Bulldogs to host top Alberta high school team
SANDPOINT — Tonight’s Homecoming football game should be wildly entertaining, if nothing else, as the Bulldogs host the Raymond Comets, far and away the best high school football team in Alberta, Canada.
Not only will the Bulldogs (4-2) have to deal with a slightly different set of Canadian rules, but they’ll be facing a Comets (5-0) team that hasn’t lost in more than two years, including a 42-21 home win over the Bulldogs last season. Not too shabby for a high school with less than 400 kids.
The Bulldogs, ranked No. 3 among 4A teams in the Idahosports.com power poll, is riding high after dismantling Lewiston 36-0 last week. Sandpoint head coach Mike Mitchell felt his team became one-dimensional, and for good reason, as his team was gashing the overmatched Bengals on nearly every carry. Ben Fisher finished with 160 yards and three touchdowns to lead the attack.
Tonight, the Bulldogs will look to regain some of the offensive balance that has made their offense one of the best in the Inland Empire League this season, letting quarterback Tony Charvoz throw more to keep defenses from stacking the box.
“We’ll try to mix it up more this week. Last week we ran because we were so dominant,” said Mitchell, whose team churned out 363 yards on the ground. “We need to get back in a good balance on offense.”
If it looks like too many players are on the field at times, it won’t be a hallucination. When the Comets have the ball, each team will have 12 players on the field, part of the rules concessions each coach makes. There will only be 11 players on the field when Sandpoint has the ball, and U.S. motion rules will apply to both teams, eliminating the forward pre-snap Canadian motion rules.
Mitchell had high praise for the play of his defensive line last week, as A.J. Smith, Cody Hecker, Jacob Palaniuk, D.J. McIntire and Jimmy Aylward not only shut down any rushing attack, but pressured University of Idaho bound quarterback Justin Podrabsky all night. They’ll once again face a dangerous quarterback in Jimmy Ralph, who has two brothers currently playing in the Canadian Football League, and brings a dangerous run/pass threat to the position.
“It should be a great game, they were good competition last year,” said Mitchell of Raymond. “They’re a good physical football team, the kind of team that’s good for us to play.”
Sandpoint has a bye week after tonight’s game, before essentially a two-game playoff with Moscow and Lakeland for a berth in the state playoffs.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Barlow Stadium.