Hawks edge Bulldogs in hard-fought 4A Inland Empire League battle
RATHDRUM — In order to call it a rivalry, both teams need to show some fight.
On Friday night at Corbit Field, there was plenty of that to go around between the Sandpoint Bulldogs and host Lakeland Hawks.
In a game that came down to the final two minutes, it was the Hawks that landed the final punch on an interception by cornerback Tyrel Derrick to seal a wild 31-28 win in the 4A Inland Empire League opener for both schools.
“In order to have a rivalry, both teams have to participate,” Sandpoint coach Satini Puailoa said. “There was a period of time where it was all Sandpoint from 2004 to 2009. Then, it’s been pretty much Lakeland from 2010 until now. It was a hard-fought contest. We’ve got to beat Moscow next week to keep our playoff hopes alive and lick our wounds from this one, but it was a heck of a battle. Lakeland made enough plays to keep us at bay, and we didn’t.”
“It was just two great football teams going at it,” Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer said. “It was fun. Fun for our team to play, and to coach. It was a great game played by both teams.”
With the expansion of the state 4A playoffs, the top two teams from Region 1 advance this season.
“No question it was a huge game,” Kiefer said. “We came after this one and didn’t leave anything to chance. We’ve still got two football games to play and Moscow looks much improved. We’re going to turn our focus to then in the next two weeks.”
Sandpoint landed the first blow early on, driving right down the field and scoring on a 36-yard run by Kyle Perry to take an early 7-0 lead. Lakeland struck back on its first play from scrimmage on a 60-yard touchdown pass from Derrick to Jason Rose.
Derrick scored again at the start of the second on a 31-yard run to give Lakeland a 14-7 lead.
Sandpoint scored on its next possession as Tyler Presser scored on a 47-yard run to tie the game at 14.
Kyle Perry’s touchdown run with 1:14 remaining in the half cut Lakeland’s lead to 24-21 at halftime.
“Kyle’s having a great year,” Puailoa said. “But it’s a team thing. We had a lot of guys that made plays, but they made a few more at the end. It was just a great game.”
Sandpoint (3-4) hosts Moscow next Friday at Barlow Stadium, needed a win to keep its playoff hopes alive.
Lakeland (5-2) hosts Pullman in a nonleague game next Friday.
Sandpoint 7 14 0 7 — 28
Lakeland 7 17 7 0 — 31
Spt — Kyle Perry 36 run (Michael Plaster kick), 9:59
LL — Jason Rose 60 pass from Tyrel Derrick (Cade Coffey kick), 9:43
LL — Derrick 31 run (Coffey kick), 11:51
Spt — Tyler Presser 47 run (Plaster kick), 10:07
LL — Rose 40 pass from Derrick (Coffey kick), 6:15
LL — FG, Coffey 52, 2:11
Spt — Perry 2 run (Plaster kick), 1:14
LL — Tuekota Tate-Vandever 2 run (Coffey kick), 3:33
Spt — Matthew Timothy 47 pass from Nate Loutzenhiser (Plaster kick), 5:32
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Spt, Harris, 2-16, Perry, 18-127, Presser, 7-79, M. Timothy, 1-17. LL, Tate-Vandever, 17-145, Derrick, 18-89, Martin, 1-0, Washburn, 2-20, Marshall, 5-5.
PASSING — Spt, Loutzenhiser, 8-15-1-151. LL, Derrick, 10-18-0-219.
RECEIVING — Spt, J. Timothy, 2-12, McCormick-Cox 1-75, Perry, 3-17, M. Timothy, 1-47, Harris, 1-5. LL, Rose, 3-138, Bodak, 1-4, Howell, 2-16, Tate-Vandever, 2-16, Washburn, 1-9, Derrick, 1-0.