Sandpoint 28, Twin Falls 27

TWIN FALLS — Three forced turnovers on downs and an interception by the Sandpoint defense made all the difference as the Bulldogs scored 21 unanswered points to clinch a non-league overtime win over the Bruins in their season opener Friday.

Twin Falls opened up play with a nine-minute, 78-yard drive in which they were stopped on fourth down on the Bulldogs' 2-yard line after achieving a 1st-and-goal on the five.

In the second quarter, the Bruins got on the board first, but missed the extra point — one that would cost them later in the game. After a lackluster offensive start to the contest, the Bulldogs found their groove with 3:57 remaining in the half when senior quarterback Braden Buckhout, who completed 19 of his 27 passes on the night for 212 yards, made his way into the endzone via a 4-yard rush.

However, the Bruins responded with a 76-yard passing touchdown and a two-point conversion to give themselves a 14-7 advantage heading into the locker room.

Twin Falls came out and scored on their opening second-half drive to extend their lead to 14 points. Down 21-7 with 1:45 left in the third quarter, things seemed gloomy for Sandpoint, but it was junior Trey Blumenberg who came away with an interception as the Bruins were approaching the redzone that put new life back into the Bulldogs.

"Traveling that far and being down 14-7 at halftime, it's tough," Sandpoint High head coach Ryan Knowles said. "We had a half down, so now it was just about going out and playing. They put together a big run and all of a sudden it was 21-7... the boys buckled down and we started to get into a rhythm and put points on the board. They had that feeling coming into the fourth quarter that we were going to get this thing — they believed."

After the interception, Sandpoint drove down the field and junior running back Jensen Sheetz, who touched the rock 22 times for 90 yards, powered his way across the goal line for a 10-yard score. Now in reach, the Bulldog defense came up with another big stop, this time with 6:28 remaining in the contest. Senior Roman Turnbull, who registered a team-high 14 tackles, stuffed the Bruins on a 4th-and-2 near the Bulldogs' own 30-yard line. Sandpoint marched back down the field and Sheetz punched in another 2-yard touchdown run to tie the game 21-21 with a little over two minutes remaining.

On the Bruins' ensuing possession, Sandpoint made another fourth down stop with 1:05 left and began to work their way down the field again. This time, senior Brock Yarbrough, who was dubbed the nickname "vacuum" after leading the way with 14 catches for team-high 150 receiving yards on the night, caught a 46-yard pass from Buckhout inches from the Bruins goal line as the clock hit zero — sending the game into overtime.

That's when the Bulldogs locked in.

On the first possession of overtime, in which each team starts on the opposition's 10-yard line, the Bulldogs went to "ol' reliable" Sheetz who scurried into the endzone via a 1-yard rush.

Twin Falls answered, but decided to attempt a two-point conversion trailing 28-27... they weren't going to get past Turnbull and senior Jeremiah Palmer, with Turnbull making the initial stop and Palmer sealing the deal.

"Proud as heck, those are two seniors that are incredibly hard workers," coach Knowles said. "Incredibly proud of both of them. This was a big game and a big road win."

Knowles said the week ahead will be a carbon copy of last week, with the addition of a practice at the University of Montana on Thursday, as Sandpoint (1-0) prepares to tackle 4A Teton on the road. The Timberwolves defeated Declo, 3A State Runner-up a year ago, by a score of 33-12 to start the season.

Sandpoint 0 7 0 14 7 — 28

Twin Falls 0 14 7 0 6 — 27

2nd quarter

TF — Nielsen 9 pass from Hess (kick no good), 9:55

SPT — Buckhout 4 run (Yarborugh kick), 3:57

TF — Dewit 76 pass from Hess (Hess run), 2:55

3rd quarter

TF — Bruns 33 run (kick good), 8:41

4th quarter

SPT — Sheetz 10 run (Yarbrough kick), 11:31

SPT — Sheetz 2 run (Yarbrough kick), 2:08

Overtime

SPT — Sheetz 1 run (Yarbrough kick)

TF — Hess 5 run (two-point no good)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

SPT — Sheetz 22-90, Buckhout 12-46, Gomez 2-13. TF — Bruns 11-50, Hess 7-38, Johnson 1-0.

PASSING

SPT — Buckhout 19-27-0-212. TF — Hess 17-24-2-230.

RECEIVING

SPT — Yarbrough 14-150, Gomez 4-46, Taylor 1-16. TF — DeWit 8-167, Beem 2-18, Bruns 2-12, Nielsen 4-32, Murray 1-1.