Bulldogs hold off Homedale for Homecoming win

CHANSE WATSON | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 8 months AGO

Ashton Zabriskie (19) goes for the tackle against a Trojan player in Friday night's Homecoming game while Sabastian Larzlier (31) backs him up. The Bulldogs went on to beat the visiting team - giving even more reason to celebrate Homecoming.
CHANSE WATSON/HAGADONE NEWS SERVICE

Trojan Luke Pertek (11) hits the grass and clasps the ball after being taken down by Ashton Zabriskie (19) and Sabastian Larzlier (31) during Friday's game.

The Bulldogs gather on the field with their coaches after their win against the Homedale Trojans Friday evening.

The Bulldogs cheer squad put on a show at halftime Friday night. The squad had much to cheer about at the end of the day following a strong performance on the gridiron by local players against a challenging visiting team.

A drawing for a new car was held at the game.

Bulldog fans came out to cheer on the home team and spend time together as a community - a refreshing change after the last few years of pandemic restrictions.

SANDPOINT - As the Victory Bell on War Memorial Field rang following Sandpoint’s win over the Homedale Trojans Friday night, Coach Ryan Knowles breathed a sigh of relief and admitted that the end of the Bulldogs’ homecoming game was a little too close for comfort.

“Very scary!” he said of the last-minute push by the visiting team. “But we have to give ourselves credit because we found a way to get it done.”

Giving a packed homecoming crowd one heck of a show, a strong early game performance by the Bulldogs proved to be enough for a 28-21 win.

“I’m really happy with the way we came out and jumped on them early,” Knowles said. “That’s a good team that had to travel and that’s how that works out to that (early) 14-0 run.”

Led by the solid play that's come to be expected of Sandpoint quarterback Parker Pettit, who ended the night with 320 passing yards and a touchdown, the Bulldogs stormed out of the gate to take a 14-7 lead into halftime. They would add another touchdown and extra point conversion to their lead in the third quarter, which would end up being a saving grace later on.

A wild fourth quarter saw Homedale rack up 14 points and make a convincing push to tie in the final minutes of the game, but the lead the Bulldogs had worked up and added to again that quarter was simply too much.

Knowles noted the strong play of senior Hunter Garcia and all the players involved with kick coverage and returns.

“I thought our special teams played lights out today,” he said. “Kick-off coverage was great, we punted the ball well down into the five. We got two on-side kick recoveries which, you know, are really hard work.”

Knowles also stressed that it's a long season and it's all about learning lessons so that the team is ready for their first conference game- which is slated for Oct. 7 against the Lakeland Hawks in Rathdrum.

Sandpoint’s (1-2 overall, 0-0 conference) next game is on the road versus Lewiston on Sept. 23 at 7 p.m.