Turnovers doom Lake City ... Four lost fumbles lead to loss to Sandpoint

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

COEUR d’ALENE — The Lake City Timberwolves had a hard time moving the ball much of the night against the Sandpoint Bulldogs on Friday night.

Tackling Sandpoint’s Max Frank, a beast of a running back/sometimes receiver, was no easy chore either.

The result was a 32-6 loss for the Timberwolves to the visiting Bulldogs in their final nonleague game of the season.

“We’ve got to do a better job of tackling,” Lake City coach Byron Hout said. “He’s a physical specimen out there; we’ve got to do better on our fundamentals, because he’s a guy that’s not going down with just one guy on him. It’s going to take all of us to bring him down.”

Lake City (2-4) had four turnovers, including one on the opening kickoff where the T-Wolf kick returner fumbled the ball after getting blasted by a Sandpoint cover guy. The Bulldogs (3-3) recovered at the T-Wolf 45, and scored seven plays later on Frank’s 8-yard run around left end.

Sandpoint made it 11-0 after the first quarter on a 33-yard field goal by Reid Bradburn.

Midway through the second quarter, Lake City’s Harman Gaby blocked a Sandpoint punt and The T-Wolves recovered at the Bulldog 10. On fourth and goal, quarterback Avrey Cherry snuck it in from a yard out, and Lake City trailed 11-6 at halftime.

Sandpoint scored on the first possession of the second half. On fourth and four from the Lake City 19, Frank took a pass from Drew Lehman out in the right flat, broke a tackle and zipped down the sideline for an 18-6 lead.

Later in the quarter, what looked like a short completion for Lake City turned into a game-changing takeaway for Sandpoint.

Sandpoint senior cornerback Eli Allshouse took the ball away from a Lake City player late in the third quarter and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown, boosting the Bulldogs’ lead to 25-6.

“We’re playing zone coverage, and I actually fell at the beginning of the play,” Allshouse said. “I got up and I ran up to him, and it was kinda outstretched in his arms, and I thought that was my opportunity to take it. So I stripped it out of his hands, got lucky, he didn’t take me down, and just kept going.”

Sandpoint held Lake City to 35 yards in the first half, 199 for the game.

Counting the strip, Lake City lost four fumbles, three of which led to Sandpoint touchdowns.

“We didn’t execute the way we wanted to,” Hout said. “They played great defense, and their players made plays, and our players didn’t. Any time you turn the ball over four times, it’s going to be a bad outcome for you.”

Travis Usdrowski had five catches for 90 yards for Lake City, all in the second half.

Sandpoint totaled 309 yards, 155 on the ground, as Kody Brewster rushed for 86 yards. Frank ran for 57 yards and caught four passes for 58 yards.

Ashlei Hawkins took a screen pass 18 yards to the house in the fourth quarter for Sandpoint’s final score.

At halftime, Sandpoint had run 35 plays to 17 for Lake City. For the game, it was 67-43.

“We came out with a bang,” said Sandpoint coach Ryan Knowles said, whose team had two turnovers. “After that, a lot of sloppy plays that just killed us. But the defense did a nice job. But just a lot of things … man, if we don’t beat ourselves, it’s a lot cleaner game.”

Sandpoint plays host to Lakeland (3-3) next Friday in the 4A Inland Empire League opener for both teams.

Lake City is home against Coeur d’Alene (4-2) next Friday to open 5A IEL play.

Sandpoint 11 0 14 7 — 32

Lake City 0 6 0 0 — 6

First quarter

Spt — Max Frank 8 run (Kody Brewster run), 8:43

Spt — FG Reid Bradburn 33, :08

Second quarter

LC — Avrey Cherry 1 run (pass failed), 4:07

Third quarter

Spt — Frank 19 pass from Drew Lehman (Bradburn kick), 8:51

Spt — Eli Allhouse 28 fumble return (Bradburn kick), 3:30

Fourth quarter

Spt — Ashlei Hawkins 18 pass from Lehman (Bradburn kick), 10:35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Spt, Frank 9-57, Brewster 13-86, Lehman 8-(minus 24), Sherrill 5-8, Hawkins 9-28. LC, Johnson 9-29, Hawkins 4-35, Cherry 3-7, Profumo 3-6, Wullenwaber 1-12, Carmignani 2-3.

PASSING — Spt, Lehman 13-23-0-154. LC, Cherry 7-21-0-107.

RECEIVING — Spt, Turner 5-43, Williams 2-13, Frank 4-58, Brewster 1-22, Hawkins 1-18. LC, Usdrowski 5-90, Hill 1-5, LaBelle 1-12.