SANDPOINT — Two teams that were dead even on paper proved mostly even on the gridiron as well, but ultimately Lakeland made a few more plays than Sandpoint in the end, earning a hard-hitting 24-14 win on Friday night at Barlow Stadium.

Colton Butcher carried 22 times for 74 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Hawks (5-4, 2-0 4A IEL), who punched their ticket to state with the win and will host Skyview next Friday in the first round of the playoffs.

“It’s been a long road, and the kids have worked hard,” said Lakeland head coach Tim Kiefer. “They deserve this. Sandpoint is a great team.”

The game was closer than the final score, with the Bulldogs (4-5, 1-1 4A IEL) just missing a couple of big plays that could have altered the outcome.

“This was a hell of a football game,” said Sandpoint head coach Satini Puailoa. “Tip of the hat to Lakeland. They made a few more plays than we did.”

The Hawks drew first blood when Dylan Piva drilled a 31-yard field goal in the first quarter.

Sandpoint answered on the next possession, putting together an 80 yard drive, capped by Tyler Harris taking a swing pass from Nate Loutzenhiser and breaking two tackles to score from 11 yards out, giving the Bulldogs a brief 7-3 lead.

Butcher nearly broke the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, giving his team a short field before Joe Williams wrestled a fade pass away from defender Eric Paull from nine yards out to give the Hawks a 17-7 lead.

The Bulldogs missed a golden opportunity to score late in the second quarter, when receiver Chase Rodriguez took a reverse and then threw deep to Thomas Edwards, who had beaten his defender but could not haul in the would-be touchdown.

With Lakeland leading 17-7 to start the third quarter, Sandpoint put a strong 71-yard drive together to start the third quarter, capped by Kyle Perry’s 32 yard scoring scamper, closing the lead to three points. Perry, a sophomore, finished with a game-high 83 yards on 14 carries.

Once again, the Hawks had an answer, as Butcher scored his second touchdown from 20 yards out to cap a 62-yard drive and give his team a double-digit lead at 24-14 midway through the third quarter. From there, the Hawks’ swarming defense made the lead stand up, with Brett Webb and Kenny Cooper each nabbing fourth quarter interceptions. Cooper’s came on the one-yard line as the Bulldogs were looking to cut the lead to three with two minutes left.

“Our defense played really well tonight. They were flying around and hitting,” said Kiefer. “At times offensively we were out of sorts, but we did enough to win.”

Edwards finished with 70 yards receiving and Rodriguez added 60 in defeat. Quinn Pearlstein had a huge game defensively, with several tackles for losses and a number of big hits from his outside linebacker position.

“They fought hard, it’s going to hurt a lot,” said Puailoa of the loss. “If you don’t invest in yourself, you don’t get to this point.”

Lakeland  10   7   7   0 — 24

Sandpoint  7   0   7   0 — 14

LL — Dylan Piva 31 field goal

Spt — Tyler Harris 11 catch from Nate Loutzenhiser (Quinn Pearlstein kick)

LL — Joe Williams 8 catch from Tyrel Derrick (Piva kick)

LL — Colton Butcher 1 run (Piva kick)

Spt — Kyle Perry 32 run (Pearlstein kick)

LL — Butcher 20 run (Piva Kick)

SHS        LL

First Downs               15            10

Yards Rushing    

34-131        42-102

Yards Receiving    

173        159

QB                14-21-2        9-170

Punts-Ave        6-30.67        3-43.33

Fumbles-Lost    

2-1        2-2

Penalties        11-90        9-68

SHS Rushing: Kyle Perry 14-83, Cody Millard 7-29, Nate Loutzenhiser 5-(-1), Tyler Harris 3-2, Thomas Edwards 2-(-5), Curtis Roop 2-19, Chase Rodriguez 1-(-1), Matthew Timothy 1-5

SHS Receiving: Matthew Timothy 3-27, Thomas Edwards 5-70, Tyler Harris 2-16, Chase Rodriguez 4-60

SHS KOR: Tyler Harris 2-51, Carson Paull 1-19

SHS PR: Quinn Pearlstein 1-13

LL Rushing: Zeke Weiss 3-2, Joe Williams  3-3, Colton Butcher 22-74, Tyrel Derrick 8-18, Tuekota Vandever 1-18, Kenny Cooper 3-(-1), Riley Crane 2-8

LL Receiving: Kenny Cooper 1-0, Jackson Kunas 4-39, Riley Crane 7-59, Britt Dickens 2-53, Joe Williams 1-8

QB: SHS Nate Loutzenhiser 14-19-1-173, Kyle Perry 0-1-1, Chase Rodriguez 0-1-0, LL Tyrel Derrick 9-17-0 159 yds