Bulldogs battle Russets tonight for berth in state semis

SANDPOINT — After whipping Mountain Home in the first round of the 4A state playoffs, it appeared Sandpoint penned a declaration of sorts to the rest of Idaho: We’re the No. 1 seed and you’re going to have to go through us if you want to get to the state championship game.

A 46-0 halftime score seemed to send that message, but not according to this week’s MaxPreps rankings. The Bulldogs dropped from No. 1 in the rankings to No. 4 behind Skyline, Bishop Kelly and Pocatello.

Ultimately, the rankings don’t matter anymore. They helped set the seeding for the playoffs, but now they have no impact because everything will be settled on the field.

However, it provides a little extra motivation for a Sandpoint football team that already carries a natural chip on its shoulder, as does every North Idaho school.

“It kind of shows you that we haven’t proven anybody anything yet,” head coach Ryan Knowles said. “We think we’re pretty good, but we need to put it on film Friday night.”

The top-seeded Bulldogs (6-2) will continue their quest for their second state title tonight when they welcome No. 8 seed Shelley (7-3) to War Memorial Field.

It’s the state quarterfinals and that means Sandpoint is just two wins away from locking up a trip to the state title game for the first time since 2015. And No. 3 Minico and No. 4 seed Emmett were knocked out in the first round last week, giving the Bulldogs an even clearer path to the title game.

The road to this game hasn’t come without its fair share of adversity for the Bulldogs. The lowest point came on Sept. 17 when SHS fell at Homedale (9-0), who is the favorite to win the 3A state title. The 38-21 defeat dropped them to 1-2 on the season. But since, the Bulldogs have tore through their schedule, reeling off five straight wins.

What changed? Well, “sometimes losing teaches you more than winning,” Knowles said.

“There’s been just a little more urgency [since], probably a little more humility,” he said. “I think we all expected to go down there and win that game and we didn’t … The guys learned this game humbles you quickly, and that was a hard road trip.”

Two weeks after that Homedale loss, Sandpoint bounced back with a dramatic overtime victory over Lewiston and they’ve been on a roll ever since, beating their last four opponents by an average of over 30 points per game.

The Bulldogs handled their business during the regular season and earned the right to avoid hitting the road until the state title game.

The starters for Sandpoint will enter Friday’s battle extremely fresh. Leading Mountain Home 46-0 at the half last week, Knowles pulled his starters for the entire second half.

At this time of year, Knowles said staying healthy is pivotal and he was glad they were able to give their first-stringers some rest and escape the first round of the playoffs unscathed. He said it was also great to get the younger players some postseason experience.

“There were a lot of smiles after that game,” Knowles said.

Sandpoint’s stars did plenty of damage in just one half of football. Running back Gerrit Cox tallied four rushing touchdowns, giving him 23 total on the season, and linebacker Wes Benefield anchored a defense that held Mountain Home without a first down for nearly 20 minutes of game time by recording 10 tackles. Quarterback Parker Pettit was nearly perfect, finishing 7 of 8 for 122 yards and a score.

It’s never easy to tell players to stay on the sidelines for an entire half, Knowles said, but the boys understood the bigger picture.

“They look at this whole operation as we want it all,” he said.

Sandpoint is taking it one week at a time, but the program Knowles has built in just four years at the helm is nothing short of remarkable. Knowles gave credit to everyone around him — from the coaches to the players to the team moms — for the success the Bulldogs have seen so far this season.

“We prepared for last week like it was the Super Bowl and I think it showed,” he said, “and we’re not going to change. We have a system that I thoroughly enjoy as a coach … I look around sometimes and I’m very thankful for what we have.”

Shelley, the No. 5 ranked team in MaxPreps, cruised to a 36-13 win over No. 9 seed Preston in the first round of the state playoffs, a team they beat 15-6 in their season opener. The Russets from District 6 started the year 5-0, but dropped three of their last four games in the regular season. Shelley has an overtime victory over Blackfoot, the fifth seed, this fall and losses to second-seeded Pocatello and sixth-seeded Skyline, the defending 4A state champs.

The Russets present a unique challenge for the Bulldogs. They are a bit of a throwback team that loves to line up and run the ball right at the teeth of a defense. But they also have the ability to spread the field.

The formations Shelley utilizes won’t be easy to contain and Knowles made sure his defense did their homework this week.

“It’s been a lot of studying trying to understand who they are, what their mentality is,” he said.

The Russets’ offense is built around establishing a strong ground game and Knowles said stopping the run will be key to ensuring a Bulldog victory on Friday.

“That’s everything,” he said. “That’s really the game because they want to run the ball and we know it.”

It will certainly be a war in the trenches.

“My philosophy is if you stop the run, you win the game,” Knowles said, “... It’s toe-to-toe and they’re going to pack it in and use their weapons and we’re going to counter with what we have and to the victor go the spoils.”

Given the Russets’ commitment to the running game, they have a tendency to chew up the clock, which can limit opposing offenses' opportunities. The Bulldogs have been firing on all cylinders offensively for more than a month and they’ll be ready if that’s the case.

“Our offense has been scoring in bunches and doing a great job lighting up the scoreboard,” Knowles said.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. The victor will face either No. 5 seed Blackfoot or No. 13 seed Nampa in the state semifinals next week. You can listen to the game on AM 1400 KSPT, ROCK 103 (FM 102.9) or rock103fm.com. An audio stream is available on IdahoSports.com as well. You can also find a link to a livestream of the game here.

Because this is a playoff game, tickets will be sold at the door, and ASB and Century cards will not work for free admission. General admission tickets cost $6 for adults, $5 for seventh-12th graders and $3 for sixth graders and under.

It’s win or your season is over.

“Friday night is just going to be another chapter to this team,” Knowles said. “I’ll respectfully say that, ‘Yeah, it could be the last chapter.’ Shelley is a dang good football team; they’ve had an outstanding year and they’re going to come up here with all they got; but I would be disappointed if it was our last week. I think the boys have prepared with great urgency and great detail, and understand the task at hand.”