Bulldogs looking to pick up win on 'The Inferno'

SANDPOINT — The combination of Friday the 13th, bright red turf and the opportunity to play in a college stadium will make tonight’s football game between Sandpoint and Post Falls a little extra special.

The Bulldogs (0-1) struggled in a 37-21 loss at East Valley in last week’s opener, a game marked by near misses according to head coach Satini Puailoa.

“We matched up OK physically, we just didn’t too well against their top two receivers,” said Puailoa. “We have some new guys on the offensive line and we base everything on execution.”

Puailoa lauded the play of fullback Cody Millard, and offensive linemen Billy Webber and Chandler Brewington in the trenches. Defensively, Tyler Harris had a strong game and Chase Rodriguez was able to come in the game and shut down one of the Knights’ top receivers.

Post Falls (0-2) is looking to break through in the game, played at Roos Field. It was originally scheduled to be a part of a Washington-Idaho border doubleheader, but that fell through due to an Eagles home game on Saturday.

“Our athletic director asked us if we wanted to play someone else, and we said we’d play Sandpoint,” Post Falls coach Jeff Hinz said. “It should be a good experience for our kids to play on the red turf.”

The Trojans are very big up front, so the Bulldogs will look to create some space for their top playmakers.

“I think we’re a lot quicker than they are,” said Puailoa. “We’re practicing pretty good. We just need some things to go our way, we need to make them go our way.”

The Bulldogs will continue with a backfield by committee, with Carson Paull, Dean Knaggs, Cody Millard and Kyle Perry each getting touches in the ground game.

Once again, Puailoa believes the key will be how the Bulldogs handle adversity. Last week a couple of defensive breakdowns, mistakes and penalties built an early deficit and changed the face of the game.

Puailoa joked that the turf’s nickname, “the Inferno,” will be apropos, as the week has been unusually hot and will probably be warm and muggy at kickoff.

Post Falls will be the designated home team, and will wear black and visiting Sandpoint will wear white, as opposed to the Bulldogs’ home red.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Chris Chatburn and Bob Witte will call tonight’s game live on AM1400.