Morgan, Hogan lead Bulldogs in rout
MOSCOW — In horse racing parlance, the thoroughbreds that excel on a wet track are often called mudders, and Friday night’s 4A North showdown between Sandpoint and Moscow was indeed played on a wet, sloppy and muddy field.
Luckily for the Bulldogs, they had their own mudder in bruising fullback Luther Morgan, who scored the first three touchdowns of the game to propel Sandpoint (6-2, 1-0 4A IEL) to a pivotal 33-0 drubbing of the Bears at Moscow High School.
Morgan scored on touchdown runs of 25 and 73 yards in the first half en route to a game-high 134 yards on 11 carries.
“Luther really broke the game open,” said Sandpoint coach Mike Mitchell, who also had high praise for the strong running of Anthony Gold. “Gold will be a great running back for us in the future.”
Ball-hawking cornerback Sean Hogan continues to be one of the Bulldogs’ biggest playmakers on defense, snagging three interceptions from Bears (5-3, 1-1 4A IEL) quarterback Jake Helbling to help spearhead the shutout. The opportunistic Hogan now has seven picks on the season, the most in the entire state.
Hogan and the ever-stingy Bulldogs’ defense, which also got big plays from D.J. McIntire, Pat Charland, Shane Kidd, Joel Cramer and Morgan, held Moscow (5-3, 1-1 4A IEL) to a paltry 101 total yards of offense.
“Great defensive effort, we really got after their quarterback,” said Mitchell. “Our defense kept him off-balance all night.”
The only downside to the Bulldogs’ dominating performance might have been injuries to running backs Ben Fisher and Cody Hecker, who left the game with injuries. Fisher finished with 94 yards on 17 carries before tweaking his knee in the fourth quarter, and Hecker carried five times for 32 yards before leaving the game with an ankle injury in the first quarter.
Leading 19-0 in the fourth quarter, Anthony Gold scored on a five yard touchdown scamper and junior quarterback Brandon Hawkins took a sneak 35 yards to paydirt to round out the scoring. Daniel Charvoz was solid on a night when ball-control was of the essence, completing 8-11 passes for 139 yards while directing an offense that churned out 488 yards on the night.
The Bulldogs now turn their attention to next Friday’s home game against Lakeland, where a win ensures a first round home playoff game.
“Last year we overlooked Lakeland,” said Mitchell, alluding to the Bulldogs’ surprising loss. “We’re going to focus on one game next week, and that’s Lakeland.”
Sandpoint 12 0 0 21 — 33
Moscow 0 0 0 0 — 0
Spt — Luther Morgan 25 run (kick failed)
Spt — Morgan 73 run (kick failed)
Spt — Morgan 1 run (Cole Fuhrman kick)
Spt — Anthony Gold 5 run (Fuhrman kick)
Spt — Brandon Hawkins 35 run (Fuhrman kick)