Football Game Preview: Sandpoint Will Face Pocatello

By Team Reports Sep 17, 2024, 3:46am

Football Preview: Sandpoint Bulldogs vs. Pocatello Thunder

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The Sandpoint Bulldogs will take on the Pocatello Thunder at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Sandpoint will be strutting in after a victory while Pocatello will be coming in after a defeat.

Sandpoint took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They blew past Davis 37-13. Given the Bulldogs' advantage in MaxPreps' football rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 19th in Idaho, while the Pirates are ranked 170th in Washington), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Sandpoint to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jeremiah Palmer, who rushed for 164 yards on only 13 carries. The dominant performance gave Palmer a new career-high in rushing yards. Drew Lehman was another key player, picking up 62 receiving yards and a touchdown.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Sandpoint was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 217 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 158 rushing yards in four consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Pocatello was just a hair shy of victory on Friday and fell 29-28 to Blackfoot. The loss continues a trend for the Thunder in their matchups with the Broncos: they've now lost five in a row.

Sandpoint pushed their record up to 3-1 with that win, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Pocatello, their defeat was their first of the season and makes their record 2-1.

Sandpoint might still be hurting after the 44-23 loss they got from Pocatello in their previous matchup back in November of 2023. Can Sandpoint avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps