Duo lead Bulldogs past Knights
SANDPOINT — For years, lining up in a power I formation with a fullback and halfback right behind the quarterback and running downhill between the tackles was a staple of Satini Puailoa’s power running teams.
So after mixed results with a new, misdirection-based running offense early in the season, the Bulldogs scrapped things on Monday and went back to work re-acquainting with a familiar old friend in practice all week.
On Friday night, the early results were favorable, as the Bulldogs (2-3) featured a nice mix of iso power runs with play action passing, moving the chains and rolling up more than 500 yards of total offense in a 40-13 road win over East Valley of the Great Northern League.
After a sluggish first half and a pair of quick fumbles found the Bulldogs down 13-10 to the Knights (2-2), Sandpoint began to exert its will in the third quarter, running off 30 unanswered points and dominating a second half for the first time all season.
“Everyone was kind of calm at halftime, working ourselves out of a fog. We went back in the I formation, and I knew this would happen because we have to get the rust off,” said Bulldogs head coach Satini Puailoa. “In the second half we got into a rhythm and flow. We made some adjustments and just had to come out and grind through some stuff. It was good to run the ball. Colton Muldoon provided a spark at fullback.”
With normal starter Kyle Perry still hampered by a turf toe injury, Logan Magro stepped in and churned out 116 hard yards on 24 carries, setting up some great play action looks in the passing game.
Wyatt McCormick-Cox, who has been playing on a sprained ankle, had a big night with five catches for 150 yards and two scores, and Jake Timothy added 91 yards, including a 47 yard touchdown catch. Michael Plaster got the Bulldogs on the board first with a 33 yard field goal, then McCormick-Cox hauled in a 34 yard touchdown catch to make it 10-0 early, before the Knights scored 13 straight to close out the half.
Davan Norris had another big game behind center, completing 10 of 19 passes for 268 yards and three scores, stretching the defense with deep passes.
“It was good to let the kids do what they needed to do. We’ll get better each week doing what we’re doing,” said Puailoa, who hopes the switch in offenses propels his team on a late season win streak. “We put this offense in on Monday. We’ll see what happens next, there’s no turning back now. We’ve run this offense before.”
The defense was led by an interception from safety Clayton Fournier, a fumble recovery by Carlos Collado and some strong defensive line play from Zack Alamillo and Sam Johnson.
The team didn’t hit any panic buttons at halftime, and made some great adjustments.
“We all came together and said ‘let’s fix little mistakes and we’ll be fine,’” said Norris. “We came out explosive in the second half.”
Two-way starter Carlos Collado felt the team was able to play through a rough patch as it adjusted to the different tempo and feel of the new offense.
Magro and Levi Irish each had second half touchdown runs to put the finishing touches on a solid road win.
“We made a lot of mistakes on offense, but we pushed through it,” he said. “We had to grind it out.”
Sandpoint will face the fifth big time program in the first six games when 5A Lake City comes to town next Friday.
Sandpoint 10 0 10 20 — 40
East Valley 0 13 0 0 — 13
Spt — Michael Plaster 33 field goal
Spt — Wyatt McCormick-Cox 34 catch from Davan Norris (Plaster kick)
EV — Davonte Gorman 19 catch from Dante Clayton (Gorman kick)
EV — Josh Morales 7 catch from Claryton (kick blocked).
Spt — Plaster 40 field goal
Spt — McCormick-Cox 43 catch from Norris (Plaster kick)
Spt — Jake Timothy 47 catch from Norris (Plaster kick)
Spt — Logan Magro 1 run (Plaster kick)
Spt — Levi Irish 5 run (Plaster kick)