Bulldogs defense dominates Vikings in playoff opener

SANDPOINT — There are great defensive performances, and then there’s downright dominance.

The Sandpoint defense executed the latter Friday night, holding Middleton to a paltry 32 yards of total offense and leading the Bulldogs to a thorough 30-0 beating of the Vikings in the opening round of the 4A playoffs at muddy Barlow Stadium.

The Vikings (7-3) tried all night to establish their running game, but to no avail, as the Bulldogs (8-2) seemed to gang tackle on nearly every play.

“The defense played great. They (Middleton) didn’t get their first first down until the second half,” said Sandpoint coach Mike Mitchell. “It was a good scheme. The staff did well preparing them and they tackled well tonight.”

The highlight of the night was a sensational one-handed tip interception by Sandpoint cornerback Sean Hogan, his eighth on the season, tying a Bulldogs school record. The Middleton quarterback overthrew both his receiver and Hogan, who dove and somehow managed to snare the ball with one hand and make the circus catch.

“He overthrew the receiver, and I just tried to get one hand on it,” said Hogan of the interception, which ties him with Dave Smith, who also grabbed eight picks for the Bulldogs in 1965. “I got lucky and tipped it up and surprised myself with that.”

The Bulldogs set the tone early on offense, driving 72 yards on nine plays, all runs, before Ben Fisher capped the drive with a five yard plunge to give the Bulldogs an early 7-0 lead. Daniel Charvoz hit Mike Hubbard for a 40 yard touchdown in the second quarter to put Sandpoint up 14-0 in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs then unveiled their version of the Wildcat for the next score, with Fisher taking a direct snap and rolling left, before lofting a 10 yard strike to A.J. Smith to put Sandpoint up 20-0 heading into half time.

In the second half, the Bulldogs continued to pound the ball on the ground, racking up 278 yards rushing for the game. Fisher finished with 115 yards on 21 carries, Anthony Gold added 68 yards and Cody Hecker 65 on a muddy track. Gold had a 61 yard scoring run called back due to an illegal procedure, or he would have gone over the century mark as well.

“Good execution on offense,” said Mitchell. “It was really sloppy and we couldn’t do anything lateral, just straight ahead. The line is doing well on both sides of the ball.”

Fisher would add a one yard scoring run in the third quarter, and Cole Fuhrman, drilled a 36 yard field goal to round out the scoring and cap the rout. The Bulldogs never punted, and tallied 20 first downs to Middleton’s three.

The Bulldogs face Hillcrest, a 29-26 winner over Pocatello, next Saturday, at 1 p.m., in afternoon action at Barlow Stadium.

Mid   0    0    0    0 — 0

Spt   7   13   7   3 — 30

Spt — Ben Fisher 6 run (Cole Fuhrman kick)

Spt — Mike Hubbard 40 catch from Daniel Charvoz (Fuhrman kick)

Spt — A.J. Smith 10 catch from Fisher (kick fail)

Spt — Fisher 1 run (Fuhrman kick)

Spt — Fuhrman 36 FG

    SHS          Middleton

First Downs                                             20        3

Rushes-yds                51-278    30-32

Passing yds                118        2

QB                    6-10-2    1-7-1

Punts-Ave        —        4-40.5

Fumbles - lost        —        2-0

Penlaties - yds            9-75        3-12.5

SHS Rushing: BenFisher 21-115, Cody Hecker 9-65, Mike Hubbard 2-4, Luther Morgan 3-26, Dan Charvoz 3-(-3), Anthony Gold 10-68, AJ Smith 1-0, Brian Remsen 1-4, Matt Kingsley 1-(-1).  SHS Receiving: Emerson Jessup 1-14, AJ Smith 2-34, Anthony Gold 1-5, Mike Hubbard 2-65.  QB: Ben Fisher 1-1-0, 10 yds.  Brandon Lawrence 1-1-0, 14yds.  Dan Charvoz 4-8-2, 94 yds.

MHS: Rushing: Bobby Skinner 10-20, Westley Volpei 1-(-4), Dean Coombs 8-15, KJ Herbert 7-12, Keegan Anderson 1-(-8), Justin Scott 1-5 Jared Hicks 1-1, Mason Foote 1-(-10).  Receiving: KJ Herbert 1-2 yds.