Anderson kick)
LC — Allen Carmichael 2 yd run (James Miller kick)
SHS LC
First Downs 14 12
Rushes-yds 36-323 41-149
Passing yds 92 80
QB 5-10-0 8-21-2
Punts-Ave 2-30.5 3-29.3
Fumbles -lost 2-2 5-2
Penalties-yds 6-55 7-28
Individual Stats:
SHS Rushing: Cody Hecker 17-172, Ben Fisher 9-110, Daniel Charvoz 5-25, Anthony Gold 3-13, Luther Morgan 2-3
LC Rushing: Justin Bryant 14-94, Allen Carmichael 9-49, Bobby Traverse 15-23, Anthony Durant 1-(-15), Austin Blank 1-(-2)
SHS Receiving: Mike Hubbard 4-80, Luther Morgan 1-12
LC Receiving: Anthony Durant 2-45, Daman Dennison 1-13, Robbie Quinn 1-6, Justin Bryant 1-4, Kaleb Mitchell 3-12
SHS QB: Daniel Charvoz 5-10-0,92yds
LC QB: Mark Smyly 7-17-2, 74 yds: Austin Blank 1-4-0, 6 yds