Sandpoint offense struggles in 35-14 loss to Post Falls

SANDPOINT — Five turnovers and an inability to move the ball on offense plagued Sandpoint football in a 35-14 loss to Post Falls on Friday night at War Memorial Field.

"Offensively, we have a staple of taking care of the football and we didn't do that," Sandpoint head coach Ryan Knowles said. "It's very uncharacteristic of us. I think we fumbled more tonight than we did all last year combined."

After trailing 14-7 at the half, the Bulldogs received the second half kickoff. On the return, senior Elijah Larson fumbled the ball and the Trojans recovered it. Eight plays later, Post Falls found the end zone on 4th and 4 from the 6-yard-line when quarterback Jaxon Anderson found James Lee across the middle on a slant.

On the ensuing possession, Sandpoint fumbled again giving the Trojans the ball deep in SHS territory. But the Bulldogs defense stood tall and forced Post Falls into a field goal attempt. Sandpoint needed someone to make a play and senior Tag Benefield answered the call, blocking the field goal and returning it 78 yards for a touchdown. The score was now 21-14 in favor of the Trojans.

That was the spark Sandpoint needed. Post Falls drove the ball all the way down to the SHS 10-yard-line on their next drive, but the Sandpoint defense didn't break and forced a turnover on downs. The score remained 21-14 entering the fourth quarter.

Post Falls got the ball at the 20-yard-line and marched inside the Sandpoint 5-yard-line in less than three minutes. On a 4th and 1 at the 4, the Trojans plowed into the end zone to take a 28-14 advantage with 7:42 remaining.

The Bulldogs got the ball back and three plays later junior quarterback Gerrit Cox threw a pick. With the ball at the 2-yard-line, Post Falls ran it in to take a 35-14 lead with 6:16 left, essentially sealing the win.

Besides the first drive of the game, the Bulldogs offense only crossed midfield three times Friday night. Cox, who was an all-league running back and specialist last year, got the start at quarterback for Sandpoint.

Junior Auggie Lehman came in for a brief moment, otherwise, Cox played quarterback the entire game. The Bulldogs stuck to the ground game but it wasn't working. Post Falls held Sandpoint to 84 rushing yards on 25 carries.

Knowles said the Trojans implemented a new defense and it gave the Bulldogs offense trouble all night. He added that the team had complete confidence in Cox at quarterback.

"Gerrit's a ball player and he's going to be on the field period," Knowles said, "so its just a matter of those other [quarterbacks] proving that they can make good decisions and when they get their shot, they got to run with it."

Knowles said he was hoping to lean on his defense against Post Falls but they struggled handling adversity and were unable to weather the storm.

"We got a lot of work to do," he said. "It's going to take us a few games to figure out who plays under pressure, so when you don't really know you just try and motivate them and get after them. I feel like I spent most of the game kind of barking and getting after them and losing my voice. It's not because they don't work hard, it's just a different level when you play a school like Post Falls."

Anderson had 153 passing yards for the Trojans and Post Falls racked up 180 yards on the ground. Cox had 58 rushing yards for the Bulldogs and senior Braden Kappen caught eight passes for 50 yards.

Sandpoint (0-1) heads to Coeur d'Alene next Friday.

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Game

SHS 7 0 7 0 14

PF 7 7 7 14 35

PF: Nicolas McLeod 1 yd run (Logan Koller kick)

SHS: Gerritt Cox 18 yd run (Elek Christoferson kick)

PF: Josiah Shields 8 yd pass from Jaxon Anderson (Logan Koller kick)

PF: James Lee 6 yd pass from Jaxon Anderson (Logan Koller kick)

SHS: Tag Benefield 78 yd blocked kick (Elek Christoferson kick)

PF: Nicloas McLeod 4 yd run (Logan Koller kick)

SHS: Noah Range 2 yd run (Logan Koller kick)

Team Stats SHS PF

First Downs 9 13

Rushes - yds 25-84 42-180

Passing yds 88 153

QB 12-23 18-32

Int 2 0

Punts- Ave 4-27 2-36

Fumbles - Lost 5-3 1-1

Penalties 9-75 7-70

Individual Stats

SHS: Running Tag Benefield 4-7, Gerritt Cox 20-58, Elek Christoferson 2-19

SHS Receiving: Max Thielbahr 1-(-2), Peyton Ennis 2-16, Elijah Larson 1-5, Tag Benefield 1-19, Braden Kappen 7-50

KOR: Braden Kappen 2-38, Elijah Larson 1-24, Peyton Ennis 2-20

PF Running: Jaxon Anderson 17-73, Nicolas McLeod 17-101, Ryan Graves 2-1, Cole Rutherford 1-(-2), Noah Range 4-8, Vernon Pine 1-(-1)

PF Receiving: Nicolas McLeod 1-26, James Lee 1-10, Joshiah Shields 3-22, Thomas Hauser 7-52, Zackary Rodriguez 3-24, Cole Rutherford 3-19,

KOR: Tanner Sessions 1-20, Thomas Hauswer 1-20