PREP FOOTBALL: Sandpoint uses 27-point second quarter to clinch big win over St. Maries

Sandpoint 54, St. Maries 14

ST. MARIES — Junior quarterback Braden Buckhout posted 178 total yards and four touchdowns and Sandpoint throttled the Lumberjacks 54-14 at St. Maries High on Friday.

Senior Drew Lehman started as quarterback for the Bulldogs, rushing for a 5-yard touchdown for the first score of the game. Although unable to capitalize on a muffed punt where the Bulldogs took over at the Lumberjacks’ 9-yard line midway through the first, Lehman helped build Sandpoint’s lead to 20-0 in the second quarter, rushing for another 20-yard touchdown and passing to junior Dallen Williams, who had five receptions for 63 yards and two scores on the night, for another touchdown early in the second quarter.

Buckhout came in and extended the lead to 33-0, throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to senior Jesse Turner midway through the second, and rushing for a 2-yard score to cap off an 82-yard drive with 43 seconds remaining in the half. St. Maries got on the board as time expired, but could not convert the two-point conversion, which resulted in a 33-6 halftime score.

The Lumberjacks came out of halftime and swiftly moved the ball down the field, only to be stripped on the Bulldogs’ 5-yard line — junior strong safety Lucas Garrison was there to recover the fumble. With Sandpoint struggling on offense to open the quarter, the Lumberjacks put together another solid drive, scored a touchdown and converted the two-point conversion to bring themselves within three scores. However, that momentum wouldn’t last long.

Buckhout connected with Williams for a 20-yard touchdown with 2:07 remaining in the third and 30 seconds later, senior Gage McElroy, who also recovered a fumble in the contest, scored on a 20-yard interception return to put Sandpoint up 47-14. Early in the fourth, Buckhout connected with sophomore Trey Blumenberg, one of two sophomores on Sandpoint’s varsity roster, for a 29-yard score. With 5:14 remaining, Kamren Ziarnick hauled in an interception for the Bulldogs, his third of the season, and Sandpoint ran the clock out to seal the 40-point win.

“We ran the ball at will and our pass game was much more prolific than last week,” Sandpoint High head coach Ryan Knowles said. “It was good to see our pass game open up a little with receivers making some nice plays and all. I felt like our offense was really working well tonight, staying on schedule with some nice chunk plays mixed in there.”

In total, Buckhout completed 6 of his 10 passes for 136 yards and rushed four times for 42 yards. Senior Ashlei Hawkins had 94 yards rushing over 12 attempts and hauled in two catches for 64 yards and a touchdown.

On defense, senior Rece Wolff had two sacks, and senior Van Lee forced a fumble which led to Turner's touchdown in the second. Sandpoint forced four total turnovers and committed zero on offense.

“Post Falls will be one of the better teams we play this year, so we'll get ready at practice on Monday like we always do,” coach Knowles said when asked about the outlook for next week’s game. “We’re getting into midseason form with a couple of games under our belt — we’re figuring out what’s working for us and seeing who the guys will be that are going to show up in crunch time.”

Sandpoint (2-0) will travel to Post Falls on Friday.

Sandpoint 6 27 14 7 — 54

St. Maries 0 6 8 0 — 14

First quarter

SPT — Lehman 5 rush (two-point no good), 8:00

Second quarter

SPT — Williams 5 pass from Lehman (Bradburn kick), 11:56

SPT — Lehman 20 rush (Bradburn kick), 7:55

SPT —Turner 5 pass from Buckhout (Bradburn kick), 5:47

SPT — Buckhout 2 rush (kick no good), 0:43

SM —  Gustaffe 60 pass from Barta (two-point no good), 0:00

Third quarter 

SM — Barta 1 rush (two-point good), 4:44

SPT — Williams 20 pass from Buckhout (Bradburn kick), 2:07

SPT — McElroy 20 INT return (Bradburn kick), 1:38

Fourth quarter

SPT — Blumenberg 29 pass from Buckhout (Bradburn kick), 8:41

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: SPT — Hawkins 12-94, Buckhout 4-43, Lehman 2-25, Beers 3-21, Palmer 3-20, Smith 5-20. SM — B. Barta 7-62, Dittman 12-17, J. Barta 7-(-12), Ceja-Grimaldo 2-3.

PASSING: SPT — Lehman 4-7-1-43, Buckhout 6-10-3-136. SM — J. Barta 9-17-1-186.

RECEIVING: SPT — Williams 5-63, Hawkins 2-64, Blumenberg 1-29, Turner 2-23. SM — Gustaffe 2-70, Ceja-Grimaldo 3-53, Defoort 2-37, Dittman 1-15, B. Barta 1-11.

Stewart shines in Wampus Cat loss

Lakeside 54, Clark Fork 6

CLARK FORK — The host Wampus Cats fell behind early and the Knights used a 38-point first half to take home a 48-point victory at Clark Fork High on Friday night.

Cameron Stewart, who had four receptions for 100 yards on the night, scored Clark Fork's lone touchdown in the first half off an 80-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Mateo Cruz. Senior star Evrett Montgomery had three receptions for 59 yards and six rushes for 38 yards. Cruz completed six passes behind center for 144 yards and rushed seven times for 33 yards.

"Lakeside is a tough, physical team," Clark Fork High head coach Patrick Young said. "We have a lot of young talent, but we just weren't ready for that. We never gave up, kept working every play, and we will get a lot of positives out of this. They say you learn more with a loss than you do with a win, and we learned a lot tonight. I'm real proud of our team for not giving up and continuing to fight."

Clark Fork (0-1) will host Wallace on Friday.