Ground assault: Sandpoint dominates Post Falls in opener

POST FALLS — Sandpoint football played like one of the top teams in the state on Friday night as the Bulldogs were unstoppable from the opening kick. SHS scored on its first play from scrimmage and rolled from there, pummeling Post Falls 35-7.

All offseason, head coach Ryan Knowles praised the team’s commitment and preparation, and it showed up against the Trojans. The Bulldogs were relentless and Post Falls had no answer.

Sandpoint made a statement early by forcing a turnover on downs on the Trojans’ opening possession when senior safety Layne Dunkel blew up the Post Falls backfield. The Bulldogs took over from there and on the next play, quarterback Parker Pettit rolled out to his left and threw a pass to a wide-open Gerrit Cox on a wheel route. He jaunted into the end zone for a 39-yard score to give SHS a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. That sequence set the tone for the contest.

“That’s a shot fired,” Knowles said about Sandpoint’s start, “and I can’t be more proud of the guys for doing it and stepping up.”

Coming into Friday’s matchup, the Bulldogs had lost five straight games to Post Falls and 14 of the last 15. SHS rewrote that script in dominant fashion and Knowles said it was amazing to watch his team execute at such a high level.

The Sandpoint offense struggled out of the gates in their season opener last year against Post Falls, but they were firing on all cylinders in this matchup.

Pettit was slicing up the Trojan defense through the air and on the ground, Cox and Owen Wimmer were plowing through holes and the SHS offensive line was controlling the line of scrimmage all night. Knowles said the offense couldn’t get much better.

Just as impressive was the defense. Sandpoint forced five three-and-outs and kept the Trojans up-tempo offense on the sidelines for most of the game. Knowles said his unit has some things to work on, but they definitely rose to the occasion against a talented Post Falls team.

“I didn’t expect to hold a Post Falls offense to 7 points,” he said. “It’s one of those things where you hope to keep them under 20 [points] and I was proud of our guys for being opportunistic. I was proud of them for handling a little bit of adversity in the second quarter and I can’t speak highly enough about it.”

The Bulldogs took a 21-7 lead into halftime and in the third quarter they debuted their new offensive wrinkle — the wing-T formation.

The downhill option attack was the perfect second half surprise and the Trojans couldn’t find a way to slow it down. Cox scampered into the end zone from 36 yards out on the opening possession of the second half and added another a few minutes later to essentially put the game away.

Sandpoint wore down the Post Falls defense in the second half with their new formation and finished with 377 yards rushing.

Cox had a monster night, scoring all five of Sandpoint’s touchdowns. He finished with 110 yards on the ground and 46 receiving.

Knowles said Cox is a special talent.

“He’s the heart of our team, he really is,” he said. “That whole senior class has rallied around him since I met him when I first got here and they were freshmen, and you can just tell when he’s out there everyone else plays better with him around.”

Pettit was just as dangerous on the ground, racking up 183 yards on 16 carries. He also passed for 107 yards.

Cody Steiger grabbed a pair of interceptions at safety and sophomore Max Frank hauled in six catches for 43 yards.

A scary moment took place in the second quarter of Friday’s game. On a kickoff return, senior Blake Sherrill fielded the ball and took a hard hit. After about 10 minutes, he was carted off the field. Fortunately, he’s alright.

“I’m thankful we got the news that he’s going to be OK,” Knowles said.

Next up for the Bulldogs (1-0) is their home opener against Coeur d’Alene at 7 p.m. next Friday at War Memorial Field.

Sandpoint 14 7 14 0 — 35

Post Falls 0 7 0 0 — 7

First quarter

Spt —Gerrit Cox 39 pass from Parker Pettit (Jacob Gove kick), 10:16

Spt — Cox 3 run (Gove kick), 6:16

Second quarter

Spt — Cox 4 run (Gove kick), 8:41

PF — Jacob Sullivan 1 run (Alexander Luna kick), 7:36

Third quarter

Spt — Cox 36 run (Gove kick), 9:26

Spt — Cox 5 run (Gove kick), 5:11

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Spt, Cox 15-110, Pettit 16-183, Wimmer 17-71, Frank 3-13. PF, Sullivan, 11-25, Anderson 10-52, Smith 7-44.

PASSING — Spt, Pettit, 15-23-1-107, Garcia, 0-1-0-0. PF, Anderson, 8-24-2-112.

RECEIVING — Spt, Cox 3-46, Frank 6-43, Robere 1-3, Kuhn 2-12, VanDenBerg 3-14. PF, Tucker 4-49, Myers 1-38, Sullivan 1-16, Sessions 1-18, Summers 1-8.