Bulldogs and Bears battle for playoff berth

SANDPOINT — The playoffs essentially start tonight for the Sandpoint football team, which will be looking to extend its season tonight in a big 4A Inland Empire League clash against Moscow at Lake City High School.

The road warrior Bulldogs (3-5, 0-1 4A IEL) are technically the home team, although they played their last home game in Sandpoint on Sept. 19 and have been on the road since. Win, and the Bulldogs will face the third place team from the Boise region next week in the 4A playoffs, lose, and the season is over.

“I think we can beat anybody we line up against. We felt we had a pretty good team all year,” said Yarno, who feels the key to the game is simple. “We’ve got to execute better as a team. We’ve got players in place, we just need to execute our plays. If not, we won’t beat many teams.”

The Bears (2-5, 0-1 4A IEL) own wins over Grangeville and Timberlake, and match up evenly with the Bulldogs in common opponents. The Bears lost to Lakeland 28-21 and Lewiston 49-7, while the Bulldogs lost 20-14 to Lakeland and 42-7 to Lewiston.

With rains all week, the Bulldogs will once again be playing on a muddy track, which means both teams may try and establish the run. Walker Jacobson and quarterback Robbie Johnson have both had big games rushing recently, and Levi Irish, with a low center of gravity and a quick stride, is well suited for the slick conditions.

Defensively, the senior trio of Zack Alamillo, Clayton Fournier and Jacobson will lead a unit that is no stranger to muddy game. On a wet field, offensive miscues might only mean a small loss on a play, but defensive mistakes can often lead to six points. Playing technically sound is more important than ever.

Yarno knows the Bears, who are a game away from the playoffs despite their record, are a dangerous opponent.

“They’re big, physical and probably have more experience than we do,” said Yarno, who feels his team has superior depth “They play both ways, hopefully we can tire them out in the fourth quarter.”

In years past, this game would be played for pride, as only one 4A IEL team used to get a berth at state. With the new format, and a second 4A North team now in the 12 team playoff bracket, the Bulldogs get a second chance.

All year, Yarno has praised the resolve and full-tilt effort of his team, and that could well be the determining factor in what is a defacto playoff game.

“We’ll play them as hard as we can as long as we can,” predicted Yarno, who doesn’t feel field conditions will be an issue. “They’ve got to play on the same field we do.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Lake City High School. Bob Witte and Chris Chatburn will call the game live on AM 1400 and 103 FM.