Sandpoint 31, Lakeland 27

SANDPOINT — Now that's some Sandpoint football.

On senior night, with the defense humming, junior Jack Schriber hauled in two fourth-quarter interceptions to go along with a receiving touchdown earlier in the game, junior Jensen Sheetz scampered for 124 rushing yards and a touchdown on 32 touches, and the Bulldogs took down the undefeated, No. 4-ranked Hawks for a 5A Inland Empire League victory Friday night behind a packed stadium at War Memorial Field.

Lakeland struck first on an 18-yard touchdown run, but Sandpoint responded with a nearly four-minute, 78-yard drive that Schriber finished off with a 2-yard receiving touchdown. The pass, which came from quarterback Braden Buckhout, was the first of the second quarter for the senior, who registered a game-high 244 total yards on the night and completed 14 of his 25 attempts.

In the second quarter, it was the Sandpoint defense that headlined the frame with two red zone stops to keep things even heading into the locker room. Midway through the quarter, the Hawks started a drive on the Bulldogs' 20-yard line after a 30-yard punt return, but Sandpoint, on a 4th-and-5, stopped a screen play just shy of the marker to force a turnover on downs.

And then it happened again.

After a three-and-out, the Hawks took another Bulldog punt to the 4-yard line after a 46-yard return. In what seemed like an almost impossible sequence of events, Sandpoint stopped Lakeland on second-and-third downs with inches to go from the goal line and forced a false start on Lakeland's ensuing 4th-and-1 try. Just when the crowd thought it couldn't get any better, the Bulldogs blocked the Hawks' 23-yard field goal attempt as time expired in the half.

"We felt good about our big package — I don't know if we felt that good — but we just got physical," Sandpoint High head coach Ryan Knowles said about the defensive gameplan. "To stop them after a 1st-and-goal at the 5 and get out of there with no points was pretty crazy... you can bet Damian Porter and Roman Turnbull were doing a great job, our defensive tackles, Mason McLain and Jeven Meyer, and two defensive ends, Jeremiah Palmer and Darrin Flanigan were doing some good work inside as well."

Now that the momentum seemed to have flipped, why not try something special?

To open the third quarter, Sandpoint recovered an onside kick and on the very first play of the half, a pass went to junior Brock Yarbrough, who produced a game-high seven catches for 106 yards, for a 50-yard receiving touchdown as Buckhout let it fly with confidence for the 14-7 lead.

After a fumble midway through the quarter at their own 20-yard line allowed the Hawks tie the game, Sandpoint put together a methodical drive and with 4:20 remaining in the third, Sheetz, just shy of 1,000 rushing yards on the season, punched in a 2-yard score for a 21-14 advantage.

Lakeland responded again with a 4-yard touchdown run to knot things up early in the fourth. However, offensive coordinator George Yarno had a trick up his sleeve for what would be the fourth score of the game.

After giving the rock to Sheetz nine different times on their opening fourth quarter drive, the Bulldogs put it in the hands of senior Jeremiah Palmer, who scored his first rushing touchdown of the season on his only carry of the night — a two-yard rush — for the 28-21 Sandpoint lead.

Needing a big play late in the game as Lakeland was attempting a comeback, Sandpoint got it when Schriber dove and intercepted a tipped ball on the Lakeland 25-yard line with 4:47 remaining. Yarbrough helped the Bulldogs capitalize on the turnover with a career-long 38-yard field goal that boosted the lead to 10 points.

Lakeland wouldn't go away easily, however.

The Hawks scored again on a 33-yard pass with 2:35 to go in regulation, but the extra point was blocked. Lakeland then forced a Sandpoint punt and started a drive on their own 17-yard line with 44 seconds to go, but on the third play of that drive, Schriber came away with his third career interception and returned it 46 yards to the Lakeland 4-yard line before the Bulldogs lined up in victory formation.

"Jack plays a lot of offense, a lot of defense — he's just a smart guy," coach Knowles noted of the standout junior, who added three catches for 20 yards to his totals on the evening. "He's picking things up and picking them up fast. When you play safety you have to wear a lot of hats... he made a couple of plays that absolutely changed the outcome of the game. Super proud of him."

Schriber added two tackles for losses on the defensive side of the ball, Yarbrough and senior Roman Turnbull recorded tackles for losses of their own, and senior Darrin Flanigan had a crucial 8-yard sack for Sandpoint's defense, which limited the run-heavy Hawks to just 89 rushing yards — 99 yards below their season average.

Sandpoint honored 18 seniors during the rivalry game and wore No. 81 patches to honor the late great John Knowles. Playing with heavy, but determined hearts, the Bulldogs avenged a 41-7 loss a year ago.

"Senior night is always a little emotional," coach Knowles noted. "Both parts of that tonight had us playing with heavy hearts and playing hard against a really good team. It feels really good after last year's loss to them."

On offense, senior Maverick Gomez tallied four catches for 62 receiving yards for Sandpoint (7-2), which is heading into a bye week before the first round of the 5A State Championship playoffs, in which they are expected to qualify for regardless of the outcome of the Lewiston-Lakeland league game this upcoming Friday, Oct. 24.

If Lakeland were to defeat Lewiston, which lost to Lake City 6-0 on Friday, a Kansas City tiebreaker would be up next.

Lakeland 7 0 7 13 — 27

Sandpoint 0 7 14 10 — 31

1st quarter

LL — Griffin Tamagni 18 run (Parker Sterling kick), 3:45

2nd quarter

SPT — Jack Schriber 2 pass from Braden Buckhout (Brock Yarbrough kick), 11:55

3rd quarter

SPT — Brock Yarbrough 50 pass from Braden Buckhout (Brock Yarbrough kick), 11:52

LL — Cash Lund 20 pass from Peyton Hillman (Parker Sterling kick), 7:11

SPT — Jensen Sheetz 2 run (Brock Yarbrough kick), 4:20

4th quarter

LL — Griffin Tamagni 4 run (Parker Sterling kick), 11:03

SPT — Jeremiah Palmer 2 run (Brock Yarbrough kick), 5:37

SPT — Brock Yarbrough 38-yard FG, 3:41

LL — Hunter Clark 33 pass from Peyton Hillman (kick blocked), 2:35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

SPT — Sheetz 32-124, Buckhout 10-56, Palmer 1-2, Gomez 1-0. LL — Tamagni 14-51, Hillman 9-25, Lund 3-9, Taylor 1-4, Team 1-(-14).

PASSING

SPT — Buckhout 14-25-2-188. LL — Hillman 15-25-2-177.

RECEIVING

SPT — Yarbrough 7-106, Gomez 4-62, Schriber 3-20. LL — Yager 4-52, Lund 5-49, Taylor 4-39, Clark 1-33, Tamagni 1-4.

    Sandpoint High senior Jeremiah Palmer makes his way into the end zone for a 2-yard rushing touchdown on a 4th-and-goal during the Bulldogs' 31-27 win on Friday night.