4A PLAYOFF PREVIEW: Overall, Sandpoint matches up well with Pocatello

POCATELLO — It will certainly be a challenge, but No. 6 Sandpoint poses a real threat to No. 3 Pocatello in today’s 4A state quarterfinal match.

After some stops for food and refreshments, and to practice at the University of Montana’s Washington-Grizzly Stadium, Sandpoint’s football team will have traveled a combined 12 hours to get to the greater Pocatello area by Thursday night. The team’s buses left Sandpoint High School at approximately 7:00 a.m. Thursday morning to ensure the team would have a chance to be ready and rested for tonight’s matchup against the Thunder.

“Other than just getting out of town early in the morning, it’s been business as usual this week,” head coach Ryan Knowles said. “I’m really looking forward to this matchup. Good teams travel well and we’re a good team, and we’re gonna prove it.”

The Bulldogs certainly have momentum heading into things as they have defeated their last six opponents by an average of 28.7 points per game. Most notably, their 48-0 win over Bonneville last week in which the Bees only mustered 136 yards of total offense. Sandpoint rushed for 300 yards against Bonneville, and will need to do much of the same in order to defeat Pocatello today.

On one hand, yes, Sandpoint has 31 rushing touchdowns this season and is averaging 214.7 yards on the ground per game; that’s among the top in the entire state. On the other hand, Pocatello has only given up an average of 12 points per game this season and arguably had a much more difficult strength of schedule. The Bulldogs will have to rely heavily on Kody Brewster (106.7 rushing yards/game) and Max Frank (59.6 rushing yards/game) who had a combined six touchdowns last Friday. 

Something different that the Bulldogs will see tonight is more action through the air. Pocatello throws the ball more than most teams in North Idaho, averaging roughly 124 passing yards per game this season. Most of those yards come from Pocatello wide receivers Julian Bowie and Ty Wilkinson who both average roughly 56 receiving yards per game. The Thunder play a pretty evenly split game in terms of their rushing and passing attack. However, Sandpoint’s defense does have 12 interceptions this season, which plays to their advantage. Four of those interceptions have been hauled in by senior Eli Allshouse, one of those coming in the second quarter last week.

“It felt pretty amazing,” Allshouse said in response to how he felt about picking off a pass last week against Bonneville. “It was similar to the interception I had the week before, just reading an overthrow and jumping up to get it. I got some good blocks downfield and picked up at least 20 yards instead of going down right away, which was super nice.”

Many fans have been impressed with how much Allshouse has improved this season, and the sky seems to be the limit for this Sandpoint senior. Allshouse said a lot of his success has actually come from playing lacrosse this past spring, which he noted is very similar to football on the defensive side of things.

Another Sandpoint football star who plays lacrosse, junior Wylie Wimmer, also hauled in an interception last week and has been a defensive threat all season for the Bulldogs. Although new to his role this year, Wimmer ranks second on the team with 6.4 tackles per game, just behind fellow junior Van Lee who averages 7.4.

“My brother (Owen) played the same position last year, and I think just seeing him play and being able to ask him tons of questions over the years has been extremely helpful,” Wimmer said. "In the offseason, there were some things I didn’t understand that he was able to help me with. So, that’s one of the main things that has helped me improve this year.”

Wimmer has two takeaways this season which includes last game's interception and a fumble recovery against Coeur d’Alene in the beginning of the season. Wimmer and many other Bulldogs will be a factor in stopping Pocatello’s Ryan Echohawk who is averaging 100.7 rushing yards per game this season.

Yes, the Bulldog defense has been stellar, and Sandpoint has been dominant on the ground, but what if Pocatello catches on quickly? The difference maker for the Bulldogs on Friday may be in the passing game. Quarterback Drew Lehman has several offensive weapons in Jesse Turner and Frank that he can turn to. On the season, Frank (84.7 receiving yards/game) has seven receiving touchdowns and Turner (25.7 receiving yards/game) has two; together, they account for nine of the Bulldogs’ 14 touchdowns through the air.

“At the beginning of the year, I wasn’t expecting to get the ball much,” Turner said. “I had to make some plays, catch the ball, and prove myself — and I think I was able to do that throughout the year. As for our team, I’m feeling pretty confident heading into Friday. We trust our coach. Also, I think Max Frank is going to do his thing like always. We need to get blocks, make good plays, that’s it.”

Turner has made several crucial catches inside the redzone this year to get the Bulldogs into scoring position. Making those throws, is Lehman, who sports one of the highest quarterback ratings in North Idaho.

After last week, Lehman improved his QBR (Total Quarterback Rating) to 117.5. He threw for 202 yards and a touchdown, no turnovers. On the year, he has completed 70.4% of his passes for an average of 138.1 yards per game to go along with 12 passing touchdowns. Most notably, Lehman has been mobile in the pocket and highly effective in short yardage situations, which can be attributed to his quick release.

Looking at Sandpoint (7-3) and Pocatello (6-2) on paper, it’s definitely one of those matchup’s that could be decided in the final moments. Whoever prevails will face either No.2 Bishop Kelly or No. 10 Emmett in the semifinals. 

Tonight’s matchup will be played at Lookout Stadium in Pocatello at 4:30 p.m. (PST). The game will broadcasted on Rock103 as well as KSPT/KBFI 97.1 FM. The broadcast starts at 4:15 with pre-game; Bob Witte and Tag Benefield will be on the call for kick off. Idahosports.com will also be livestreaming the game on their website under the tab ‘gamestreams’.