Penalties, turnovers prove costly for Bulldogs
SANDPOINT — As back-breaking plays go, it was tough to beat the 94 yard kickoff return by Cheney’s Austin Kautzman, which abruptly turned the tide and helped lead the Blackhawks to a 35-13 win over Sandpoint on Friday night at Barlow Stadium.
The growing pains continue for the Bulldogs (1-4), who suffered defensive breakdowns in key moments and had trouble stopping the Blackhawks (2-3), who rolled up more than 540 yards of offense on the evening.
Ultimately, a host of costly errors proved too much for the Bulldogs to overcome. The Bulldogs were flagged 16 times by an overzealous officiating crew, for a total of 180 yards lost.
“Too many penalties and turnovers, things we can’t do if we’re going to beat teams,” said Sandpoint head coach Satini Puailoa. “We look good at times, then we have those mental lapses.”
A fumble deep in the Bulldogs’ own territory led to a short field, and the Blackhawks capitalized when Kautzman scored the first of his three touchdowns for a 7-0 lead.
The Bulldogs answered on the ensuing possession, keyed by a big run from Matt Lockey and a key conversion on fourth down by quarterback Nick Prindiville. Chase Rodriguez hauled in a 7-yard slant in the end zone to tie the game at 7-7 early in the second quarter.
After the Blackhawks went up 14-7, Dean Knaggs looked to even things up with a 95-yard kickoff return, but the play was called back on a questionable penalty, one of many on the night.
Talon Egbers was a factor on the defensive line for Sandpoint, nabbing an interception to go with a couple of tackles for loss. Prindiville also helped win the field position battle with several nice punts.
Defensively, the Bulldogs were able to put the Blackhawks in several third and long situations, as Jonathan McCormick, Knaggs, Tyler Harris and Justin Puryear registered tackles for losses. However, Cheney was able to make a bunch of big conversions on third down, which seemed to break Sandpoint’s momentum.
Trailing 21-7 in the fourth quarter, Prindiville hooked up on a 47 yard fade route to Rodriguez, who finished with 135 yards receiving, and Lockey bowled in from one yard out to cut the lead to 21-13 after a missed PAT.
On the ensuing kick, Kautzman broke two tackles, then race down the sideline for the pivotal kickoff return, putting the Blackhawks ahead 28-13 with 10 minutes left in the game.
“We have to continue to beat the drum and get better every day,” said Puailoa. “We’ll continue to learn and continue to band together.”
The 2012 Sandpoint Bulldog Athletic Hall of Fame inductees took the field at half time, as Stacy Bolstad/Montoya, Art “Smokey” Chubb, Logan Free/Marcoullier, Cheryl Klein, David Lyons, Ben Palmer and Ralph Sletager were honored.
Sandpoint is at Lake City on Friday.
SHS — 0 7 0 6 — 13
CHS — 7 7 7 14 — 35
CHS — Austin Kautzman 4 run (Theo Petropaulos kick)
SHS — Chase Rodriguez 7 catch from Nick Prindiville (Quinn Pearlstein kick)
CHS — Kautzman 1 run (Petropaulos kick)
CHS — Erin Ingbinoba 6 run (Petropaulos kick)
SHS — Matt Lockey 1 run (Kick fail)
SHS — Kautzman 94 yard kickoff return (Petropaulos kcik)
CHS — Andrew Graham 1 run (Petropaulos kick)
SHS CHS
First Downs 15 19
Rushes-yds 35-158 40-402
Passing-yds 170 140
QB 13-28-1 8-16-1
Punts-Ave 5-43.2 4-30
Penaties-Yds
16-183 12-103
SHS Rushing: AJ Buratto 16-72, Cody Millard 2-20, Matt Lockey 7-38, Nick Prindiville 5-5, Dean Knaggs 4-20; CHS
SHS Receiving: Thomas Edwards 4-35, Chase Rodriquez 7-135, Matt Lockey 1-0
KOR: Dean Knaggs 3-55