Sandpoint 45, A.C. Davis 15

YAKIMA, Wash. — Another tip of the cap to the defense.

Sandpoint's fearsome front held the Pirates to negative 15 rushing yards, junior Jensen Sheetz and senior Wes Smith combined for five rushing touchdowns on offense, and the Bulldogs sunk the Pirates with a fast start at Zaepfel Stadium Friday night for their third road win and a 4-0 start to the season.

"It was nice to see the defense step up; we took away the run early," Sandpoint High head coach Ryan Knowles said. "They had some dynamic receivers that were on our mind all week and a very good quarterback, so we were fairly aggressive, kept them in check and limited big plays."

After an opening drive fumble in the redzone, Sheetz, who carried the ball 17 times for a career-high 134 yards, started off the scoring for Sandpoint with a 1-yard rushing touchdown. Another quick, back-to-back three-and-out by the defense ended up resulting in another touchdown. Senior quarterback Braden Buckhout, who completed 9 of his 14 passes for 201 yards, connected with senior wide receiver Maverick Gomez for a 53-yard score about a minute later for the 14-0 advantage.

With 11 seconds remaining in the first, Sheetz punched in his eighth touchdown of the season via a 4-yard run to give the Bulldogs a 21-3 lead after one quarter of play. The 5-foot 7-inch standout then scored his ninth rushing touchdown of the year on a 2-yard run to make the score 28-3 before heading into the locker room.

"We were a little late getting down here, so I'm happy with how the kids got off the bus like they did," coach Knowles said. "Our offensive has so many weapons, it's fun to watch. Having Coach Yarno (offensive coordinator) is a big advantage... he's really doing a nice job orchestrating the players in culmination with the scheme, and there's a lot of confidence in that too as a whole team."

Senior Wes Smith, who rushed 12 times for 42 yards, assumed the workload for the majority of the second half, scoring on runs of six and two yards during the third quarter for his first two scores of the season as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 42-9 lead. Senior Zachary Beers added a career-high 60 rushing yards on 10 attempts, all in the second half, for Sandpoint, which averaged nearly 6.7 yards per carry.

Senior wide receiver Brock Yarbrough, who caught a team-high five passes for 91 yards and caused a fumble in the redzone on the Pirates' opening third quarter drive, capped off the scoring in the fourth with a career-long 35-yard field goal. The Bulldogs had another opportunity to score as they reached the Davis 1-yard line with under two minutes to go, but kneeled out the clock.

Sandpoint worked in the majority of their second-and-third string players during the fourth quarter, and they held their own against the Pirates, which compete in Washington state's largest classification. The Bulldogs accounted for 528 yards of total offense compared to Davis' 314 yards.

"It was fun to watch them play — the future," coach Knowles said. "It was fun to have them out there and see what they could do. It turned out to be another good road trip and I'm just super happy we're able to play on the road like this. It's not easy."

Sandpoint (4-0) is set to face Pocatello, which lost to Blackfoot 41-12 in their most recent game, on Thursday night at the University of Montana's Washington-Grizzly stadium. The Bulldogs will be looking for revenge after falling to the Thunder by a score of 44-23 in the state playoffs in 2023 and by a score of 49-48 during a regular season game in 2024 that came down to a goal line stop on a two-point conversion.

"We wanted to play at Washington-Griz again, it's a really fun stadium and Poky is a great program," coach Knowles said. "I have a lot of respect for coach Dave Spillett and his crew. We're going to practice accordingly, and like always, make it about us, not them."

Sandpoint 21 7 14 3 — 45

A.C. Davis 3 0 6 6 — 15

1st quarter

SPT — Jensen Sheetz 1 run (Yarbrough kick), 8:48

SPT — Maverick Gomez 53 pass from Braden Buckhout (Yarbrough kick), 7:42

A.C. — Christopher Munguia 32-yard FG, 3:39

SPT — Jensen Sheetz 4 run (Yarbrough kick), 0:11

2nd quarter

SPT — Jensen Sheetz 2 run (Yarbrough kick), 7:32

3rd quarter

SPT — Wes Smith 6 run (Yarbrough kick), 8:05

A.C. — Noah Newkirk 8 pass to Tevin Rorie (two-point no good), 5:37

SPT — Wes Smith 2 run (Yarbrough kick), 0:38

4th quarter

SPT — Brock Yarbrough 35-yard FG, 9:58

A.C. — Nigel Hernandez 9 run (two-point no good), 7:17

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

SPT — Sheetz 17-134, Beers 10-60, Smith 12-42, Buckhout 5-37, Palmer 2-22, Martin 2-22, Iverson 1-10. A.C. — Hernandez 2-3, Parks 1-3, Dennis 6-2, Delgado 1-0, Garcia 1-(-3), Walker 3-(-10), Newkirk 4-(-10).

PASSING

SPT — Buckhout 9-14-1-201. Iverson 1-2-0-8. A.C. — Newkirk 26-40-1-267. Hernandez 4-4-0-62.

RECEIVING

SPT — Yarbrough 5-91, Gomez 3-77, Resso 1-33, Schriber 1-8. A.C. — Wiggens 10-96, Worrell 6-94, Rorie 7-47, Ellenwood 2-34, Walker 1-25, Pimentel 2-18, Garcia 1-8, Hernandez 1-7.

    Wes Smith