PREP FOOTBALL: Coeur d'Alene pulls away in second half to take win over Sandpoint

SANDPOINT — At War Memorial Field, the Bulldogs recovered three fumbles and trailed by just six points with 10:19 remaining in the third quarter, but the visiting Vikings scored the last 20 points of the contest to take home a 46-20 road win Friday.

Coeur d'Alene went up 7-0 early after their first drive of the game, but were unable to capitalize on an interception by Viking sophomore Ben Murray early in the first quarter. Senior Rece Wolff, who leads the Bulldogs with four sacks so far this year, made a stop in the backfield on fourth down and one on Sandpoint's own 11-yard line to stop the Viking advance.

Later in the first, senior Alex Guercio-Hooper, on senior night, recovered his first fumble of the season on the Coeur d'Alene 18-yard line. As time expired in the first, Drew Lehman rushed 2 yards into the endzone on the ensuing drive and connected with senior Jesse Turner on the two-point conversion to put the Bulldogs ahead 8-7.

In the second, the Vikings scored quickly, but the Bulldogs marched down the field and Reid Bradburn nailed a 25-yard field goal to make it a 13-11 contest. Coeur d'Alene scored two unanswered touchdowns, one on a 90-yard kickoff return by senior Evan Williams and another on a 2-yard rush to pull ahead by 15 points, but Sandpoint wouldn't go way. Bradburn, with 10 seconds remaining before halftime, was able to put another field goal through the uprights, this time a 31-yarder, to make it a 26-14 game.

To start the third quarter, after an 80-yard Coeur d'Alene rush that was called back for a penalty, junior Lucas Garrison recovered a fumble on the Vikings' next play to give Sandpoint possession on the Viking 17-yard line. Junior Maverick Gomez eventually capped off that drive with a 7-yard pass from fellow junior Braden Buckhout to bring the Bulldogs back within six.

Besides a fumble recovery by sophomore Trey Blumenberg with 5:43 remaining in the third, which ended a drive where Sandpoint missed a 40-yard field goal, the Bulldog offense was limited and the defense didn't have answers in the majority of the second half.

"They're a very good football team that's going to go on and do very well the rest of the year," Sandpoint High head coach Ryan Knowles said of Coeur d'Alene. 'We have some depth and injury problems, and like to be resilient enough to overcome those, but they sort of reared their ugly head tonight."

Knowles said Sandpoint, because of the depletions, has been getting different guys involved on both sides of the ball. On defense, Coeur d'Alene played an up-tempo pace which made it hard for Sandpoint to substitute and match the visiting Vikings personnel. 

"It's a tough game to have to bring some new players in, but we'll keep working and come up with more, different solutions on Monday," coach Knowles said.

Junior Jeremiah Palmer led the Bulldogs on the ground with 16 carries for 85 yards while Turner hauled in four receptions for a team-high 60 yards. Lehman, who rushed 10 times for 44 yards, didn't see much of the field in the second half but still posted a passing line of 10-for-14 for 100 yards. Sandpoint was limited to 320 yards of total offense, compared to Coeur d'Alene's 377 yards.

Sandpoint (3-3) travels to Lake City on Friday.

CDA 7 19 13 7 — 46

Sandpoint 8 6 6 0 —  20

First quarter

CDA — Coey 18 pass from Symons (kick good), 9:01

SPT — Lehman 2 run (two-point good), 0:00

Second quarter

CDA — Wheeler 40 pass from Symons (two-point no good), 11:12

SPT — Bradburn 25 field goal, 6:41

CDA — Williams 90-yard kickoff return (kick no good), 6:25

CDA  — Young 2 run (kick good), 2:55

SPT —  Bradburn 31 field goal, 0:10

Third quarter

SPT — Gomez 7 pass from Buckhout (two-point no good), 10:19

CDA — Coey 70 pass from Symons (two-point no good), 9:56

CDA — Wheeler 10 pass from Stern (kick good), 0:44

Fourth quarter

CDA — Williams 42 pass from Symons, 7:35

RUSHING: SPT — Palmer 16-85, Hawkins 11-45, Lehman 10-44, Buckhout 3-18, Gomez 2-8, Williams 3-6. CDA — Stern 4-48, Young 5-34, Thompson 5-33, Symons 2-9, Myers 1-0.

PASSING: SPT — Lehman 10-14-0-100, Buckhout 5-19-1-22, Tyler 0-1-0-0. Symons 11-19-3-230, Stern 3-4-1-23.

RECEIVING: SPT — Turner 4-60, Gomez 4-24, Williams 3-20, Hawkins 1-14, Newhart 3-4. CDA — Coey 4-108, Wheeler 5-73, Murray 2-44, Cady 1-16, Williams 1-12.