4A STATE PLAYOFFS: Sandpoint crushes Bonneville, 48-0 to advance to second round

SANDPOINT — No. 6 Sandpoint did just about everything right Friday night, rolling to a 48-0 shutout victory over No.11 Bonneville at War Memorial Field to advance to the second round of the 4A State Championship Playoffs.

On Sandpoint’s first drive of the game, quarterback Drew Lehman connected with Max Frank for an 87-yard receiving touchdown. After forcing the Bees to go three-and-out on their ensuing drive, the Bulldogs regained possession of the ball. On the very next play, Kody Brewster shook off three tackles and rushed 70 yards into the endzone for another Sandpoint touchdown. Just four offensive plays into the game, the Bulldogs found themselves leading, 13-0.

Early in the second, it was Frank who once again found an opening and rushed 46 yards downfield for a touchdown. On Bonneville’s next drive, Wylie Wimmer intercepted a screen pass to give the Bulldogs great field position at the Bees’ 25-yard line. Unable to capitalize after four downs, Sandpoint’s defense trotted out onto the field. 

Within the same minute, Sandpoint’s Eli Allshouse picked off another Bonneville pass to put Sandpoint on the Bonneville 25-yard line again. This time, the Bulldogs would capitalize on the turnover thanks to a 25-yard rushing touchdown from Brewster, 27-0 Sandpoint in front.

The second half was much of the same for the Bulldogs with Brewster and Frank both scoring early third quarter touchdowns. Brewster scored a 27-yard rushing touchdown on Sandpoint’s first drive of the half; Frank scored a 63-yard rushing touchdown on the second drive. Near the end of the third quarter, wide receiver Jesse Turner made a 26-yard reception to put Sandpoint near the goal line, and Shane Sherrill would power through the Bonneville defensive line to put Sandpoint on top, 48-0.

It was a running clock for most of the fourth quarter. Sandpoint handed the ball off to Wyatt Burnett often for short gains. Backup quarterback Braden Buckhout got some reps behind center as well, and connected with wide receiver Maverick Gomez for a 35-yard gain late in the fourth. On the Bonneville 1-yard line with two minutes remaining, Sandpoint kneeled the ball three times in a row for their sixth straight victory.

“We were on point tonight,” head coach Ryan Knowles said. “We dialed things up just right and it feels good. We were hoping to get up on Bonneville early since they're such a run-heavy team and I was happy when we hit that 20-point threshold in the second quarter. As for the second half, I’m happy with the way we finished things out, not allowing Bonneville to have any life or get back into the game. It was a great statement for our team tonight.”

In addition to the interceptions by Wimmer and Allshouse, Sherrill and Jorden Tyler had tackles for losses in the contest. Overall, the Sandpoint defense forced eight three-and-outs on the night and only allowed Bonneville to 136 yards of total offense.

On offense for the Bulldogs, Brewster rushed 11 times for 177 yards and three touchdowns. Frank accumulated 240 yards – 139 through the air, and 101 on the ground – to go along with three touchdowns of his own. Gomez picked up a season-high 67 receiving yards. In total, Sandpoint generated seven touchdowns on 536 yards of total offense. Over the last six games, Sandpoint’s average margin of victory is now 28.7 points.

Brewster, who has now rushed for 11 touchdowns and over 1,200 yards this season, said the Bulldogs were ready from the very beginning tonight.

“The win feels amazing,” Brewster said. “We were locked in from the very start and I’m glad we’re onto the next game.

As for the next game, the Bulldogs will travel south to take on a team who is pretty familiar with making runs in the 4A state tournament, Pocatello. 

No. 6 Sandpoint (7-3) will face No. 3 Pocatello (6-2) in the second round of the 4A State Championship Playoffs at the Holt Arena on Friday at 5:30 p.m. (MST).

Sandpoint 13 14 21 0 – 48

Bonneville 0 0 0 0 – 0

First quarter

SPT – Max Frank 87 pass from Drew Lehman (Bradburn kick), 9:02.

SPT – Kody Brewster 70 run (two-point conversion no good), 6:06

Second quarter

SPT – Frank 46 run (Bradburn kick), 10:21.

SPT – Brewster 25 run (Bradburn kick), 6:48

Third quarter

SPT – Brewster 27 run (Bradburn kick), 9:58

SPT – Frank 63 run (Bradburn kick), 7:21

SPT – Shane Sherrill 1 run (Bradburn kick), 2:30

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – SPT, Brewster 11-177, Frank 4-101, Lehman 4 (-10), Hindberg 1-2, Sherrill 1-1, Burnett 8-28; BON, Trane 10-17, Todd 10-43, Blanchard 8-34, Mora 1-5, Fabian 3-1.

PASSING – SPT, Lehman 7-12-0-237, Buckhout 1-1-0-35; BON, Blanchard 5-8-0-36.

RECEIVING – SPT, Frank 4-139, Turner 1-26, Gomez 2-67, Hindberg 1-5; BON, Todd 1-4, Trane 2 (-3), Medrano 2-35.