PREP FOOTBALL: Sandpoint notches fourth straight win, league title, with dominant 35-7 win over Moscow

MOSCOW – Sandpoint’s Max Frank and Ashlei Hawkins combined for 318 yards of total offense to help the Bulldogs pummel Moscow, 35-7 at Bear Field on Friday night. The win is the Bulldogs’ fourth in a row, helped Sandpoint clinch the 4A Inland Empire League title, and secured at least one home game for the 4A state championship playoffs.

Despite the lopsided score, it didn’t start out pretty for the Bulldogs. Sandpoint fumbled on its opening drive, but eventually the offense, which head coach Ryan Knowles said was becoming explosive last week, got back to its usual ways.

After forcing the Bears to go three-and-out on their first drive, the Bulldogs drove down the field and quarterback Drew Lehman rushed for one yard into the endzone via a quarterback sneak to give Sandpoint a 7-0 lead.

In the second quarter, Max Frank scored on a 2-yard rushing touchdown early in the quarter and an 8-yard rushing touchdown late in the quarter to give the Bulldogs a 21-0 advantage. Throughout much of the quarter, Sandpoint’s defense, although not able to force a turnover this time around, was instrumental in helping the Bulldogs take a commanding lead. Near the end of quarter was the defense’s only blemish on the night as Moscow was able to complete a 51-yard passing touchdown to cut the deficit to two scores before the half.

In the third quarter, neither team was really able to get anything going until Lehman found Frank for a 26-yard reception and a touchdown to extend the Bulldogs lead to 28-7. In the fourth, Lehman scored a touchdown again on a 1-yard quarterback keeper with 5:10 remaining in play to give the Bulldogs the 35-7 victory.

Also of note in the fourth quarter, Sandpoint’s defense forced Moscow’s offense off the field after four downs, twice, while deep in Sandpoint territory. The Bulldogs forced three turnovers on downs overall, all of which were in Sandpoint territory, and one which came after a huge 12-yard sack by Gage McElroy when Moscow was attempting to convert a third and short.

"Our defense is playing lights out," Knowles said. "Khyrin Riddle keeps going hard for us and Graham Dunkel is playing excellent football. Really, all these guys are playing well."

On offense, Lehman was excellent on the night behind center for Sandpoint, completing 18 of his 21 passes for 229 yards and racking up three total touchdowns – one passing and two rushing. Frank accounted for 220 yards of total offense – 162 receiving and 58 rushing – to go along with three touchdowns. Hawkins had a team-high 12 carries for 85 yards on the night. Kody Brewster also rushed 12 times for 70 yards in the 28-point win over Moscow. The Bulldogs had 457 yards of total offense with 229 coming through the air and 228 being on the ground.

"It feels great to have another district championship under our belt; it's hard to win football games," Knowles said. "This team came out and did exactly what they were supposed to do. We played good complimentary football on offense and our defense stepped up. I'm proud of this program top to bottom, captains, coaches, players and all. It's that time of year where we have to get into playoff mode, work out the bugs, and continue to play great football."

When asked about the play of his offense, Knowles said he is happy with their production heading into their regular season finale.

"We have lots of threats on offense," Knowles said. "... Kody Brewster has been banged up, so we have been leaning on Ashlei Hawkins a bit more. He is clearly showing he is worthy and deserves more. I'm happy with his production."

Sandpoint (5-3, 2-0) will look for their fifth straight win as they'll get set to face the Lethbridge Collegiate Institute (Alberta, Canada) in their regular season finale which will be held Friday, Oct. 20 at War Memorial Field.

Sandpoint 7 14 7 7 – 35

Moscow 0 7 0 0 – 7

First quarter

SPT – Drew Lehman 1 rush (Bradburn kick), 2:21

Second quarter

SPT – Max Frank 2 rush (Bradburn kick), 10:09

SPT – Frank 8 rush (Bradburn kick), 3:25

MOS – Unknown, 51 pass (kick good), 0:14

Third quarter

SPT – Frank 26 pass from Lehman (Bradburn kick), 1:58

Fourth quarter

SPT – Lehman 1 yard rush, 5:10

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – SPT, Brewster 12-70, Frank 9-58, Lehman 8-12, Hawkins 12-85, Gomez 1-0, Sherrill 1-3; MOS, N/A.

PASSING – SPT, Lehman 18-21-0-229; MOS, N/A.

RECEIVING – SPT, Frank 10-162, Turner 2-24, Hindberg 2-16, Hawkins 1-13, Brewster 2-14; MOS, N/A.