Dawgs No. 3 team blanks East Valley

SANDPOINT — The Sandpoint 5th/6th Grade Jr. Tackle No. 3 Dawgs dominated East Valley on Saturday and came away with a 22-0 win on a cold and clear day at Barlow Stadium. The Dawgs were well balanced with a running game that produced 109 yards and 107 yards gained in the air.

The first touchdown was a 70 yard running play when Michael Plaster went off tackle behind a dominating offensive line of Troy Nutt, Zach Alamillo, Marcus “M-Rod” Rodriguez, Justin Guglielmana and Tyron Larson. Plaster also had two PAT’s for two points each. Quarterback Bear Youngdahl was 3 of 5 for 107 yards on the day with two touchdown passes to tight end Kyle Perry, who had 82 yards in 2 receptions, and also had a 25 yard kickoff return. Youngdahl had 22 yards on the ground with a quarterback keeper around the right side.

“Our defense was shutting down East Valley’s offense,” said Dawgs coach Martin Rodriguez. “We had a swarm of Dawgs on every tackle.”

The Dawg’s defense was anchored by the defensive line and linebackers Chris Jones (one tackle), Greg Hosterman (two tackles), Sean Fitzgerald (three tackles), Donovan Nix (three tackles), Nick Stangel (two tackles) and Kalib Samsel (two tackles), and they had the running game stopped cold. The defensive secondary of Malcom Curto, John Humrich, Levi Irish, Tyler Presser and Lane Rasmussen were doing a great job of breaking up passes and defending against the outside run.

“We had some boys playing both sides of the ball today. They really worked hard all day,” said Rodriguez.

Zach Alamillo had six tackles and an interception with a 25 yard return, Kyle Perry had seven tackles at defensive end, Michael Plaster had four tackles at defensive end, M-Rod had five tackles and Tyron Larson made a fumble recovery. Levi Irish had a 25 yard reception on a fullback pass, which was caught behind the line of scrimmage. 

Coach Rodriguez was so pleased with the team’s performance he’s even going to overlook the celebratory Gatorade shower he was given at the end of the game.

“I’m glad I only live a half a block away. I might just get home before it freezes,” he said. “I mean what can I say? It’s a great day for football.”