Bulldogs come up short against Hawks in league opener

RATHDRUM — A battle for supremacy of the 4A Inland Empire League came down to a goal-line stand with 9 seconds left in the game.

That fight was won by Lakeland, 20-14, over Sandpoint. The huge victory gave the Hawks an automatic berth in the 4A state football playoffs and a first-round bye.

In classic goal-line stand action, Lakeland linebacker Bradley Allen stuffed quarterback Robbie Johnson’s run behind the right guard at the Hawks’ 3-yard line, on first-and-goal. The Bulldogs had time remaining, but could not quite get the final snap off in time and came away one play short.

The Hawks’ next game comes in three weeks, against the winner between the runner-up of the Pocatello and Twin Falls-area districts, with that game coming two weeks from now.

“I can’t handle much more than this” Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer said. “I might have to see a cardiologist. With the (muddy) field conditions, we didn’t know how it would go. Sandpoint did a good job of stopping us over the middle, so we had to go with force on force.”

Like a lot of football teams throughout the state, Lakeland (5-3, 2-0 4A IEL) has its fair share of injuries. Andrew Neilson missed the second half with a sprained hamstring in his left leg, so the bye is quite welcome.

“We need time to heal up,” Kiefer said. “

As for Sandpoint, it will have to beat Moscow next week, in order to lock up the 4A IEL’s second playoff bid. Johnson passed for 142 yards, one touchdown and one interception, plus he rushed for 56 yards on 15 carries.

“If we beat Moscow, we’ll be in the playoffs,” Sandpoint coach George Yarno said. “If we lose, we won’t make it. So it’s a must-win game for us. Our kids always play hard, Lakeland flat out executed well. Robbie ran the ball well, he did everything we could ask for. We demand a lot out of him and he played well.”

The Bulldogs (3-5, 0-1 4A IEL) appeared to have the Hawks’ defense on its heels, after Clayton Fournier returned a punt 19 yards to the 50-yard line. Passes for 25 and 20 yards, both to receiver Taran McLaughlin, moved the ball to the Lakeland 23. Two third-down conversions made it fourth-and-two on the Hawks’ 6. An offsides penalty put the ball on the 3, before Allen’s huge tackle.

Lakeland running back Josh Brandt ran for all of the team’s three touchdowns, finishing with 78 yards on 12 carries, part of 130 yards rushing. The Hawks only attempted four passes the entire game, but with a good defense and excellent running game, they didn’t really have to pass much.

“It was OK, we had good blocking,” Brandt said. “I’m thinking about our defense, we need to headhunt more.”

Defensive stars for Lakeland included Dylan Vahey, who took most of the first-half snaps at quarterback, who intercepted a pass fourth-and-five on the Hawks’ 32, with 8:55 left in the game. James Wolf and Owen Dickens each had a sack. Late in the first half, Owen Dickens took a lateral on a backwards pass thrown to him near the Lakeland sideline, then he threw an off-balance 22-yard pass to Drew Dickens to the 2, which set up Brandt’s second touchdown with 21 seconds left in the first half, tying the game at 14 at halftime.

Sandpoint hosts Moscow in a huge home game next Friday night at Lake City High School.

Sandpoint 7 7 0 0 — 14

Lakeland 0 14 6 0 — 20

First quarter

Spt — Walker Jacobson 1 run (Sawyer Seley kick), 2:57.

Second quarter

LL — Josh Brandt 46 run (Noah Feusier kick), 6:21.

Spt — T.J. Davis 19 pass from Robbie Johnson (Seley kick), 4:15.

LL — Brandt 2 run (Feusier kick), :21.

Third quarter

LL — Brandt 1 run (kick failed).

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Spt, Johnson 15-56, Jacobson 7-45, Levi Irish 6-11, Jarrett Mitton 1-14, Jackson Coon 1-8. LL, Brandt x-xx .

PASSING — Spt, Johnson 13-17-1, 142 yards, Jacobson 1-1-0, 7 yards.. LL, Owen Dickens 1-1-0, 22 yards, Ryan Pote 0-2-0, 0 yards, Austin Keller 0-1, 0 yards.

RECEIVING — Spt, Julian Barajas 4-46, Taran McLaughlin 5-53, Davis 3-34, Jacobson 2-8, Jarrett Mitton 1-4. LL-Drew Dickens, 1-22.