PREP FOOTBALL: 28-point second quarter fuels Bulldogs to crushing victory over Lakeland

SANDPOINT — With over 400 yards of total offense and three forced turnovers, Sandpoint cruised to a 49-21 victory over 4A Inland Empire conference rival Lakeland at War Memorial Field on Friday.

Sandpoint did what they do best Friday night — run the ball until the opponents are sick of it, and force turnovers on defense.

In the first quarter, the Bulldogs struck early. Drew Lehman found Connor Hindberg wide open for a 38-yard receiving touchdown just five minutes into the game. The Bulldogs would recover a fumble on Lakeland’s ensuing possession, but couldn’t capitalize on it. It was the second quarter where Sandpoint really kicked it into high gear.

Early in the second, Jesse Turner made his way into the endzone off a 38-yard pass from Lehman to score the second Bulldog touchdown of the night. After forcing Lakeland to go three-and-out on their next drive, Shane Sherrill set Sandpoint up on the Hawks 25-yard line after a 32-yard punt return. On the very next play, Kody Brewster found an opening, broke a couple of tackles, and scored to put the Bulldogs ahead 21-0.

Sandpoint’s giant second quarter wasn’t over yet, just a couple of minutes later, Sandpoint found themselves with possession of the ball, and Brewster broke free again, this time for a 90-yard rushing touchdown. After another three-and-out by Sandpoint’s defense, Ashlei Hawkins capped off a solid Bulldog drive with a five-yard rushing touchdown. To add to the excitement, on the final play of the second half, Gage McElroy sacked Lakeland quarterback Peyton Hillman for -19 yards. Going into halftime, the Bulldogs led 35-0.

In the second half, Lakeland would put together a couple of solid drives. The Hawks scored on their 70-yard opening drive; Hillman completed an 8-yard pass to Roan Reilly to finally get Lakeland on the board. On their next drive, the Hawks made their way down the field again, but this time a pass of Hillman’s fell right into the arms of Sherrill deep in the endzone. After weaving in-and-out of traffic, Sherrill scored on a 103-yard interception return. The crowd went wild.

“When the play started, we knew they were passing,” Sherrill said. “I have been working on dropping into that open space all week and he just threw it right at me. I caught it and took off, hoping I would get somewhere, got a couple of good blocks, cut back a couple of times and I looked back and there was nobody.”

Lakeland would score another touchdown before the end of the third quarter, but the Bulldogs took a comfortable 42-14 lead into the final quarter of play.

To start out the fourth quarter, Lehman would connect with Frank for a 56-yard receiving touchdown to extend the lead. On Lakeland’s next series, junior defensive back Lucas Johansen was able to keep his feet in bounds and hauled in his first interception of the season to give the Bulldogs the ball back. Sandpoint ran out the clock for most of the fourth quarter, and although Lakeland would score again late in the fourth, the Bulldogs walked away with a commanding 49-21 victory.

Overall, Frank accounted for 153 total yards for Sandpoint — 39 rushing and 114 receiving. Brewster posted another 100-plus yard rushing game, recording 118 yards on just four carries to go along with two touchdowns. Lehman threw for 198 yards and three touchdowns on the night.

Sandpoint (4-3) travels to Moscow next Friday to take on the Bears in another 4A Inland Empire conference matchup.

Sandpoint 7 28 7 7 – 49

Lakeland 0 0 14 7 - 21

First quarter

SPT – Connor Hindberg 38 pass from Drew Lehman (Reid Bradburn kick good), 7:08

Second quarter

SPT – Jesse Turner 35 pass from Lehman (Bradburn kick), 8:38

SPT – Kody Brewster 25 rush (Bradburn kick), 5:15

SPT – Brewster 90 rush (Bradburn kick), 2:25

SPT – Ashlei Hawkins 5 rush (Bradburn kick), 0:27

Third quarter

LL – Roan Reilly 8 pass from Peyton Hillman (Owen Forsman kick), 10:24

SPT – Shane Sherrill 103 interception return (Bradburn kick), 5:18

LL – Jace Taylor 26 pass from Hillman (Forsman kick), 0:24

Fourth quarter

SPT – Max Frank 56 pass from Lehman (Bradburn kick), 11:51.

LL – Ezra Benson 20 pass from Hillman (Forsman kick), 0:23.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – SPT, Brewster 4-118, Frank 7-39, Lehman 1-2, Hawkins 6-26, Gomez 1-12, Buckhout 1-2, Burnett 8-19, Palmer 1-0; LL, Weil 13-26, Benson 1-4, Hillman 8-14, Sardinha 1-1.

PASSING – SPT, Lehman 7-9-0-208; LL, Hillman 25-41-2-310.

RECEIVING – SPT, Frank 4-114, Turner 1-35, Hindberg 1-38, Hawkins 1-8, Adam 1-3; LL, Weil 5-59, Taylor 3-45, Benson 5-67, Reilly 11-113, Yager 2-26.