Coeur d'Alene 50, Sandpoint 9

COEUR d'ALENE — Senior Eli Taylor caught his first career touchdown for Sandpoint, but the Vikings' quarterback tandem proved to be too much for the Bulldogs in a 6A/5A Inland Empire League 41-point loss Friday night at Viking Field.

A muffed opening kickoff that was recovered on the 17-yard line and capitalized on by Coeur d'Alene for an 8-0 lead spelled trouble early for Sandpoint. The Bulldogs responded with a 63-yard drive, capped off by Taylor, who held on after a big hit in the endzone for a 6-yard receiving touchdown from senior quarterback Braden Buckhout.

"We had a goal of winning the first quarter, getting out of the chutes early... starting the game with the kickoff that was muffed flips that," Sandpoint High head coach Ryan Knowles said. "I was happy with how our offense responded on the next drive."

It only took the Vikings one play — a 68-yard receiving touchdown by Gibson Comstock, who had four receptions for a game-high 166 yards — to build their lead to 15-6. They eventually put together a 36-9 lead by the time halftime rolled around, scoring on passes of 10 and 55 yards, and an 11-yard run. 

Sandpoint High junior Brock Yarbrough, who had seven catches for a team-high 67 receiving yards, was able to put his fifth career field goal, a 33-yarder, through the uprights to cut the deficit to 29-9 before Coeur d'Alene scored 21 unanswered points. 

Coeur d'Alene quickly scored on a 17-yard passing touchdown after a two-play, 87-yard drive to start the second half, and again late in the third quarter on a 2-yard rush by junior quarterback Tannar Stern. Stern and senior quarterback Caden Symons combined for 416 of the Vikings' 508 total yards of offense and six total touchdowns on the evening.

Junior Jensen Sheetz had 22 carries for a team-high 84 rushing yards for Sandpoint, which tallied a season-low 221 yards of total offense in the loss.

The Bulldogs had three turnovers and zero takeaways on the night, unable to fall on a couple of fumbles by Coeur d'Alene.

"It was in our inability to stop the big plays — the big passes early over the top and then the underneath passes, short passes and long runs," coach Knowles said about the game's difference maker. "We have to clean things up and play with better leverage. We had a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes... it's a good time for a wakeup call. Coeur d'Alene is always a tall task."

Sophomore Gage Martin completed his first career varsity pass and senior Roman Turnbull and junior Damian Porter recorded sacks in the first quarter for Sandpoint (5-1), which will look to regroup when they host Lake City on Friday for another 6A/5A Inland Empire League matchup.

"Hopefully home turf will be inviting for us," coach Knowles said of his team, which comes home next week for just their second home game across a seven-game span. "I'm excited for a home game, and I know a lot of people are excited about Bulldog football. This town supports us greatly and I can't wait to play in front of them again."

Sandpoint 6 3 0 0 — 9

Coeur d'Alene 22 14 14 0 — 50

1st quarter

CDA — Caden Symons 13 pass from Tannar Stern (Symons run), 11:17

SPT — Eli Taylor 6 pass from Braden Buckhout (conversion failed), 7:38

CDA — Gibson Comstock 68 pass from Caden Symons (Frankie Lopez kick), 7:23

CDA — Ty Paulin 10 pass from Tannar Stern (Frankie Lopez kick), 3:40

2nd quarter

CDA — Gibson Comstock 55 pass from Caden Symons (Frankie Lopez kick), 11:51

SPT — Brock Yarbrough 33-yard FG, 7:29

CDA — Ty Paulin 11 run (Frankie Lopez kick), 5:12

3rd quarter

CDA — Maddox Lindquist 17 pass from Caden Symons (Frankie Lopez kick), 11:17

CDA — Tannar Stern 2 run (Frankie Lopez kick), 2:56

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

SPT — Sheetz 22-84, Yarbrough 2-16, Buckhout 4-14, Gomez 2-7, Smith 1-3, Palmer 2-3, Martin 1-(-3). CDA — Palmgren 2-50, Paulin 6-46, Stern 5-33, Lindquist 1-18, Strait 3-10, McCoey 3-(-2), Symons 4-(-3), team 2-(-34).

PASSING

SPT — Buckhout 11-21-1-91, Martin 1-2-0-6, Iverson 0-1-0-0. CDA — Symons 11-12-3-354, Stern 3-5-2-32, [unknown] 1-2-0-4.

RECEIVING

SPT — Yarbrough 6-67, Schriber 1-11, Gomez 2-7, Resso 1-6, Taylor 1-6. CDA — Comstock 4-166, Hackett 1-70, Lindquist 2-56, Dahlin 2-50, Gray 2-22, Symons 1-13, Paulin 1-10, Coburn 1-4, Stern 1-(-1).