Skyline 43, Sandpoint 35

POCATELLO — In a battle that lasted nearly three hours, junior Jensen Sheetz tallied two touchdowns and his eighth 100-plus-yard rushing game of the season, senior quarterback Braden Buckhout surpassed 2,000 passing yards on the season and 3,000 for his career with a 266-yard performance, and the No. 11 Bulldogs gave the No. 3 Grizzlies all they could handle before coming up eight points short in a 5A State Championship quarterfinals matchup held Friday afternoon at Idaho State University's ICCU Dome.

Sandpoint struck first with a 65-yard opening drive in which Sheetz had 43 of his 138 total yards, 112 of which were rushing. Sheetz himself punched in a 3-yard run for his 13th touchdown of the season and converted the two-point conversion after a Skyline penalty to put the Bulldogs ahead 8-0 early. Skyline responded on their opening drive with an 8-yard touchdown run to close the gap to one point, which stood until the end of the first quarter.

In the second, the Grizzlies put together a 13-play, 90-yard drive capped off by a 3-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion by senior Zyan Crockett, who totaled 179 yards from scrimmage and holds offers from both Idaho State and Portland State. Sandpoint then scored a touchdown of their own on their ensuing drive after Buckhout hit junior Brock Yarbrough, who had nine catches for 79 yards and reached over 1,000 career receiving yards on the night, for a 14-yard score. The extra point was blocked, which put the tally at 15-14, Skyline, with 6:20 remaining until intermission.

With the Grizzlies driving near the end of the half, it was junior Jack Schriber who recovered a fumble on the Bulldogs' own 16-yard line, but an interception 40 seconds later gave Skyline the ball back and they capitalized with a 2-yard rushing touchdown for a 23-14 lead heading into the locker room. 

After regrouping, Sandpoint got what they were looking for early in the third — a three-and-out on defense after Skyline scored on three of their four first-half drives — but a muffed punt allowed the Grizzlies to take control at the Bulldogs' 23-yard line. With a 5-yard run and an 18-yard pass, Skyline found themselves ahead by two scores, 29-14, for the first time in the contest. The Bulldogs, however, kept their composure and only needed a little over a minute to answer. 

Junior wide receiver Maverick Gomez, who hauled in six catches for a game-high 126 receiving yards, caught a 34-yard screen pass, and a few plays prior, junior wide receiver Carson Resso connected with Buckhout for a 20-yard pass on a trick play, and Sandpoint made their way to the 1-yard line, where Sheetz carried home another touchdown to cut the deficit to eight points.

Near the end of the third quarter, after converting a fake punt on a fourth-and-11, Skyline found themselves threatening again at the Sandpoint 11-yard line, but the Bulldogs mustered up a stop on fourth-and-3. Unfortunately, a fumble of their own led to Skyline getting the ball back on the very next play, and they found the endzone to push the lead to 36-21 five seconds into the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs then fumbled again on their next play from scrimmage, and seven seconds later, the Grizzlies, which improved to 9-2 with the win and will face No. 2 Bishop Kelly in the semifinals, wound up with a 22-point lead with 11:48 to go.

The Bulldogs did put together a valiant comeback.

A couple of minutes later, Sandpoint took advantage of a Skyline fumble, which senior Roman Turnbull forced and senior Darrin Flanigan recovered, and needed just one play — a 16-yard strike from Buckhout to Yarbrough in the back right corner of the endzone — to get back within two scores. 

After a turnover on downs, Schriber, with 3:48 remaining, recovered another fumble on a bad Skyline snap as the Grizzlies just couldn't seem to put things away. The Bulldogs put together a 64-yard drive, which included a 44-yard dime from Buckhout to Gomez and a 19-yard catch by Sheetz on a fourth-and-16 at the 26-yard line, to bring the score to 43-35. Buckhout found Yarbrough for his ninth receiving touchdown of the season on a 7-yard strike, but Sandpoint couldn't come up with the onside kick, resulting in an eventual Grizzlies victory.

"It wasn't just a battle; it was a war," Sandpoint High head coach Ryan Knowles said. "Our guys left it on the field. We were down in that third quarter and just kept fighting and clawing — the game came right down to the last minute. I feel like we left a little bit out there, quite honestly, and needed to take care of things on special teams and the ball a little bit better. At the end of the day, we didn't rally enough and are calling it a season."

Knowles said although it wasn't the end result his team was looking for, they played until the final whistle, keeping the team mantra "raise the bar" in mind throughout.

"There's a lot of positives to be said about this crew," Knowles said of his Bulldogs, which bounced back from a 3-7 season a year ago. "I couldn't be more proud of this team for traveling like they have. The amount of miles we traveled this year is unreal. It's unreal what this team has done, and our school district and fans have supported us through it all."

Overall, Buckhout ended his career with a 19-for-37 passing effort as the Bulldogs wound up with 389 yards of total offense compared to Skyline's 405 total yards, 271 of which came on the ground. On defense, Turnbull tallied multiple tackles for losses and senior Lucas Garrison had a tackle in the backfield of his own for Sandpoint, which finished out the season with a record of 8-3.

Sandpoint 8 6 7 14 — 35

Skyline 7 16 6 14 — 43

1st quarter

SPT — Jensen Sheetz 3 run (Jensen Sheetz run), 8:07

SKY — Aaron Ojeda 8 run (Santino Antrim kick), 5:24

2nd quarter

SKY — Zyan Crockett 3 run (Zyan Crockett run), 8:54

SPT — Brock Yarbrough 14 pass from Braden Buckhout (kick blocked), 6:20

SKY — Zyan Crockett 2 run (Caden Cruz pass from John Giannini), 0:46

3rd quarter

SKY — Zyan Crockett 18 pass from John Giannini (conversion failed), 9:55

SPT — Jensen Sheetz 1 run (Brock Yarbrough kick) 8:43

4th quarter

SKY — Gage Searle 7 pass from John Giannini (Santino Antrim kick), 11:55

SKY — John Giannini 9 run (Santino Antrim kick), 11:48

SPT — Brock Yarbrough 16 pass from Braden Buckhout (Brock Yarbrough kick), 9:27

SPT — Brock Yarbrough 7 pass from Braden Buckhout (Brock Yarbrough kick), 2:19

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

SPT — Sheetz 23-112, Buckhout 5-11. SKY — Crockett 16-107, Giannini 10-90, Ojeda 12-52, Cruz 8-15, Searle 1-4, Stewart 1-3.

PASSING

SPT — Buckhout 19-37-3-266, Resso 1-1-0-20. SKY — Giannini 10-14-2-134.

RECEIVING

SPT — Gomez 6-126, Yarbrough 9-79, Smith 1-35, Sheetz 3-26, Buckhout 1-20. SKY — Crockett 4-72, Cruz 4-55, Searle 1-7, Molifua 1-0.